Director, Contingent Workforce Strategy, Procurement & Program Operations

Gilead Sciences•Foster City, CA

About The Position

The Director is accountable for enterprise strategy, category performance, governance, and operational effectiveness for Gilead’s Contingent Workforce Program and related consulting and professional services categories. The role serves as a strategic partner to senior business leaders, translating workforce and business priorities into scalable category strategies, sourcing models, supplier solutions, and program capabilities. The Director owns enterprise outcomes across value realization, demand management, supplier performance, workforce risk, compliance, user experience, and operational effectiveness. The Director establishes the long-term vision and roadmap for the contingent workforce ecosystem, directs cross-functional governance and decision-making, and sponsors transformation initiatives to improve how Gilead engages, manages, and derives value from its external workforce. The role also represents Global Procurement in enterprise workforce planning, budgeting, external labor strategy, and operating discussions with senior leadership. This position leads category strategy and strategic sourcing, contingent workforce program operations, supplier and MSP governance, financial stewardship, technology and analytics transformation, and risk and compliance controls. It works closely with senior leaders and partners across Human Resources, Finance, FP&A, Legal, Compliance, Privacy, Tax, IT, and other functions. The Director also leads and develops a team and a global network of internal team members, MSP resources, suppliers, and cross-functional partners through direct and matrixed accountability.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and 12 years of experience, or a master’s degree and 10 years of experience, or a PhD and 8 years of experience.
Significant experience in strategic sourcing, category management, procurement business partnering, contingent workforce, professional services procurement, or enterprise program management.
Demonstrated success developing and executing enterprise-wide category or program strategies that deliver measurable business value.
Experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives in a global, highly matrixed organization.
Proven ability to influence senior leaders and guide decisions involving cost, risk, compliance, suppliers, technology, and operating models.
Experience leading strategic suppliers, MSPs, staffing partners, or outsourced service-delivery models.
Strong financial, commercial, analytical, negotiation, change leadership, and executive communication capabilities.
Experience establishing governance, performance measures, executive reporting, and escalation mechanisms.
Demonstrated leadership of transformation, technology, process-improvement, or operating-model initiatives.
Demonstrated people leadership and talent-development capability.

Nice To Haves

Experience in biopharmaceuticals, life sciences, healthcare, or another highly regulated industry.
Experience with contingent workforce ecosystems and technologies, including MSP, VMS, workforce analytics, and services procurement platforms.
Working knowledge of worker classification, co-employment, tenure, privacy, compliance, and global external-workforce considerations.
MBA or relevant professional certification in procurement, supply management, program management, or change management.
Experience leading globally distributed teams and supplier ecosystems.

Responsibilities

Own enterprise-wide performance and outcomes for the Contingent Workforce Program and assigned consulting and professional services categories.
Establish the program’s strategic direction, operating model, governance structure, decision rights, controls, performance measures, and escalation pathways.
Support cross-functional governance forums and recommend workforce channels, supplier models, rate strategies, program expansion, policy exceptions, and operating-model decisions.
Serve as the escalation point for material workforce, regulatory, financial, supplier, compliance, and operational risks.
Represent Global Procurement in enterprise workforce planning, budgeting, external labor strategy, and operating discussions with senior leadership.
Partner strategically with senior executives and build relationships that position Procurement upstream in workforce planning, budgeting, demand shaping, and business decisions.
Translate business strategies, operating plans, and talent priorities into procurement, category, supplier, and program strategies; use business acumen, market intelligence, workforce analytics, supplier insights, and clear recommendations to influence decisions.
Develop and execute multi-year category strategies for Contingent Workforce and assigned consulting and professional services categories.
Own the category roadmap and opportunity pipeline across cost optimization, demand management, standardization, supplier consolidation, innovation, sustainability, inclusion, and risk mitigation.
Set commercial and negotiation strategies for complex, high-value, or high-risk sourcing initiatives; provide executive direction for major supplier selections, renewals, negotiations, and operating-model changes.
Apply supply-market intelligence and benchmarking to improve rate competitiveness, service quality, category resilience, and total cost of ownership.
Own the strategic and operational performance of the Contingent Workforce Program and establish its long-term roadmap, including operating-model maturity, geographic expansion, service delivery, governance, controls, analytics, technology, and user experience.
Partner with Human Resources and Finance to incorporate external workforce insights into workforce planning and total talent decisions.
Establish frameworks for selecting engagement channels across temporary labor, independent contractors, consulting and professional services, and managed services.
Use workforce, spend, supplier, rate, tenure, demand, and compliance data to identify risks and recommend enterprise interventions.
Ensure effective demand management, program adoption, policy compliance, workforce classification, rate governance, tenure management, and user support while balancing enterprise standards with country-specific requirements.
Define supplier segmentation, relationship strategies, performance expectations, and governance models for MSPs, staffing suppliers, consulting firms, and other strategic service providers.
Establish supplier-performance frameworks; hold partners accountable for contractual commitments, service levels, quality, compliance, innovation, user experience, and business outcomes.
Lead executive business reviews and align internal leaders and suppliers on priorities, performance, risks, corrective actions, and improvement plans; direct remediation and executive escalation when performance falls short.
Develop strategic supplier partnerships that improve access to talent, innovation, workforce agility, service quality, and enterprise value.
Own the multi-year value agenda, including savings, cost avoidance, demand management, productivity, service improvement, and risk-adjusted value.
Partner with FP&A and business leaders on annual plans, forecasts, targets, investment priorities, and resource requirements; identify structural cost opportunities and ensure benefits are defined, validated, tracked, communicated, and sustained.
Provide senior leadership with transparent reporting on spend, demand, financial performance, program health, risks, and value realization.
Own the strategic roadmap for contingent workforce technology, data, analytics, automation, and user experience; partner with relevant functions and program partners to prioritize and deliver scalable capabilities.
Establish data-quality, reporting, and control standards for enterprise visibility into external workforce demand, cost, utilization, tenure, classification, supplier performance, and compliance.
Use predictive and prescriptive insights to improve demand planning, rate management, supplier allocation, risk identification, and workforce decisions.
Sponsor automation and operating-model improvements; lead stakeholder readiness, communications, change management, adoption, and benefit realization for major program enhancements.
Establish and maintain a risk-based control framework covering worker classification, co-employment, tenure, approved channels, supplier compliance, privacy, security, audit readiness, and applicable regulatory requirements.
Partner with Legal, Compliance, Human Resources, Finance, Tax, Privacy, and regional stakeholders to identify, assess, mitigate, and monitor external-workforce risks.
Define risk indicators, thresholds, exception processes, corrective actions, and escalation requirements; ensure material issues are communicated promptly with facts, options, recommendations, and ownership.
Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team responsible for category management and Contingent Workforce Program operations, where applicable.
Set goals, decision rights, performance expectations, development plans, and operating rhythms; build succession, capability, and workforce plans.
Lead a global network of internal team members, MSP resources, suppliers, and cross-functional partners through influence and matrixed accountability.
Create an inclusive, accountable, collaborative, and continuous-improvement culture; champion procurement transformation and contribute to capability building across Global Procurement.
Model inclusion, develop employee talent through coaching and feedback, and empower teams by aligning goals and removing barriers.