Executive Director, Head of Global Policies and Training

Role Summary

The Executive Director, Head of Global Policies and Training is a strategic leader responsible for driving the global vision, strategy, and operational excellence of Gilead’s ethics and healthcare compliance policies and training program. This role has leadership responsibility for a critical function, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives, regulatory requirements and best-in-class standards. The role reports to the Vice President, Global Compliance Operations. This global role requires partnering with senior leaders across the organization, influencing our compliance culture, and delivering measurable impact on organizational risk and employee engagement. This position is based in Foster City, CA.

Responsibilities

• Drive the strategic direction and long-term vision for global ethics and compliance policies and training, ensuring alignment with company and functional strategy.
• Advise and consult with the Vice President, Global Compliance Operations, and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, as well as other senior executive leadership on strategic issues with company-wide impact. This includes supporting a strong culture of ethics and compliance, mitigating risk, and ensuring business activities comply with relevant ethical standards, laws and regulations.
• Serve as the principal decision-maker for global policies and training, with authority to approve, implement, and retire policies and programs.
• Develop, review, and update global policies to ensure they are current, comprehensive, and aligned with relevant requirements and Gilead’s values, and ensuring an integrated approach to policies and training.
• Oversee integration of policies and training strategy into enterprise-wide compliance frameworks and Learning & Development strategy.
• Leverage AI to deliver innovative trainings, assess the effectiveness of policies and training, and assist in creation of effective policies.
• Design and drive implementation of comprehensive training programs, including interactive and engaging training materials, such as e-learning modules, workshops, and seminars, to maximize engagement and effectiveness.
• Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for policy and training effectiveness. Regularly report outcomes, insights, and recommendations to leadership. Assess effectiveness and drive improvements based on feedback, performance metrics and industry trends.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across the company including the Office of Ethics & Compliance, Corporate Affairs, Legal, and business units, to identify needs, develop resources, and drive greater understanding and awareness of relevant policies and ethical standards.
• Act as a strategic advisor and spokesperson on matters related to ethics and compliance policies and training, both internally and externally.
• Stay current on ethics and compliance developments, industry trends, adult-learning principles, and innovative use of technology and analytics, including AI-enabled policy development and training methodologies.
• Champion inclusion in all aspects of policy development, training and team leadership.
• Ensure consistent messaging across various communications channels in line with overall Ethics and Compliance communications strategy. May represent the function in executive forums and committees, in coordination with the Vice President and CECO, as required.
• Lead, develop, and inspire a diverse global team. Set clear objectives, manages performance, and foster a culture of accountability, innovation and continuous improvement. Provide mentorship, guidance, and professional development opportunities to team members.
• Oversee budget, resource allocation, and financial planning for the Policies and Training function, including investments in AI technologies.
• Represent the company in external forums, regulatory meetings, and industry groups, building strategic partnerships and advocating for best practices.
• Leverage learnings from crisis management and incident response for major compliance issues, including investigations, reporting, and remediation to share the continual improvement of policies and training to keep pace with evolving risk
• Drive change management initiatives to support adoption of new policies, training programs, and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree is required (BA/BS) and 16+ years of experience, or an MS/MA or MBA, or Ph.D. or Juris Doctorate, with 14+ years of experience.
• Fully qualified legal credentials in one or more geographies of operations is preferred but not required.
• Extensive professional experience in-house in biotech, pharmaceuticals or other highly regulated industries or law firm advising in all relevant areas of practice for these industries, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role. Extensive professional experience in-house in biotech, pharmaceuticals, or other highly regulated industries, or law firm advising in all relevant areas of practice.
• Management experience and demonstrated success leading global teams and initiatives.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and ideally one or more other languages of the countries in which the company operates.

Knowledge, Experience And Skills

• Invests time and effort in building strong relationships with relevant stakeholders.
• Acts as a trusted advisor and expert and cultivate a collaborative environment based on mutual respect and understanding.
• Approaches challenges with a problem-solving mindset developing solutions to problems of unusual complexity requiring ingenuity, creativity and innovation.
• Cultivate and display the ethics and values for which Gilead strives and actively engages with stakeholders from a place of trust and partnership. Champion inclusion in all aspects of policy development.
• Leveraging data and analytics to inform policy decisions, measure training effectiveness, and identify risk trends.
• Deep understanding of global regulatory environments, cultural nuances, and international business practices.
• Proven change leadership capabilities - expertise in leading organizational change, driving adoption, and overcoming resistance.
• Apply a deep understanding of the biopharma industry, Gilead's business objectives, and the specific challenges faced by different departments. This will enable the legal and compliance team to provide tailored and practical advice.
• Respond promptly to inquiries, requests, or concerns raised by business stakeholders. Demonstrate a sense of urgency in addressing their needs and provide timely feedback.
• Foster open and transparent communication channels with business stakeholders. Clearly communicate requirements, explain the rationale behind decisions, and provide regular updates on relevant changes or developments.
• Continuously evaluate and improve internal processes to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in supporting the business in achieving company goals. Minimize unnecessary bureaucracy and simplify workflows to facilitate smooth interactions.
• Embrace a culture of continuous improvement. Actively seek feedback from business stakeholders and strive to enhance the quality and effectiveness of support provided.