Director, Enterprise Transformation & Operational Excellence

Kite Pharma; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 226,000 - 293,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Retirement benefits

Discretionary bonus

Stock-based incentives

Paid time off

Job summary

Kite Pharma is seeking a Director, Corporate Operational Excellence to lead enterprise-wide initiatives that boost efficiency and performance. This role partners with C-suite and key stakeholders to translate strategy into scalable programs, drive transformation, and embed continuous improvement across the organization.

Based at Kite’s US HQs, you will oversee cross-functional programs, manage governance, and influence teams to deliver measurable impact. US-based relocation planning may apply.

Qualifications

• PhD with 10+ years of relevant experience.
• MS/MA with 12+ years of relevant experience.
• BS/BA with 14+ years of relevant experience.

Responsibilities

• Proactively identify enterprise-wide opportunities to improve operational efficiency, effectiveness, and scalability, leveraging data, benchmarking, and deep business insight
• Translate corporate strategic priorities into actionable, cross-functional programs and initiatives that drive measurable business outcomes
• Serve as a thought partner to senior leadership to shape, prioritize, and sequence initiatives aligned to Kite’s strategic roadmap
• Lead and oversee large, complex enterprise initiatives spanning Research, Development, Tech Ops, Commercial, and Corporate functions
• Drive alignment across senior stakeholders, ensuring clarity in objectives, roles, governance, and decision-making
• Influence without authority to mobilize cross-functional teams and deliver results at scale
• Establish and embed repeatable frameworks for continuous operational improvement, including identification, prioritization, and execution of initiatives
• Diagnose organizational inefficiencies and performance gaps, and design interventions that unlock productivity, reduce cycle time, and enhance quality
• Drive change management strategies to enable adoption and sustain impact
• Lead end-to-end program delivery, from problem framing and analytics through execution and value realization
• Ensure rigorous program governance, including KPIs, milestone tracking, and risk management
• Drive accountability for outcomes and ensure initiatives deliver measurable and sustained impact
• Leverage data and analytics to identify opportunities, inform decision-making, and track performance
• Develop and monitor KPIs and executive dashboards to assess program effectiveness and organizational health
• Incorporate external benchmarking and best practices to continuously elevate Kite’s operating model
• Lead or support integration and separation efforts related to mergers and acquisitions, including oversight of transition service agreements
• Ensure seamless execution of integration initiatives aligned with enterprise priorities and timelines

Skills

Strategic leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Operational excellence

Data-driven decision making

Biopharma operations

Executive communication

Education

PhD in relevant field

MS/MA in relevant field

BS/BA in relevant field

Job description

Kite Pharma is seeking a Director, Corporate Operational Excellence to lead enterprise-wide initiatives that boost efficiency and performance. This role partners with C-suite and key stakeholders to translate strategy into scalable programs, drive transformation, and embed continuous improvement across the organization.

Based at Kite’s US HQs, you will oversee cross-functional programs, manage governance, and influence teams to deliver measurable impact. US-based relocation planning may apply.