R&D Operations Excellence Leader

Thornton Tomasetti; Pleasanton (CA); Hybrid; USD 131,000 - 261,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free medical coverage (HIP PPO)

Excellent retirement savings plan

Tuition reimbursement

FreeU education benefit

Job summary

Abbott Laboratories in Pleasanton, CA seeks a Sr Manager, R&D Operational Excellence to lead and optimize cross-functional execution for Heart Failure R&D. You will drive governance, portfolio health, and strategic alignment with leadership, translating priorities into actionable plans and measurable outcomes.

The role requires 8–12 years in R&D or operations, strong project management, and executive communication skills, with an MBA or advanced degree preferred.

Qualifications

• Experience managing complex programs or business operations within a medical device, healthcare, or regulated environment.
• Demonstrated ability to drive execution across matrixed organizations.
• Strong project management and operational planning capabilities.
• Experience supporting senior leaders and managing executive-level priorities.
• Ability to translate strategy into actionable workplans and measurable outcomes.
• Strong problem-solving, prioritization, and organizational skills.
• Proven ability to manage multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Translate annual objectives and strategic priorities into actionable operating plans.
• Track execution against key business goals, portfolio milestones, and organizational commitments.
• Maintain visibility to risks, dependencies, and resource constraints and drive timely resolution.
• Ensure leadership decisions are converted into assigned actions with clear ownership and follow-through.
• Lead operating reviews and portfolio governance by developing executive dashboards, facilitating business reviews, and ensuring leadership has clear visibility into portfolio health, risks, decision, and progress.
• Maintain portfolio dashboards, milestone tracking, and executive reporting.
• Escalate critical issues impacting timelines, budgets, quality, or resource commitments.
• Coordinate execution across Product Management, Clinical, Regulatory, Quality, Operations, Finance, and Commercial functions.
• Facilitate resolution of cross-functional issues and competing priorities.
• Ensure alignment between product development, clinical, regulatory, and commercialization plans.
• Create scalable operating processes that improve communication and collaboration across functional teams.
• Manage leadership operating mechanisms including staff meetings, business reviews, and quarterly planning processes.
• Drive and facilitate cross-functional organizational initiatives related to process improvement, employee engagement, culture, and team effectiveness.
• Support annual planning, budget tracking, headcount management, and resource planning activities to align with organizational priorities.
• Define, develop and monitor organizational performance metrics.
• Prepare leadership presentations, business updates, executive communications, and organizational messaging.
• Support internal communication of key decisions, priorities, and business results.
• Ensure consistency and clarity of information across leadership teams and stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to improve organizational processes and implement scalable business practices that increase efficiency.
• Monitor portfolio health across programs, proactively identifying execution risks, dependencies, constraints, and organizational impacts before they become leadership escalations.
• Leverage data, automation, and AI-enabled workflows to improve operational efficiency, reporting, and decision support.

Skills

Program management

Business operations

Project planning

Process improvement

Executive communication

Meeting facilitation

Stakeholder management

Organizational coordination

Budget management

Resource planning

Performance metrics

Risk management

Influence without authority

Adaptability

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Life Sciences, Business, Healthcare Administration, or related field

MBA or advanced degree

Job description

Abbott Laboratories in Pleasanton, CA seeks a Sr Manager, R&D Operational Excellence to lead and optimize cross-functional execution for Heart Failure R&D. You will drive governance, portfolio health, and strategic alignment with leadership, translating priorities into actionable plans and measurable outcomes.

The role requires 8–12 years in R&D or operations, strong project management, and executive communication skills, with an MBA or advanced degree preferred.