Project Management Associate II
Kite Pharma
Summary
4+ years of relevant experience and a BA or BS degree OR 2+ years of relevant experience and an MS or MBA degree. Relevant experience includes work in business operations, project management, commercial operations, procurement, finance, consulting, healthcare, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, or cross-functional project coordination activities.
Job description
Project Management, Business Operations, and Strategic Initiative Support
- Provides support to Commercial Operations project leads to maintain and track project activities including timelines, budgets, action items, risks, dependencies, resource plans, and other project documentation.
- May independently manage routine sub-projects or defined workstreams under the guidance of Commercial Operations leadership.
- Participates in project meetings and relevant business operations activities.
- Conducts research and gathers information from internal and external sources to support project planning, business analysis, and decision-making.
- Maintains project information, documentation, trackers, and materials within shared repositories and collaboration platforms.
- Identifies routine issues or risks that may adversely impact project execution and appropriately escalates concerns to project leads.
- Assists with project budgeting, spend tracking, resource planning, and budget reporting activities.
- Follows up with project team members and stakeholders regarding progress on action items, deliverables, and deadlines.
- Generates and maintains project tracking and reporting tools, dashboards, status reports, and metrics to support project teams and leadership.
- Prepares meeting materials, meeting notes, action trackers, leadership updates, and executive communications.
- Supports maintenance of operating model documentation, process maps, governance materials, organizational documentation, and role clarity resources.
- Compiles and analyzes business data, stakeholder feedback, and operational metrics to identify trends, issues, and opportunities for improvement.
- Supports AI adoption and process improvement initiatives by documenting workflows, coordinating pilot activities, tracking outcomes, and maintaining training materials.
- Facilitates collaboration across Commercial Operations, Finance, Procurement, Legal, and functional business teams to enable efficient execution of priorities and initiatives.
Contracting, Procurement, and Commercial Operations
- Manage onboarding of new vendors and suppliers in coordination with Legal and Procurement.
- Manage end-to-end purchase order activities including creating orders, invoicing, reconciliation, issue resolution, and payment tracking.
- Maintain positive relationships with internal stakeholders and external vendors.
- Prioritize multiple procurement activities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment while ensuring timely execution.
- Partner with Legal, Procurement, Accounting, and Finance to support contracting activities, purchase order workflows, timely payment processing, and budget execution.
- Monitor procurement workflows, identify routine issues, and proactively escalate risks that could impact budgets, timelines, vendor relationships, or project deliverables.
- Maintain accurate supplier, contract, purchase order, and invoice records.
- Contribute to the development and maintenance of procurement dashboards and metrics, providing visibility into spend, cycle times, and vendor performance.
- Serve as a subject matter resource on procurement systems and purchase order processes while providing guidance to business partners as needed.
- Ensure compliance with Gilead policies, procurement and financial controls, data integrity standards, and confidentiality requirements.
- Support continuous improvement efforts by identifying operational challenges and recommending practical process improvements to enhance efficiency and reduce cycle times.
Basic Qualifications
4+ years of relevant experience and a BA or BS degree OR 2+ years of relevant experience and an MS or MBA degree. Relevant experience includes work in business operations, project management, commercial operations, procurement, finance, consulting, healthcare, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, or cross-functional project coordination activities.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience supporting cross-functional projects, business operations initiatives, or project management activities.
- Strong organizational skills with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities and workstreams simultaneously.
- Self-motivated with a strong sense of ownership, accountability, and follow-through.
- High integrity and sound judgment, including the ability to navigate challenging conversations while maintaining compliance with company policies and procedures.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to prepare concise updates, presentations, meeting materials, and executive communications.
- Ability to identify routine operational or project risks and proactively elevate issues when appropriate.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking capabilities.
- Ability to work collaboratively across functions and build productive relationships with internal stakeholders and external vendors.
- Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, Teams, and collaboration platforms.
- Experience with procurement, contracting, budgeting, reporting, and enterprise systems such as SAP, Ariba, Oracle, or related platforms preferred.
- Experience creating dashboards, project plans, trackers, status reports, and operational metrics.
- Technical aptitude and ability to quickly learn new systems, tools, and business processes.
- Experience supporting operating model design, process improvement, organizational effectiveness, or AI-enabled productivity initiatives is a plus.
Requirements
- 4+ years of relevant experience and a BA or BS degree OR 2+ years of relevant experience and an MS or MBA degree
- Relevant experience includes work in business operations, project management, commercial operations, procurement, finance, consulting, healthcare, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, or cross-functional project coordination activities
- Experience supporting cross-functional projects, business operations initiatives, or project management activities
- Strong organizational skills with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities and workstreams simultaneously
- Self-motivated with a strong sense of ownership, accountability, and follow-through
- High integrity and sound judgment, including the ability to navigate challenging conversations while maintaining compliance with company policies and procedures
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to prepare concise updates, presentations, meeting materials, and executive communications
- Ability to identify routine operational or project risks and proactively elevate issues when appropriate
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking capabilities
- Ability to work collaboratively across functions and build productive relationships with internal stakeholders and external vendors
- Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, Teams, and collaboration platforms
- Experience with procurement, contracting, budgeting, reporting, and enterprise systems such as SAP, Ariba, Oracle, or related platforms preferred
- Experience creating dashboards, project plans, trackers, status reports, and operational metrics
- Technical aptitude and ability to quickly learn new systems, tools, and business processes
- Experience supporting operating model design, process improvement, organizational effectiveness, or AI-enabled productivity initiatives is a plus
Benefits
- Medical, Dental & Vision
- Life Insurance
- Paid Time Off
- Discretionary Annual Bonus
- Stock-Based Long-Term Incentives
Company overview
Kite Pharma, Inc. is an American biotechnology company specializing in cancer immunotherapy with a primary focus on genetically engineered autologous CAR T cell therapy. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Kite was acquired by Gilead Sciences in 2017 for $11.9 billion. The company develops cell-based therapies that reengineer a patient's own immune cells to attack and fight cancer cells, representing a personalized approach to cancer treatment. Kite's lead product, Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel), was the first CAR T therapy approved by the FDA for treating adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. With approximately 2,000 employees and manufacturing facilities in California, Maryland, and the Netherlands, Kite operates as an independent company within Gilead Sciences while maintaining its singular focus on advancing cell therapy to treat and potentially cure cancer. The company's innovative approach represents a paradigm shift in cancer treatment, moving away from traditional pharmaceutical manufacturing to individualized cell therapies created one patient at a time.