Operational Effectiveness Lead

Takeda•Cambridge, MA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Program Excellence Lead serves as an operational and strategic partner to senior leaders, accountable for driving planning rigor, governance, operational execution, and transparency across a complex Data, Digital & Technology (DD&T) organization. This role acts as the connective tissue between strategy and execution, ensuring priorities are clearly defined, execution is aligned to strategy, risks are surfaced early, and outcomes are tracked, communicated, and realized. The role balances strategic thinking, operational discipline, and stakeholder partnership, and is critical to enabling leadership focus on value creation, delivery predictability, and enterprise alignment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Computer Sciences, Life Sciences, or related subject matter
Minimum 10+ years of information management and/or related work experience in Biotech/Pharmaceutical industry
8+ years of working experience managing external service provider partnerships within Pharmaceutical and/or Biotech environment
Experience with IT projects from start to end
Strong knowledge of information management, data quality, data constraints, and Governance frameworks
Proven mentorship ability to more junior team members
Demonstrated ability to drive continuous improvement, operational excellence, and elevate service levels
Excellence communications skills (written and verbal) with ability to listen and influence stakeholders at all levels
Ability to engage effectively with colleagues and senior business stakeholders
Exceptional attention to detail, accuracy, and a high level of organization skills

Responsibilities

Lead the design, launch, and integration of new programs and special projects intended to bring innovative ideas, processes, and ways of working to DD&T
Incubate new programs designed to optimize operational capabilities within DD&T until they transition to Business-as-Usual activity
Drive annual and quarterly planning processes, including intake, prioritization, dependency management, and trade‑off decisions
Operate, and continuously improve governance forums, decision rights, and escalation pathways
Prepare executive‑ready materials (readouts, dashboards, talking points) to support leadership and investment decisions
Support DD&T transformation through the Transformation Management Office (TMO)
Provide broad support of activities across the TMO as a central team member, driving regular reporting on progress and monitoring interdependencies across workstreams
Manage the operating model refresh, focusing on optimizing prioritization and execution across DD&T
Drive continuous improvement through retrospectives, lessons learned, and process optimization
Define, track, and report on operational metrics across DD&T portfolios
Surface risks, trends, and performance gaps early, with clear recommendations and options
Enable transparency through consistent reporting, forecasting, and benefits realization tracking
Partner with senior DD&T leaders to translate strategy into annual and quarterly operating plans, priorities, and measurable outcomes
Optimize and run governance forums and operating rhythms, clarifying decision rights, escalation paths, and follow-through on actions
Produce executive-ready reporting (dashboards, readouts, talking points) that provides performance transparency and enables timely decisions
Define, track, and communicate KPIs/OKRs and benefits realization to monitor delivery predictability and value creation
Proactively identify risks, issues, and performance gaps; provide structured analysis, options, and recommendations to leaders
Drive continuous improvement in ways of working through retrospectives, lessons learned, standard processes, and tool adoption across teams and geographies
Foster a culture of accountability, clarity, and outcome‑focused delivery