R&D Senior Data Architect and Engineer
Europe - remote, IT
About us
Based in Parma, Italy, Chiesi is an international research-focused pharmaceutical and healthcare group with 90 years’ experience, operating in 31 countries with more than 7,000 employees (Chiesi Group). To achieve its mission of improving people’s quality of life by acting responsibly towards society and the environment, the Group researches, develops and markets innovative drugs in its main therapeutic areas: Discover more here
We are proud to be the largest global pharmaceutical group to be awarded B Corp Certification, a recognition of high social and environmental standards. We are a reliable company that adopts and promotes a transparent and ethical behavior at all levels.
We believe that the success of Chiesi is built and shaped by our people and our strong set of shared Values and Behaviors. Our people make a critical difference to our success, which is why it is vital that we attract and retain the right talent who will continue to enrich our culture by living and breathing our values and behaviors.
In fact, we are a global family made up of different cultures, different genders, generations, ethnicities, abilities, sexual identities and many other enriching diversities.
Chiesi Research & Development
Our R&D team represents a fundamental asset for the business. It is divided into integrated functional areas focusing on pipeline projects including discovery and preclinical research, global technical development, drug delivery technology, clinical development, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, intellectual property, quality assurance, R&D project and portfolio management. Headquartered in the new purpose-built and fully integrated Research and Development Centre in Parma (Italy), the team also has important operations in Paris (France), Chippenham (UK), Cary (US), Stockholm (Sweden), Toronto (Canada) and Shanghai (China).
Who we are looking for
Purpose
As part of our broader digital transformation journey, Chiesi is spearheading the creation of a cutting-edge R&D Data Hub — an enterprise-wide platform designed not only to elevate data accessibility, interoperability, and governance across R&D domains, but also to accelerate scientific insight and unlock transformative value throughout the entire drug-development lifecycle.
The (senior) Data Architect and Engineer will design, build and implement the data Pipeline for R&D while maintaining a coherent R&D data model. This role is both strategic and hands-on: you will define the overall R&D data architecture (covering discovery, Preclinical, Clinical, Regulatory, Pharmacovigilance, CMC) and build use-case driven R&D data pipeline
The R&D (Senior) Data architect will work closely with Global IT to align with corporate strategy and infrastructure and with R&D domain experts to translate scientific requirements into data models and data products. The goal is to deliver scalable, compliant, FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) that enables self-service analytics and AI.
Main Responsibilities
• R&D Data Hub Architecture & Modelling:
Design and implement the unified R&D Data Hub architecture, defining data integration frameworks and data models that represent complex R&D entities, enabling data lineage and interoperability across silos while ensuring alignment with enterprise IT to maximize business value delivery.
• Data Pipelines & Integration:
Design, Build and implement scalable and secure ETL/ELT pipelines for structured and unstructured R&D data. Own the ingestion, transformation and consolidation workflows from multiple sources (lab systems, EDC, etc.), ensuring data is cleansed, standardized and ready for provisioning. Use modern data engineering tools and cloud services to optimize performance and reliability.
• MDM and Data Transformation Enablement:
Define the Master Data Management (MDM) strategy for core R&D domains (e.g. compounds, assays, protocols), including golden-record models, matching logic and ingestion strategy as part of ETL/ELT design.
Define and implement data quality rules for ETL/ELT in collaboration with functional SMEs and RnD Data product owner(s)
• Data Privacy, security & Access:
Embed data security best practices into the architecture. Ensure the platform adheres to FAIR principles and to all R&D compliance requirements (GxP, GDPR, ISO 27001, etc.). Collaborate with IT on encryption, audit trails and security and access policies
• Scientific and Technical Leadership:
Serve as a hands-on mentor and advisor to scientists on data management topics. Provide guidance on roadmaps, best practices, and emerging technologies adoption (data lakehouse, AI/ML tooling). and continuously optimize architecture for performance and cost
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Influence:
Act as the connector between R&D functions and enterprise/IT. Lead workshops with scientific and IT stakeholders to align data products demand and priorities. Influence without direct authority: build consensus on data strategy, shepherd change adoption, and ensure solutions meet diverse business needs.
Experience Required
Pharma & Data Expertise (7+ years): Proven experience in data architecture, data engineering ideally within pharmaceutical R&D or life sciences. Deep knowledge of R&D data domains. Experience with regulated environments (GxP/GDPR) is required.
Education
Advanced degree (Master’s/PhD) in Life Sciences, Data Science, Information Systems or equivalent experience.
Languages
Fluent in English
Technical Skills
Technical Skills:
• Strong expertise in SQL, Python, Spark, or similar technologies. Experience with ETL/ELT pipelines, building cloud data lake/WH (including tools like, Snowflake, Databricks, ...), Data modeling (Semantics, Knowledge Graph) and transformation. Good knowledge of databases functionalities.
Analytical Skills:
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving and communication skills. Able to break down complex problems and present solutions clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
IT skills:
• Data Architecture & Engineering, data science (incl AI and Generative AI), data management, knowledge of main system solutions relevant in Pharma R&D
Soft Skills
- Analytical skills
- Digital mindset
- Leadership and social influence
- Quality orientation
- Problem solving
What we offer
You would join a dynamic, fast-growing, challenging and friendly environment.
In Chiesi we firmly believe that our people are our most valuable asset, that is why we invest in continuous training, learning and development. Therefore, we strive to continuously promote and satisfy development needs, paying particular attention to the quality of our working environment and to collective well-being.
We want our people to come to work happy every day, and we know how important it is to find the right work-life balance in order to be able to give our best. That is why we offer flexible working approach, remote working, support in the relocation process, tax assistance service for foreign colleagues and many other people-care services.
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