Associate Director, Program Process & Portfolio Technology Product Lead

Gilead Sciences•Foster City, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

This role is the operational backbone and product ownership center of Medical Affairs Technology (MAT). As the Global Program Portfolio & Process Technology Product Lead, you will own the systems, governance, and processes that keep a global technology organization running with discipline and clarity. While Technology Capability Leads and Technology Product Leads focus on strategy and platform delivery, you make sure everything is tracked, every vendor relationship is coordinated, every project has visibility, and every team member operates with a consistent playbook. You will own the MAT portfolio view across all active projects, programs, and capability workstreams. You will run the governance cadences that keep leadership informed and decisions moving. You will coordinate vendor management across the entire MAT vendor ecosystem, from contract oversight to performance reviews to RFP coordination. And you will be the person who ensures consistency in how MAT operates across all capabilities. This role also carries a direct project management dimension. When a critical initiative needs direct PM leadership, you step in. When new team members join MAT, you lead their onboarding. When the team needs stronger PM competency, you develop it. You are both the architect of how MAT works and the person who rolls up their sleeves to make sure it does. You will coordinate global vendor partnerships within MAT, ensuring alignment with the organization's standards for quality and timeliness. You are a Smartsheet power user who builds and maintains the dashboards, reports, and workflows that give MAT leadership real time visibility into portfolio health and team capacity. The ideal candidate comes from a program management or PMO background. You need to be someone who brings process rigor, operational discipline, and the ability to create order, consistency, and a product mindset across a diverse, global technology team.

Requirements

Master’s degree + 8 years of experience OR Bachelor’s degree + 10 years of experience in program management, project management, PMO operations, or technology operations in a regulated industry
Strong program management or PMO background with experience managing multi project portfolios, governance frameworks, and operational reporting in a global organization
Smartsheet power user with experience building dashboards, automated workflows, reports, and portfolio tracking systems
Experience with vendor management including contract coordination, SLA monitoring, performance reviews, RFP processes, and issue escalation across multiple technology partners
Demonstrated ability to create operational consistency and product thinking across diverse teams, standardizing processes, templates, and reporting so an organization operates as one cohesive unit
Track record of stepping into project management roles when needed, managing scope, risk, timelines, and stakeholder communication with discipline and clarity
Experience leading onboarding programs and developing PM competency within a technology or operations team
Process rigor, operational discipline, and product ownership with a natural instinct for identifying inefficiencies and building repeatable solutions
Strong communication skills with the ability to present portfolio status, vendor performance, and operational insights clearly and concisely to senior leadership
Experience coordinating with managed service or outsourced support vendors, partnering with IT to ensure alignment on quality, throughput, and cost expectations
Comfort operating across time zones and cultures in a global organization, coordinating with teams and vendors in multiple regions
PMP, PgMP, or equivalent project management certification is a plus
Empathy and genuine team care — builds inclusive, high performing cultures where people feel supported, challenged, and empowered to grow

Nice To Haves

Pharma or life sciences experience is a plus but not required; candidates from other regulated industries (healthcare, financial services, government) with strong PMO and vendor management backgrounds are encouraged to apply
MBA or advanced degree preferred

Responsibilities

Own and maintain the MAT portfolio view, tracking all active projects, programs, and capability workstreams across every Technology Capability Lead and Technology Product Lead in the organization
Run MAT governance cadences including weekly status meetings, monthly portfolio reviews, and quarterly planning cycles, ensuring leadership has a clear, current picture of progress, risks, and capacity
Design and maintain portfolio dashboards, status reports, and capacity planning tools in Smartsheet, serving as the primary source of truth for MAT operational health
Identify portfolio risks, resource conflicts, and delivery bottlenecks proactively, escalating to the Executive Director of MAT with clear recommendations for resolution
Ensure all capability teams follow consistent project management standards, templates, and reporting formats across the MAT organization
Coordinate vendor partnerships across all MAT technology partners, maintaining visibility into contracts, performance tracking, and service level alignment in partnership with IT
Support periodic vendor performance reviews, compiling data from capability leads and product leads into structured assessments that inform investment and renewal decisions
Serve as the central coordination point when vendor issues arise across any platform in the MAT portfolio, partnering with IT on resolution and escalation
Coordinate vendor RFP processes when new technology partnerships are being evaluated, ensuring a structured, consistent, and well documented evaluation approach
Identify new vendor opportunities and bring recommendations to capability leads and the Executive Director of MAT for consideration
Partner with IT to ensure the global support vendor delivers production support, testing, and issue resolution at the quality, speed, and cost the organization requires
Step in to provide direct project management leadership on critical MAT initiatives when needed, managing scope, timelines, dependencies, communication, and risk
Develop project management competency across the MAT team, establishing PM best practices, training materials, and coaching that raise the bar for how all team members manage their work
Keep consistency in how MAT operates across all capabilities by standardizing tools, workflows, templates, and reporting so the organization runs as one team regardless of which capability is executing
Lead onboarding for new MAT team members, ensuring every new hire or contractor understands the operating model, tools, governance standards, and cultural expectations from day one
Build and maintain the MAT operating playbook: the single reference for how intake, prioritization, delivery, vendor coordination, and reporting work across the organization
Serve as the Smartsheet power user for MAT, building and maintaining dashboards, automated workflows, reports, and project tracking structures that the entire organization relies on
Continuously improve and evolve MAT’s operational tooling, identifying opportunities to automate intake, reporting, capacity tracking, and vendor management processes
Evaluate and recommend new operational tools and process improvements that help MAT scale without adding headcount
Ensure data integrity and consistency across all MAT operational systems, so leadership decisions are based on accurate, timely information
Create Inclusion - knowing the business value of diverse teams, modeling inclusion, and embedding the value of diversity in the way they manage their teams.
Develop Talent - understand the skills, experience, aspirations and potential of their employees and coach them on current performance and future potential. They ensure employees are receiving the feedback and insight needed to grow, develop and realize their purpose.
Empower Teams - connect the team to the organization by aligning goals, purpose, and organizational objectives, and holding them to account. They provide the support needed to remove barriers and connect their team to the broader ecosystem.