Executive Director, Product Team Leader

We’re here for one reason and one reason only – to cure cancer. Every moment is dedicated to developing treatments and every action moves us one step closer to our goal. We’ve made incredible scientific breakthroughs and our pioneering personalized CAR T-cell therapies have changed the paradigm. But we're not finished yet. Join Kite, as we make even bigger advances in cancer therapies, and help shape where our business and medical science goes next. 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 Kite and help create more tomorrows. Job Description Kite, a Gilead Company, is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of innovative cancer immunotherapies. The company focuses on chimeric antigen receptor and T cell receptor engineered cell therapies. Everyone at Kite has been grounded by one common goal – curing cancer. Every day, we aim to establish a direct line between that purpose and our day-to-day work. As our portfolio expands into solid tumors, in vivo modalities, and autoimmune diseases, we continue advancing innovative science that addresses some of the world’s greatest health challenges, in cancer and beyond. The Executive Director, Product Team Leader plays a critical leadership role at the intersection of strategy, operations, and early-stage commercial insight. This position leads operational excellence, long-range strategic planning, cross-functional coordination and execution, and commercial input for one of Kite’s pipeline products across Hematologic Malignancy, Solid Tumor, In Vivo, and Autoimmune opportunities—ensuring future assets are well positioned for eventual global commercialization. Reporting to the VP, Global Portfolio & Asset Commercialization Strategy, the selected candidate will lead the Product Team responsible for late-stage development through commercialization of a next generation cell therapy focused on heme malignancies. To create a strong partnership with stakeholders and leaders across the corporation, as well as to foster continued professional growth, we would like this leader to be based in Kite’s global headquarters in Santa Monica, CA or Gilead’s global headquarters in Foster City, CA. Responsibilities: • 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. o Owns global asset vision and lifecycle for the designated asset. o End-to-end lifecycle ownership including long-term commercial value o Accountable for stage-gate progression and operationalization of strategy o Facilitates Go/No-Go decisions o Escalates risks and recommendations, drives execution within governance o 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. o Present product updates, strategic issues, options, and recommendations to the Portfolio Committee on behalf of the Product Team o 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. Specific responsibilities include: o Develop vision and strategy for the asset and a plan to achieve potential o Embed early commercial, access, and patient insights into development strategy, including target population definition and future value narratives, accounting for current and future competitive landscape o Identify and manage critical path activities and resources o Identify and manage interdependencies and hand-offs o Identify and proactively mitigate roadblocks o Lead contingency planning and identify and document risks, likelihoods, severities, and key mitigations o Capture and communicate progress; escalate potential delays with proposed solution • Drive progression of products through Development and Commercialization stage gates and ensure that: o Product Teams have adequate resources and technical expertise to meet strategic objectives o Issues are raised, discussed, and resolved in a timely manner o Product Teams receive leadership input & decisions in a timely manner o 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. Contribute to the development of cross-functional team members, freely sharing expertise and identifying opportunities for team members to grow as leaders • Ensure rigorous adherence to quality and compliance Basic Qualifications: 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 Preferred Qualifications: • 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. Able to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders • 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 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 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. The salary range for this position is: Bay Area: $302,005.00 - $390,830.00. Other US Locations: $274,550.00 - $355,300.00. Kite considers a variety of factors when determining base compensation, including experience, qualifications, and geographic location. These considerations mean actual compensation will vary. This position may also be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role), paid time off, and a benefits package. Benefits include company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans*. For additional benefits information, visit: * Eligible employees may participate in benefit plans, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans. Kite is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of innovative cancer immunotherapies with a goal of providing rapid, long-term durable response and eliminating the burden of chronic care. The company is focused on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor (TCR) engineered cell therapies designed to empower the immune system's ability to recognize and kill tumors. Kite is based in Santa Monica, CA. For more information on Kite, please visit Sign up to follow @KitePharma on Twitter at For jobs in the United States: Kite Pharma 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 View email address on click.appcast.io for assistance. For more information about equal employment opportunity protections, please view the 'Know Your Rights' poster. NOTICE: EMPLOYEE POLYGRAPH PROTECTION ACT YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT Kite Pharma 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. Kite Pharma provides a work environment free of harassment and prohibited conduct. We promote and support individual differences and diversity of thoughts and opinion. For Current Kite Pharma Employees and Contractors: Please apply via the Internal Career Opportunities portal in Workday. Change The World With Us Everyone at Kite is grounded by one common goal – curing cancer. Every day, we aim to establish a direct line between that purpose and our day-to-day work. We are creating Kite together, with the recognition that the best teams are built by the best people. We maintain an attitude of curiosity, and creativity with each challenge as we develop a new market for cancer therapies. We appreciate and respect one another, and most importantly, we don’t take success for granted. While we’ve come a long way to make what others viewed as impossible, possible, we know one thing is certain. Today is just the beginning.