Exec Director, Corporate Strategy & Projects
Gilead Sciences
Summary
Reporting to the VP, Corporate Strategy & Projects, the Executive Director is accountable for leading defined components of Gilead's enterprise strategy agenda and owning a portfolio of the company's highest-priority strategic initiatives. The role serves as an enterprise thought partner and strategic agenda driver, helping shape Gilead's long-term direction, influence high-priority enterprise decisions, and advance the company's most important strategic priorities.
Job description
Enterprise Strategy & Insights
- Own defined components of the enterprise strategy agenda, from problem framing and analysis through executive alignment, decision, and implementation planning.
- Serve as an enterprise thought partner to the VP, GLT, and senior leaders on the company's highest-priority strategic questions.
- Lead development of integrated strategic perspectives that connect portfolio, financial, scientific, commercial, operational, and external considerations.
- Shape enterprise strategy and long-term direction through strategic perspectives, planning, and scenario development and translate long-term ambition into actionable enterprise priorities.
- Anticipate external shifts, risks, and opportunities and determine their implications to inform enterprise priorities and strategic choices.
Strategic Initiatives & Execution
- Own and lead a portfolio of senior-sponsored strategic initiatives with significant enterprise value, complexity, or cross-functional impact.
- Design and lead governance for assigned initiatives, including mechanisms that enable effective decision-making, execution, and accountability.
- Drive alignment on complex enterprise issues involving strategic trade-offs and cross-functional dependencies.
- Translate strategic decisions into clear accountabilities, implementation roadmaps, and measurable success indicators; monitor progress and impact, identify barriers to value realization, and drive corrective action or executive escalation as needed.
Cross-Functional Leadership & Influence
- Act as the enterprise integrator for assigned priorities, reconciling competing functional perspectives, resolving cross-functional dependencies, and driving enterprise-level alignment on decisions, accountabilities, and execution.
- Lead enterprise-level problem solving and influence outcomes through strategic insight and executive engagement.
- Foster collaboration, shared accountability, and enterprise-first leadership.
Executive & Board Engagement
- Own the development and synthesis of decision-ready recommendations, strategic narratives, and materials for GLT and Board consideration within assigned areas.
- Partner with the VP and executive sponsors to define the objectives, decision requirements, and desired outcomes of GLT and Board discussions on long-term strategy, enterprise priorities, and critical business decisions.
- Design and facilitate executive strategy sessions, strategic reviews, and other leadership forums.
- Anticipate executive questions, surface competing perspectives, and ensure recommendations clearly articulate options, trade-offs, risks, and implications.
- Serve as a trusted advisor on assigned enterprise strategic matters.
Organizational & Talent Development
- Contribute to a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Mentor and develop strategy talent across the Corporate Strategy Office.
- Foster an enterprise mindset and strategic leadership capabilities across the organization.
- Help strengthen the Corporate Strategy Office as an enterprise integrator, trusted advisor, and leadership development platform.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree and 16+ years of relevant experience; or Master's degree, MBA, PhD, or MD and 14+ years of relevant experience.
- Significant experience in corporate strategy, management consulting, corporate development, business operations, finance, or related fields.
- Demonstrated experience owning major components of strategy and influencing high-impact business decisions.
- Deep understanding of Gilead's portfolio, business model, strategic priorities, and external environment.
- Deep biotechnology, biopharmaceutical, healthcare, or life sciences expertise.
- Demonstrated success owning major components of corporate, portfolio, or business-unit strategy.
- Proven ability to lead a portfolio of high-impact, cross-functional strategic initiatives from problem definition through executive decision and implementation.
- Experience advising senior leaders and developing decision-ready recommendations for executive and Board-level audiences.
- Strong systems-thinking orientation and enterprise mindset.
- Exceptional ability to frame ambiguous strategic questions and develop rigorous options, trade-offs, and recommendations.
- Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders, challenge assumptions constructively, and generate alignment without formal authority.
- Exceptional executive communication, facilitation, and ability to build strategic narratives.
- Proven ability to mentor talent and develop future enterprise leaders.
- Ability to balance long-term strategic perspective with pragmatic execution and measurable business impact.
Benefits
- Medical, Dental & Vision
- Life Insurance
- Discretionary Annual Bonus
- Stock-Based Long-Term Incentives
- Paid Time Off
Company overview
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a leading American biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Foster City, California, that specializes in researching, developing, and commercializing innovative medicines for life-threatening diseases. Founded in 1987, Gilead has grown into a global healthcare leader with approximately 17,600 employees worldwide. The company's primary therapeutic focus areas include HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis (hepatitis B and C), oncology, inflammation, and respiratory diseases. Gilead is renowned for its groundbreaking antiviral therapies, including Sovaldi and Harvoni for hepatitis C, and its comprehensive portfolio of HIV treatments such as Truvada, Atripla, and Biktarvy. The company also developed Veklury (remdesivir) for COVID-19 treatment. Gilead operates as a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ (GILD) and is a component of both the Nasdaq-100 and S&P 100 indices. Through strategic acquisitions like Kite Pharma and Immunomedics, Gilead has expanded into cell therapy and oncology, demonstrating its commitment to advancing medical science and improving patient outcomes globally.