At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer – working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.
Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.
We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together.
Job Description
At Gilead our pursuit of a healthier world for all people has yielded a cure for hepatitis C, revolutionary improvements in HIV treatment and prevention as well as advancements in therapies for viral and inflammatory diseases and certain cancers.
We set and achieve bold ambitions in our fight against the world’s most devastating diseases, united in our commitment to confronting the largest public health challenges of our day and improving the lives of patients for generations to come.
About the role:
The Senior Director, Leadership Development for Leading Others leads the design and delivery of an enterprise-wide people leadership development strategy for leaders below the senior executive level. This role supports leaders with direct reports, team leaders without formal people management responsibility, and emerging leaders preparing for future leadership roles.
The scope spans first-time people leaders through highly experienced leaders of leaders, including new-to-company leader onboarding, succession development, and progression from frontline leadership to senior leadership roles. The role plays a critical part in building a strong, future-ready leadership pipeline and strengthening people leadership capability across the organization.
This position reports to the Global Head of Talent & Growth and operates through influence, partnership, and a broad ecosystem of internal stakeholders and external partners. The role has no direct reports.
This role reports to the Global Head of Talent & Growth and is located in Foster City, CA.
Responsibilities:
Own and evolve a multi-year enterprise strategy for people leadership development below the senior executive level.
Design a cohesive leadership development architecture that supports leaders from first-time people managers through senior leaders of leaders.
Translate leadership priorities into clear roadmaps that build foundational capability, reinforce growth-oriented leadership, and scale impact over time.
Ensure leadership development operates as an integrated journey across programs, experiences, tools, and in-the-flow-of-work learning aligned to business priorities and culture.
Establish the foundational capabilities and mindsets required for people leaders to act as growth enablers, supporting growth in role and growth in career.
Embed growth-oriented leadership practices across all people leader experiences, including coaching, feedback, development planning, and team enablement.
Partner with HR and business leaders to reinforce consistent expectations for people leaders as enablers of talent growth and readiness.
Build and deliver foundational development for first-time people leaders, including people management, performance leadership, and inclusive leadership skills.
Design development pathways for team leaders and informal leaders who lead through influence without formal people management responsibility.
Lead onboarding for new-to-company people leaders to accelerate integration into leadership expectations, culture, and ways of working.
Create differentiated development for experienced leaders and leaders of leaders, emphasizing enterprise thinking, talent development, and leading at scale.
Support progression from frontline leadership to leaders of leaders and senior leaders, addressing increasing complexity, scope, and impact.
Partner with Talent and HR leaders to strengthen leadership pipelines and succession for critical roles below the executive level.
Design development experiences for emerging leaders preparing for larger and more complex leadership roles, including future executive readiness.
Provide insight into leadership capability gaps, readiness, and development priorities to inform enterprise talent decisions.
Apply innovative and AI-enabled approaches to personalize learning, scale development, and improve leader effectiveness.
Establish metrics and feedback mechanisms to assess capability growth, behavior change, and business impact.
Continuously refine leadership development strategies using data, qualitative insight, and systems thinking.
Build and manage a strong ecosystem of external partners and act as a trusted advisor to HR and business leaders.
Expertise:
12+ years with MS/MA, MBA, or PhD or 14+ years relevant experience with a bachelor's degree.
Progressive experience in people leader development within large, complex organizations.
Strong foundation in adult learning, leadership development, and behavior change across multiple leadership levels, from first‑time leaders to senior leaders of leaders.
Proven ability to design and scale practical, business‑aligned leadership development approaches.
Experience supporting leadership pipelines, succession, and readiness for expanded leadership roles.
Fluency in applying AI‑enabled tools and innovative learning methods to improve leader effectiveness and development outcomes.
Demonstrated ability to influence without authority and operate through partnerships, including managing external vendors and delivery ecosystems.
Leadership Capabilities:
Demonstrates personal growth through reflection, feedback seeking, and challenging assumptions.
Builds trust and influence across a global, matrixed organization and operates effectively amid change and ambiguity.
Applies enterprise and systems thinking to connect leadership development to strategy, culture, and long-term business outcomes.
Uses data and insight to diagnose leadership needs and focus effort where it delivers the greatest impact.
Takes a long-term, proactive view in designing development approaches that strengthen leadership capability and organizational health.
Seeks diverse perspectives and fosters openness, psychological safety, and shared ownership.
Communicates with clarity and impact, simplifying complexity and aligning stakeholders around a common direction.
People Leader Accountabilities:
•Create Inclusion - knowing the business value of diverse teams, modeling inclusion, and embedding the value of diversity in the
way they manage their teams.
•Develop Talent - understand the skills, experience, aspirations and potential of their employees and coach them on current
performance and future potential. They ensure employees are receiving the feedback and insight needed to grow, develop and
realize their purpose.
•Empower Teams - connect the team to the organization by aligning goals, purpose, and organizational objectives, and holding
them to account. They provide the support needed to remove barriers and connect their team to the broader ecosystem.
For additional benefits information, visit:
https://www.gilead.com/careers/compensation-benefits-and-wellbeing
* Eligible employees may participate in benefit plans, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans.
Gilead Sciences Inc. is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment, and is dedicated to fostering an inclusive work environment comprised of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. Employment decisions regarding recruitment and selection will be made without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, genetic information or characteristic, gender identity and expression, veteran status, or other non-job related characteristics or other prohibited grounds specified in applicable federal, state and local laws. In order to ensure reasonable accommodation for individuals protected by Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act of 1974, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, applicants who require accommodation in the job application process may contact ApplicantAccommodations@gilead.com for assistance.
For more information about equal employment opportunity protections, please view the 'Know Your Rights' poster.
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Gilead Sciences will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, (c) consistent with the legal duty to furnish information; or (d) otherwise protected by law.
Our environment respects individual differences and recognizes each employee as an integral member of our company. Our workforce reflects these values and celebrates the individuals who make up our growing team.
Gilead provides a work environment free of harassment and prohibited conduct. We promote and support individual differences and diversity of thoughts and opinion.
Please apply via the Internal Career Opportunities portal in Workday.