Senior Director, IT Product Management - SAP Platform

Exelixis • Alameda, CA

70d • $228,500 - $323,500

About The Position

The Senior Director IT Product Management, SAP Platform, will oversee and lead a portfolio of digital products critical to Exelixis's success and ambition to launch innovative medicines for patients. This role is pivotal in defining and driving the strategy, development, and operational excellence of our Enterprise Resource Planning ecosystem, ensuring alignment with business objectives and a strong focus on user experience and value delivery. Operating within a product-centric model, the Senior Director will be responsible for defining product roadmaps, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and leading agile product teams to deliver innovative and impactful digital solutions that accelerate drug discovery, development, and commercialization.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in related discipline and 15 years of related experience; or
• Master's degree in mathematics or statistics or engineering and 13 years of related experience.
• PhD degree in a related discipline and 12 years of related experience; or
• Equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience supporting Enterprise IT enabling business functions.
• Minimum of 12+ years of progressive experience in IT, with at least 8+ years in a leadership role focused on enterprise applications or product management within the life science or pharmaceutical industry.
• Proven experience in leading product development teams in an agile/product-centric operating model is essential.
• Strong understanding of Finance, Commercial Supply Chain, and Procurement business processes within a pharmaceutical or biotechnology company.
• Demonstrated success in defining and delivering complex enterprise products that drive significant business value.
• Extensive experience managing and implementing SAP S/4HANA with a focus on Finance, Supply Chain and analytics.
• Experience managing and implementing supply and demand planning solutions (e.g. Kinaxis).
• Experience with integration platforms, such as CPI (Cloud Platform Integration), Integration Suite or other similar middleware.
• Experience with regulatory frameworks and compliance in a SOX and GxP environment including IT General Controls (ITGC) and Segregation of Duties (SoD).

Nice To Haves

• Exceptional leadership and team-building skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate diverse teams.
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities, with a data-driven approach to decision-making.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively at all levels of the organization.
• Deep understanding of product management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Scrum, Kanban) and product lifecycle management.
• Solid technical acumen with the ability to understand complex IT architectures and development processes.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

Responsibilities

• Define, evangelize, and drive the enterprise vision and multi-year strategy for a portfolio of digital products (Enterprise Resource Planning, Financial Reporting and Analytics, Supply and Demand Planning, SAP S/4HANA Platform), ensuring alignment with corporate objectives and Information technology goals.
• Engage senior business leaders and functional executives across multiple business functions (Finance, Accounting, Strategic Sourcing, Pharmaceutical Supply Chain) to shape product direction, uncover unmet needs, and translate strategic opportunities into actionable product roadmaps.
• Conduct market research, competitive analysis, and technology trends assessment to identify new opportunities and ensure our enterprise applications remain cutting-edge and competitive within the life science landscape.
• Prioritize product initiatives based on business value, technical feasibility, regulatory compliance, and resource availability, ensuring a balanced portfolio of short-term wins and long-term strategic investments.
• Conduct final review and approval of architecture and design patterns to ensure enterprise solutions are built in the right and secured manner.
• Inspire and lead multiple cross-functional teams, including Product Analysts, Product Lead(s) and digital application specialists, by cultivating a culture of strategic ownership, innovation, and continuous improvement across the digital product lifecycle.
• Provide executive oversight of the entire product lifecycle from ideation to launch and post-launch optimization, ensuring efficient and effective product development processes (e.g., Agile Scrum, Kanban).
• Set standards for definition and delivery of multiple enterprise products by guiding the creation of high-impact user stories, acceptance criteria, and product specifications that balance and reflect business priorities and user needs across multiple functions.
• Partner at a strategic level with engineering, architecture, and quality leaders to ensure the delivery of secure, scalable, and high-quality enterprise applications that meet evolving business demands.
• Shape and govern strategic vendor relationships, ensuring alignment of external capabilities with internal product roadmaps, delivery timelines, and operational excellence standards.
• Champion a user-centric design approach, leveraging user research, usability testing, and feedback loops to continuously improve the user experience and effectiveness of enterprise solutions across multiple enterprise products and business functions.
• Manage and sustain a robust data management & AI practice to protect sensitive information and ensure its accuracy and reliability across multiple enterprise products and business functions.
• Serve as an executive liaison between IT and various business functions, translating complex technical strategies into actionable business outcomes.
• Forge and sustain strategic partnership with key stakeholders across the organization to ensure alignment on product vision, investment priorities, and measurable outcomes.
• Facilitate effective communication and decision-making across product teams, 3+ business units, and IT functional groups.
• Represent the Information Technology team in executive steering committees, strategic planning councils, and enterprise-wide cross-functional initiatives.
• Accountable for the operational stability, performance, and security of digital applications, working closely with IT operations and infrastructure teams.
• Establish and lead governance frameworks for vendor partnerships and third-party software solutions, ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture, compliance mandates, and business continuity objectives.
• Define and enforce all enterprise applications, feature releases and processes comply with relevant regulatory requirements (e.g., GxP, HIPAA, GDPR, SOX) and internal quality and security standards.
• Ensure that all product releases meet rigorous quality standards and compliance requirements. Partner with quality and compliance leaders to re-define and update standards as needed.
• Design and operationalize strategic KPIs and performance dashboards, enabling executive visibility into product adoption, business impact, and continuous improvement opportunities driven by data and stakeholder feedback.
• Shape and execute a strategic talent agenda for the Information Technology organization, attracting, developing, and retaining top-tier talent to build a resilient, high-performing team aligned with enterprise goals.
• Provide visionary leadership and mentorship, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous growth through structured coaching, feedback, and career development frameworks.
• Champion a culture of digital innovation and learning agility, embedding continuous improvement, adaptability, and inclusion into the team's operating model to meet evolving business and technology demands.
• Manage budgets allocation and financial planning for product a portfolio within Digital Applications job family. Influence budget and financial planning across all products.
• Manage through direct team of managers and high-level individual contributors.
• Coach and train managers to ensure consistent and effective management of highly performing teams.
• Develop and recommend an organizational structure to accomplish objectives of the unit.
• Recruit staff to meet the unit's immediate objectives and create succession planning to meet function's longer-term objectives.

Benefits

• 401k plan with generous company contributions
• Group medical, dental and vision coverage
• Life and disability insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• Discretionary annual bonus program
• Sales-based incentive plan for field sales staff
• Opportunity to purchase company stock
• Long-term incentives
• 15 accrued vacation days in the first year
• 17 paid holidays including a company-wide winter shutdown in December
• Up to 10 sick days throughout the calendar year

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Industry: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees