Associate Director, Succession and Assessment Strategy
Bristol Myers Squibb
Summary
The Associate Director, Succession & Assessments serves as a key leader in building frameworks to drive leadership continuity, executive readiness, and long-term workforce sustainability. This role leads the strategy and design of enterprise succession planning, executive assessment, and strategic workforce planning initiatives.
Job description
This position reports to the Senior Director, Enterprise Talent Processes and Enablement. Partnering closely with senior HR leaders, Talent Partners and business stakeholders, this role ensures the organization has clear visibility into leadership pipelines, critical roles, and future capability needs. The Associate Director integrates data, assessments, and workforce insights to support thoughtful, equitable, and forward-looking talent decisions.
Primary Responsibilities
Succession Strategy & Critical Role Alignment
- Lead the design and evolution of enterprise succession planning and succession pool strategy across executive and enterprise critical roles.
- Define and maintain clear succession frameworks, criteria, and readiness definitions that support consistent and effective succession planning.
- Partner with Executive Talent Partners, HR Business Partners and functional leaders to identify and align critical roles and capabilities essential to business continuity and future growth.
- Identify, design and implement critical pipeline development and engagement experience.
- Ensure functional succession plans are aligned with enterprise standards while reflecting unique business needs.
- Design and implement succession planning discussion tools and resources to ensure ETM’s ability to translate insights into actionable development and risk mitigation plans.
Succession Reporting, Systems & Workforce Insights
- Own succession data governance, reporting, and analytics to provide clear visibility into bench strength, readiness, and leadership risk.
- Partner with HR Operations and Technology to configure and optimize Workday succession and talent planning functionality.
- Develop and maintain dashboards and insights that support executive decision-making and workforce planning conversations.
- Ensure data accuracy, consistency, and usability across succession and talent planning processes.
Assessment & Coaching Strategy
- Lead the strategy and design of assessment approaches, including discovery, tool selection, and application across leadership populations.
- Ensure assessments are purpose-driven, evidence-based, and aligned with leadership expectations and succession needs.
- Translate assessment insights into development priorities and coaching recommendations.
- Own executive coaching vendor management, including selection, contracting, oversight, and quality assurance.
- Partner with Learning, Talent, and HR Business Partners to integrate assessment and coaching insights into development and succession strategies.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree required
- Master’s in HR, Organizational Psychology, or related field preferred
- 7+ years of experience in succession planning, executive assessment, workforce planning, or related talent disciplines
- Strong expertise in succession frameworks, critical role identification, and leadership readiness evaluation
- Experience working with executive assessments and coaching providers
- Familiarity with HR systems (Workday preferred), reporting, and talent analytics
- Proven ability to partner with senior leaders and facilitate high-stakes talent discussions
- Strong analytical, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills
- Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management capabilities
- Able to manage multiple, interdependent initiatives with strong execution and attention to detail
- Comfortable operating in ambiguity while driving clarity and alignment
Benefits
- Wellbeing Support
- Retirement Benefits
- Financial Protection Benefits
- Medical, Dental & Vision
- Life & Disability Insurance
- Flexible Time Off
- 11 Paid Company Holidays
- Paid Sick Leave
- Paid Volunteer Days
- Summer Hours Flexibility
- Leaves of Absence
- Annual Global Shutdown
Company overview
Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing, and delivering innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. Founded in 1887 and headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, the company operates with a unique BioPharma strategy that combines the reach and resources of a major pharmaceutical company with the entrepreneurial spirit and agility of a biotech firm. BMS focuses on transformative therapies in key therapeutic areas including oncology, hematology, immunology, cardiovascular disease, and fibrosis. The company has built a sustainable pipeline of potential therapies and leverages translational medicine and data analytics to deliver the right medicine to the right patient at the right time. With over 10,000 employees worldwide, Bristol Myers Squibb maintains a strong commitment to scientific excellence, patient-centric innovation, and global health equity through its foundation. The company's portfolio includes groundbreaking treatments such as Opdivo (nivolumab) for cancer, Eliquis (apixaban) for cardiovascular conditions, and Orencia (abatacept) for autoimmune diseases, among others.