Director, Corporate Operational Excellence

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.

We are seeking a strategic, enterprise-minded leader to serve as Director, Corporate Operational Excellence. This role is responsible for proactively identifying, shaping, and leading enterprise-wide initiatives that improve operational efficiency, effectiveness, and organizational performance.

The Director will partner closely with senior leadership, including the CEO Staff, Corporate Strategy, and Enterprise Planning, to translate strategic priorities into scalable, high-impact programs that strengthen Kite’s core business and accelerate innovation.

This individual will operate at both a strategic and executional level, leading complex, cross-functional initiatives, driving large-scale transformation, and embedding a culture of continuous improvement across the organization. The role requires a strong ability to anticipate business needs, diagnose root causes, and mobilize the organization around data-driven solutions.

This position is based at Kite’s global headquarters in either Foster City, CA or Santa Monica, CA and reports to the Head of Corporate Operational Excellence.

Kite is transitioning from its current Santa Monica headquarters, with employees expected to relocate to either our El Segundo or Thousand Oaks offices beginning in January 2027. While this role will be based in Santa Monica through 2026, applicants should take this planned relocation into consideration. Kite supports a flexible working policy, offering a balanced approach with two days of remote working and three days working onsite.

• 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…