Sr Director, Business Strategy and Operations

People Leader

At Gilead, we're creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we've tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world's biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.

Every member of Gilead's team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we're looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.

We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together.

Job Responsibilities

• Serves as a key strategic partner to the Vice President of Operations and the Site Leadership Team, enabling the La Verne site to achieve its short- and long-term business objectives through strong strategy deployment, operational discipline, organizational change management, communication, digital enablement, and operational excellence.
• This role is accountable for translating site, PDM, and enterprise priorities into actionable plans, governance routines, performance management systems, and cross-functional execution mechanisms.
• The position provides leadership across multiple strategic and operational workstreams and ensures alignment between business priorities, resources, organizational capability, and site performance.
• Ultimate responsibility for staff development, budgeting and cost control, and multi-function strategic planning.
• Models strong leadership, accountable for talent mapping, succession planning and the development of strong leaders within the function.
• Provides leadership to direct reports and builds a highly capable team through the attraction, training and development of the necessary skilled professionals to meet business needs.
• Inspires culture and institutes key processes necessary to achieve long and short-term strategic goals.
• Anticipates shifts in industry trends and regulatory environment that will impact Gilead's business needs and positions the function to respond accordingly.
• Ensures that departments operate in accordance with department SOPs which meet regulatory and GMP standards.
• Establishes and publishes Key Performance Indicators.

Strategy Development and Implementation

• Act as key strategic advisor, leading the development and execution of short- and long-range strategic plans in alignment with PDM strategy and ambition, company goals, market trends and in partnership with Site Leadership Team (SLT).
• Provides insight in developing, prioritization and communicating site-wide priorities and initiatives. Creates buy-in for the business plans and vision for the future to ensure goals and operating budgets are aligned and achieved.
• Institutes key processes necessary to achieve long and short-term goals.
• Develop plans to translate strategic objectives into tactical implementation of new technologies and processes to enhance production efficiency.
• Serves as a key business partner to senior management team focusing on strategic issues across multiple functions.
• Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and identify areas for further optimization.
• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to facilitate collaboration and alignment on strategic and operational priorities.
• Coordination of the SLT in support of the VP of operations.
• Support the development of a culture that aligns with the company values, encouraging growth and learning mindset while ensuring accountability and retaining key talent in a positive environment.

Organization Change Management & Communication

• Lead the organizational change management strategy for major site initiatives, ensuring business changes are effectively planned, communicated, adopted, and sustained.
• Communicate manufacturing site strategy and progress to senior management, including regular updates on performance metrics.
• Partner with the VP of Operations, SLT, HR, Communications, and functional leaders to ensure messaging is aligned, timely, transparent, and connected to site values and strategic pillars.
• Lead the "organizational change management" of the site by developing communication plans and ensure effective communication strategies are in place within the organization, including two-way communication channels.
• Accountable for the success of formal organizational change management impacting all business units.
• Strengthen site-wide change readiness by building leader capability in communication, stakeholder engagement, and change adoption.
• Support leaders in translating complex business changes into practical, audience-specific messages that promote understanding, engagement, and ownership.

Operational Excellence

• Champion continuous improvement methodologies and establish sustainable processes that improve productivity and effectiveness.
• Develop and lead the La Verne operational excellence strategy in alignment with site priorities, business needs, quality expectations, and enterprise goals.
• Manages multiple cross-functional projects.
• Conduct process analysis, identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies, and design and implement process improvement solutions using methodologies like Lean Six Sigma, or other continuous improvement frameworks.
• Identify cost-saving opportunities within the manufacturing process including materials, labor, and overhead expenses.
• Leads the organizational change management process, including communication, training, and stakeholder engagement to ensure successful adoption of new processes.
• Utilize data analytics to measure performance, identify trends, and track progress on improvement initiatives.
• Build and manage a high-performing team of operational excellence professionals, providing coaching and development opportunities.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams across departments to identify and implement operational improvements.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, encouraging employee engagement and feedback on process improvement opportunities.
• Ensure operational excellence initiatives are supported by appropriate change management, communication, training, adoption, and sustainment plans.

Experience requirements:

BS Degree and 14 years - or

Master's Degree and 12 years - or

PhD and Twelve years

The salary range for this position is: $221,000.00 - $286,000.00. Gilead considers a variety of factors when determining base compensation, including experience, qualifications, and geographic location. These considerations mean actual compensation will vary. This position may also be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role), paid time off, and a benefits package. Benefits include company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans*.

* Eligible employees may participate in benefit plans, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans.