GPS Portfolio Strategy and Governance

Baxter International Inc.•Deerfield, IL

1d•$232,000 - $319,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director, GPS Portfolio Strategy & Governance is an enterprise transformation and portfolio leader accountable for translating Baxter’s Growth & Performance System (GPS) strategy into a focused, integrated portfolio that delivers measurable enterprise value. This role combines 80/20-based portfolio optimization with rigorous transformation-office governance to simplify complexity, concentrate resources on the vital few priorities, and accelerate execution across businesses and functions. The Senior Director governs a large, cross-functional portfolio of 800+ initiatives spanning process improvement, business transformation, capability building, digitization, and product/SKU rationalization. Product and SKU work remains an important portfolio workstream, but the role governs it through the same prioritization, stage-gate, benefit-tracking, and accountability mechanisms applied to all other initiatives rather than directly leading SKU execution. Partnering with senior leaders across Finance, HR, Quality, Supply Chain, Commercial, Digital/IT, and Reporting & Analytics, this leader drives integrated planning, disciplined decision making, resource alignment, benefits realization, and sustained adoption of GPS ways of working.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required in Business, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, or a related field; MBA or other advanced degree preferred.
12+ years of progressive leadership experience in enterprise portfolio management, transformation, operational excellence, strategy, and/or large-scale change across multiple functions and geographies.
Demonstrated experience governing complex, high-value portfolios, including prioritization, stage gates, risk and issue management, resource alignment, benefits tracking, and executive reporting.
Strong working knowledge of 80/20 methodology and GPS Methods and Standards, including portfolio segmentation, Lean, Six Sigma/DMAIC, kaizen, A3 thinking, root-cause analysis, visual management, daily management, and Hoshin Kanri/goal deployment. Experience applying these methods to enterprise portfolio optimization, governance, and transformation is strongly preferred.
Proven ability to translate strategy into executable roadmaps and measurable outcomes, with strong financial acumen and experience partnering with Finance on value cases and benefits realization.
Exceptional executive communication, stakeholder management, and influence skills, with demonstrated success aligning senior leaders in highly matrixed organizations.
Demonstrated people leadership, coaching, and talent development experience, including leadership of direct teams and matrixed networks.
Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Nice To Haves

Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, or Master Black Belt certification preferred.

Responsibilities

Translate GPS and enterprise priorities into an integrated, multi-year portfolio roadmap with clear outcomes, owners, milestones, dependencies, and decision points; maintain focus on the critical few initiatives that advance enterprise value creators and KPIs.
Apply Pareto-based segmentation and 80/20 capabilities across customers, products, processes, projects, and investments to identify the vital few opportunities, simplify complexity, stop or reshape low-value work, and redirect resources toward the highest-return priorities.
Design and lead enterprise governance for an 800+ initiative portfolio, including intake, prioritization, stage gates, decision rights, resource alignment, risk and issue management, escalation, and executive reporting.
Govern product and SKU rationalization as a critical portfolio workstream by establishing decision criteria, milestones, ownership, benefit expectations, and escalation paths; ensure accountable business and functional teams lead execution and integrate decisions with customer, commercial, supply chain, quality, and financial considerations.
Establish standards for defining, validating, and tracking financial and operational benefits across Operating Income, Revenue Growth, ROIC, Free Cash Flow, cost avoidance, productivity, and customer satisfaction; reinforce disciplined follow-through, action closure, and a strong Say/Do ratio.
Lead portfolio reviews and GPS governance forums using standardized agendas, scorecards, bowling charts, decision logs, and escalation paths to increase transparency, surface risks early, accelerate countermeasures, and enable timely leadership decisions.
Orchestrate workstreams across businesses, functions, and geographies; proactively manage dependencies, remove barriers, and ensure initiatives remain aligned to enterprise priorities and expected outcomes.
Identify repeatable initiatives, scalable solutions, and proven practices within the portfolio; standardize and deploy them across the enterprise to accelerate value capture, reduce duplication, and improve consistency.
Partner with Operational Excellence leaders to embed GPS Methods and Standards—including Lean, Six Sigma/DMAIC, kaizen, A3 thinking, root-cause analysis, visual management, daily management, and Hoshin Kanri—through playbooks, coaching, training, and communities of practice.
Partner with HR and Communications to build stakeholder alignment, reinforce leader behaviors and standard work, measure adoption, and sustain a culture of simplification, accountability, continuous improvement, and enterprise focus.
Partner with Finance, Reporting & Analytics, Data Governance, Digital, and IT to enable trusted data, segmented P&Ls, dashboards, and insights, and to simplify work through process redesign, digitization, and automation.
Lead and develop a high-performing team and matrixed network of portfolio and transformation leaders; set expectations for execution rigor, coaching, talent development, and succession depth.

Benefits

medical and dental coverage that start on day one
insurance coverage for basic life, accident, short-term and long-term disability, and business travel accident insurance
Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), with the ability to purchase company stock at a discount
401(k) Retirement Savings Plan (RSP), with options for employee contributions and company matching
Flexible Spending Accounts
educational assistance programs
paid holidays
paid time off ranging from 20 to 35 days based on length of service
family and medical leaves of absence
paid parental leave
commuting benefits
Employee Discount Program
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
childcare benefits