Intern, Pharmaceutical Portfolio Strategy (UK)

Santen is a specialized company with a proud 130-year heritage focused exclusively on eye health. As a Japan-originated, global company with our footprint in over 60 countries and regions, our mission is to provide essential and significant value to patients and society through our products and services created from our expertise in ophthalmology and from the patient’s perspective.

We are seeking a highly motivated MSc, MBA, or PhD‑level intern to support the Portfolio Strategy function in Europe. The intern will work closely with senior leaders across portfolio strategy, R&D, commercial, and corporate functions to support strategic decision‑making across Santen’s ophthalmology pipeline and in‑market portfolio.

This role offers hands‑on exposure to end‑to‑end pharmaceutical portfolio management, including asset prioritization, lifecycle strategy, scenario analysis, and strategic planning.

Key Responsibilities

• Support portfolio assessments across discovery, clinical, and marketed ophthalmology assets
• Contribute to pipeline evaluations, portfolio balance discussions, and business development assessments
• Develop quantitative and qualitative decision-support materials for governance and portfolio review forums
• Conduct disease area, market, and competitive landscape analyses across key ophthalmology indications
• Support evaluation of external innovation opportunities (licensing, partnerships, M&A screening)
• Monitor competitors, emerging technologies, and scientific trends to inform future disease area prioritization
• Assist in forecasting, valuation, and scenario analyses (e.g., NPV, sensitivity analyses)
• Support development of portfolio scenarios aligned with strategic and financial objectives
• Collaborate with Commercial, R&D, Medical, Finance, and Business Development teams
• Contribute to senior leadership presentations, strategy decks, and executive summaries
• Support ad hoc strategic initiatives and progressively take ownership of defined workstreams throughout the internship

• Currently enrolled in or recently completed an MSc (e.g., Life Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Health Economics, Data Science), MBA (strategy or healthcare focus), or PhD (Life Sciences, Pharmacy, or related field). Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to synthesize complex scientific and commercial information, and a clear interest in pharmaceutical strategy, portfolio management, and ophthalmology.
• Proficient in Excel and PowerPoint; familiarity with financial modelling is a plus. Clear and structured communicator, both written and verbal.
• Curious, proactive, and comfortable navigating ambiguity. Confident working with senior stakeholders, self-motivated, and able to operate independently with high professionalism and attention to detail.

What You Will Gain

Direct mentorship from the Head of Portfolio Strategy and exposure to senior business leaders within a global specialty pharmaceutical company. Hands-on experience in real-world portfolio strategy, with the opportunity to strengthen your strategic thinking, analytical capabilities, and business acumen alongside scientific insight—building a strong foundation for future careers in pharma strategy, consulting, corporate development, or R&D leadership.

Grow your career at Santen

A career at Santen is an opportunity to make a difference. Through our long-term vision outlined in Santen 2030, we are committed to be a Social Innovator - addressing the social and economic needs of people with visual impairments. We have team members around the world using their diverse talents to unlock new modalities and drive innovations for patient outcomes, education and treatment. At Santen, we believe in empowering all our team members with flexible ways of working and a highly inclusive work environment. 

The Santen Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building diverse teams and ensuring a safe and inclusive physical and virtual workplace for every one of our team members. All employment decisions are based on business needs, role requirements and individual qualifications regardless of race, color, ethnicity, national origin/ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/ expression, age, disability, medical condition, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.  

If you require any kind of accommodation during our recruitment process, please let the recruiter from our team know.