Executive Director, Product Team Leader

Gilead Sciences

Executive Director responsible for product strategy and commercialization at Kite, a biopharmaceutical company innovating cancer therapies. Leading cross-functional teams to achieve product goals and objectives.

Posted 5/28/2026full-timeSanta Monica • California • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $302,005 - $390,830 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Single, accountable leader of a Product Team, providing strategic leadership to drive development and execution of product strategy aimed at maximizing the value of the asset.
Owns global asset vision and lifecycle for the designated asset.
End-to-end lifecycle ownership including long-term commercial value
Accountable for stage-gate progression and operationalization of strategy
Facilitates Go/No-Go decisions
Escalates risks and recommendations, drives execution within governance
Balances science with commercial and medical insights, accounting for provider, payer and patient considerations.
An enterprise leader accountable for clear and timely communication about the product throughout the enterprise with early engagement of key stakeholders.
Partnering with key stakeholders and Kite leadership to align product strategy with broader disease area program strategy and Kite corporate strategy.
Serving as the enterprise decision integrator for the asset, accountable for identifying trade-offs across development, medical, regulatory, technical operations—recognizing the unique complexity, risk profile, and early-stage importance of technical operations engagement in cell therapy—and commercial considerations and making recommendations to maximize long term enterprise value.
Present product updates, strategic issues, options, and recommendations to the Portfolio Committee on behalf of the Product Team.
Lead Product Team meetings and ensures cross-functional Product Team Members are working in alignment on strategic and operational topics.
Partner with cross-functional leaders to develop comprehensive product development and life-cycle management plans that optimize value, time, resources, risk, and alignment with business objectives.
Drive progression of products through Development and Commercialization stage gates and ensure that:
Product Teams have adequate resources and technical expertise to meet strategic objectives
Issues are raised, discussed, and resolved in a timely manner
Product Teams receive leadership input & decisions in a timely manner
Product Teams adhere to agreed-upon priorities, scope, timelines, resources, and budget
Create a high-performance team culture within the Product Team through collaboration and coaching of cross-functional team members.
Ensure rigorous adherence to quality and compliance.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Doctorate or MS / MA Degree and 14+ years of Product and/or Strategy and/or Development and/or Operations and/or Commercialization experience OR BS / BA Degree and 16+ years of Product and/or Strategy and/or Development and/or Operations and/or Commercialization experience
Demonstrated experience leading drug development and/or commercial experience with an understanding of what it takes to shepherd a molecule through its life cycle to realize maximum value for its targeted population(s) and the company
Prior experience in cellular therapy, and/or oncology therapeutics, particularly heme malignancies, preferred.
Ideally, the candidate has held a similar role/level leading a Product Team and has experience leading the commercialization of at least one development candidate, navigating development and commercialization stage gates.
Demonstrated leadership skills from leading cross-functional teams in a matrix organization, with highly collaborative instincts and track record of resolving conflicts within the team
Demonstrated success in influencing key stakeholders working collaboratively in a cross-functional environment through excellent communication (written and verbal) skills, organizational skills, interpersonal skills, high EQ, and persuasion.
Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with clinical scientists, scientists, technical operations experts, regulatory and commercial colleagues at all levels of the organization.
Strong familiarity with the role of these functions in drug development and commercialization is critical.
High learning agility and high degree of organizational awareness and understanding of change leadership and leading innovation in an ambiguous and rapidly evolving environment
Ability to assimilate data, recognize key variables, analyze complex situations and make quality judgments to define product strategy, commercialization and lifecycle plans
Preference for direct people and/or matrix leadership experience with demonstrated success of leading high-performing teams.

Benefits

Comp & perks

company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans
discretionary annual bonus
discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role)
paid time off

ATS Keywords

✓ Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools

product strategylifecycle managementdrug developmentcommercializationstage-gate progressionrisk managementdata analysisstrategic planningcross-functional leadershipcell therapy

Soft Skills

leadershipcommunicationcollaborationconflict resolutionorganizational skillsinterpersonal skillspersuasionhigh emotional intelligencelearning agilitychange leadership

Certifications

DoctorateMS/MA DegreeBS/BA Degree