Commercial Director, AI & Optimization

At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer – working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.
 

Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.
 

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 Gilead and help create possible, together.

Job Description
 

As Director, AI & Optimization within our Commercial organization, you will report to the Senior Director, Data Science – AI & Optimization. Based in either Parsippany, NJ or Foster City, CA, you will lead the strategic roadmap, development, and deployment of AI solutions across commercial functions.

This role is pivotal in leveraging cutting-edge AI technologies to drive impact in commercial functions such as marketing and sales while ensuring alignment with regulatory frameworks (e.g., EU AI Act) and ethical standards. You will also establish governance frameworks and foster cross-functional collaboration to maximize business value and mitigate risk in a rapidly evolving landscape.

The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in Gen AI product development, AI governance, and data science methodologies, particularly within the pharmaceutical commercial domain. You will coordinate across internal stakeholders (e.g., Enterprise Data Science Council, affiliates, functional teams) and external partners (e.g., academia, vendors), and will be responsible for articulating the business value of AI initiatives through compelling proposals and value assessments.

This is an individual contributor role, supported by a team of offshore data scientists. Occasional travel to global Gilead locations may be required.

Key Responsibilities:

Gen AI strategy and solution development

• Create Roadmap, Lead development, scale and roll out of internal GenAI solutions for commercial and work with IT to enable synergies for other functions.
• Partner with other functions (GCO and business owners when different) to support the governance of AI and Tech integration of futuristic AI based solutions and pressure test explainability, sustainability and roadmap for model evolution of external solutions
• Manage and work with IT on choice of platform, and design for internally built solutions

Cross functional AI initiatives

• Work with EDSC to plan and develop cross functional use cases and engage on a day-to-day basis for AI policy and governance and compliance to NIST
• Liaise with affiliates to understand the different AI requirements and help shape AI use cases, be the point of contact for AI use cases with all the affiliates and support by pressure testing build or buy from a data science standpoint
• Bring in industry wide best practices in DS and AI focusing on commercial use cases and work with EDSC on training and tools work streams

• Champion AI literacy and adoption through training and best practices.
• Be a secondary point of contact for measurement and optimization solutions

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree with 12+ years, or Masters with 10+ years, or PhD with 8+ years of relevant experience.
• Proven success in deploying Gen AI solutions in commercial settings.
• Experience scaling AI products and platforms from pilot to production.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Background in AI governance, risk management or compliance within pharma or similar regulated industries.
• Familiarity with performance measurement frameworks and KPIs.

Technical Skills:

• Expertise in developing Gen AI (e.g., LLMs, GANs) products for insights & content generation.
• Proficiency with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Databricks).
• Experience with containerization and orchestration tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Knowledge of AI related regulatory frameworks (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR, FDA, EU AI Act).
• Strong grasp of ML algorithms and tuning techniques.
• Working knowledge of BI tools (e.g., Tableau, QuickSight) and pharma data types (e.g., RWE, EMR, claims).

Non-technical skills:

• Recognized as a credible data science expert and partner to commercial and cross-functional teams.
• Skilled in enabling teams through tools, training, and mentorship.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Management experience influencing senior-level management and stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver complex programs with measurable impact.

Competencies:

• Structured Problem Solving - Demonstrates the ability to bring clarity to complex challenges by applying structured thinking, guiding teams through ambiguity, and mobilizing resources to deliver timely and effective solutions.
• Collaborative Influence - Influences without direct authority by building trust, demonstrating subject matter expertise, and communicating with authenticity. Listens actively, adapts messaging to the audience, and uses data-driven persuasion to align stakeholders.
• Results Orientation - Maintains a strong focus on outcomes, consistently driving toward ambitious goals—even in the face of adversity. Takes ownership, makes informed decisions, and ensures accountability to move initiatives forward.
• Strategic - Anticipates evolving business needs and market dynamics. Translates vision into actionable plans, identifies growth opportunities, and adjusts priorities to align with long-term objectives.
• Measurement-Driven - Champions a culture of evidence-based decision-making. Designs and executes strategies with measurable impact, leveraging KPIs and analytics to track performance and optimize results
• Enterprise Thinking – Advocates for decisions and actions that foster cross-functional collaboration and breaking down silos to drive unified outcomes. Encourages a big-picture perspective, long-term value creation, and a unified approach to business challenges, ensuring that decisions promote the overall health and success of the organization.

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 the 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: $226,185.00 - $292,710.00.

 

Other US Locations: $205,615.00 - $266,090.00.

Gilead 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:

https://www.gilead.com/careers/compensation-benefits-and-wellbeing

* Eligible employees may participate in benefit plans, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans.

For jobs in the United States:

Gilead Sciences Inc. 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 ApplicantAccommodations@gilead.com for assistance.

For more information about equal employment opportunity protections, please view the 'Know Your Rights' poster.

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