Director, IT SAP Product Lifecycle and Quality

Gilead Sciences•Foster City, CA

About The Position

At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer – working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference. Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact. We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in IT, Engineering, Computer Science, Business, Life Sciences, Supply Chain, or related field.
15+ years of SAP, ERP, digital platform, product management, solution architecture, or enterprise delivery experience in life sciences or regulated manufacturing.
Deep experience with SAP PLM, SAP QM, SAP S/4HANA, and regulated product lifecycle, quality, and release processes.
Strong knowledge of PLM and quality capabilities, including specifications, recipes, BOMs, change management, inspection, batch management, release, genealogy, and related integrations.
Solid understanding of GxP, GMP, FDA 21 CFR Part 11, validation, data integrity, audit readiness, and regulated delivery practices.
Proven ability to lead ERP portfolios across strategy, roadmap, investment planning, delivery, sustainment, compliance, and value realization.
Demonstrated leadership of global matrix teams, vendors, system integrators, AMS partners, business stakeholders, and technical teams.
Strong business partnership, executive communication, and governance skills with the ability to simplify complex SAP, quality, regulatory, and compliance topics.
Track record of driving standardization, reducing technical debt, improving operational resilience, and delivering measurable business outcomes.
Ability to present roadmap, investment, delivery, sustainment, and value realization recommendations to senior leadership.

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end Regulatory-to-Release capability strategy across PLM, Quality Management, Product Release, and related digital platforms.
Serve as the senior IT partner for Product Development, Regulatory, Quality, Manufacturing, Clinical, Supply Chain, and Kite, aligning technology priorities to business outcomes.
Set the multi-year roadmap and investment priorities for SAP PLM, SAP QM, Batch Release, Global Batch Trace, and related quality capabilities.
Establish enterprise standards and design principles that promote compliant, scalable, and standardized solutions.
Partner with business process owners, Enterprise Architecture, and delivery teams to govern solution decisions, investments, and lifecycle management.
Drive measurable outcomes in compliance, product quality, release cycle time, adoption, stability, and business value realization.
Own delivery performance across the Regulatory-to-Release portfolio, ensuring scope, schedule, quality, validation, deployment, sustainment, and adoption commitments are met.
Lead execution across PLM, QM, Batch Release, and related digital initiatives, ensuring delivery is predictable, compliant, and business-aligned.
Oversee cross-functional teams, partners, and vendors to resolve issues, manage dependencies, and drive integrated planning from design through support.
Govern backlog priorities, release plans, testing, validation, deployment readiness, and hypercare execution.
Ensure delivery documentation, metrics, and governance controls support quality, compliance, adoption, stability, and measurable business outcomes.
Lead the Regulatory-to-Release organization across PLM, Quality Management project delivery & sustainment operations.
Set clear ownership, priorities, execution discipline, and talent development expectations for PLM and Quality leaders.
Build accountable, customer-focused teams with strong product, architecture, delivery, quality, validation, and operations capabilities.
Manage vendors, system integrators, AMS partners, and co-source teams to ensure delivery performance and accountability.
Influence senior business and IT leaders on strategy, investments, roadmap priorities, operating model decisions, and value realization.
Communicate priorities, risks, progress, operational health, and outcomes to senior leadership and governance forums.