Senior Director, Responsible Business Strategy & Governance

Gilead Sciences•Foster City, CA

About The Position

The Senior Director serves as a strategic thought partner to the Executive Director and a senior cross-functional execution leader for Responsible Business. The role helps shape priorities, assess options and tradeoffs, and translate agreed strategy into recommendations, governance, and accountable delivery of complex enterprise initiatives. Overall strategy, executive alignment, and material decisions remain with the Executive Director. The position translates Responsible Business strategy into governance processes, operating plans, decision pathways, and escalation practices. It leads a defined portfolio of complex cross-functional initiatives, which may include the KPI universe, patient-reach methodology, and human rights policy, and coordinates work across Stakeholder Intelligence, Sustainability, Strategic Partnerships, reporting, and communications while preserving each capability lead’s accountability. The role builds time-bound cross-functional teams, establishes milestones and ownership, resolves delivery barriers, and transitions mature work to appropriate permanent owners. It supports executive decision-making with clear materials and recommendations and may support selected external and investor engagements. Reporting operating-model ownership, data and evidence architecture, portal workflows, recurring operations, methodology tracking, and submission coordination remain with the Director, Responsible Business Reporting & Communications or accountable owners. The Senior Director supports reporting delivery when broader strategy or senior cross-functional alignment is required. Near-term work includes stabilizing governance and critical work during a leadership transition; clarifying ownership, handoffs, and controls across functions; leading selected priority initiatives; establishing a practical roadmap for future-state systems, governance, and operating capabilities; and simplifying or discontinuing duplicative processes. Success includes timely evidence-based recommendations, clear governance and escalation, delivery of agreed outcomes, durable ownership of completed initiatives, reduced recurring executive intervention, and clearer team roles and interfaces.

Requirements

14 or more years of relevant experience with a BS/BA, or 12 or more years of relevant experience with an MS/MA or MBA.
Significant senior-level experience across Responsible Business, corporate affairs, public affairs, sustainability, governance, strategy, or a related discipline in a complex organization.
Demonstrated success leading complex, high-stakes initiatives across functions and influencing senior executives without relying on direct authority.
Strong understanding of governance, data and reporting architecture, controls, evidence, disclosure readiness, external assessments, or related enterprise systems.
Exceptional strategic synthesis, executive writing, facilitation, and judgment, including the ability to convert technical material into clear choices and recommendations.
Experience designing technology-enabled workflows and using data and analytics to improve governance, decision-making, and operational visibility.
Ability to establish structure quickly, distinguish material issues from process noise, and move work from ambiguity to decision and execution.
Strong cross-functional leadership, stakeholder management, and disciplined follow-through.
Ability to create inclusion, develop talent, and empower teams as a people leader.

Nice To Haves

Experience in biopharma, healthcare, or another highly regulated global organization.
Experience coaching colleagues and building strategic and operating capability across a team.

Responsibilities

Translate Responsible Business strategy into governance processes, operating plans, decision pathways, and escalation practices.
Lead a defined portfolio of complex, high-stakes cross-functional initiatives requiring senior judgment, structured problem-solving, and sustained execution.
Lead strategy activation and cross-functional governance by aligning priorities, clarifying decisions, mobilizing functional owners, and resolving barriers.
Translate stakeholder insights and assessment findings into strategic options and agreed cross-functional action.
Develop decision-ready materials and recommendations for executive leaders and governance bodies, and support preparation for selected external and investor engagements.
Coordinate defined governance and strategic initiatives across Stakeholder Intelligence, Sustainability, Strategic Partnerships, reporting, and communications while preserving capability leads’ accountability.
Build time-bound cross-functional teams, set milestones and accountabilities, resolve delivery barriers, and transition mature work to appropriate permanent owners.
Support reporting delivery when dependencies require broader strategy or senior cross-functional alignment, without duplicating the reporting Director’s ownership.
Clarify ownership, handoffs, and controls across Public Affairs, Finance, Controllership, Legal, Sustainability, Human Resources, Investor Relations, and other data or policy owners.
Establish a practical roadmap for future-state Responsible Business systems, governance, and operating capabilities.
Identify opportunities to simplify or discontinue duplicative processes and transition work to permanent owners.
Serve as a trusted adviser to the Executive Director and help strengthen the team’s strategic capability, operating discipline, and bench.
Coach colleagues and contribute to building strategic and operating capability across the team.