R And D Global Operations Project Lead - North America

Overview
Purpose
Are you passionate about transforming science into medicines for patients and help create the leading biopharmaceutical R&D organization in North America? With Play to Win, Sanofi’s focus on the R&D pipeline as a main growth driver, the intent to lead with innovation, accelerate efficiency and reinvent how we work, it is more than ever critical to ensure R&D teams have the best environment possible to do their work. The purpose of the Global Transversal Operations team is to provide an exciting, leading and supportive environment for our people to maximize the value of our pipeline and bring transformative drugs with pace to patients. In North America, we support R&D teams with optimized sites and infrastructure, processes and tools, knowledge and collaborative networks to ensure best-in-class implementation of our project strategies and maximize the engagement of our people across all our sites.
At the country level, we work in three main areas together with local R&D leaders and the Sanofi Country Council: People and Culture, Ecosystem and Operations.
We are looking for a self-motivated and self-starter, collaborative change agent with a passion for technology for the position of R&D Operations Project Lead. In this role, you will have an opportunity to be at the forefront of initiatives to define the future of scientific work, explore innovative collaboration tools, execute strategic workforce planning and footprint projects and help us shape our culture centered on Purpose and Play to Win Behaviors. Highly visible, this position will allow you to connect with stakeholders across R&D areas and multiple functions, influence and gain knowledge of R&D processes, operations as well as change management strategies.
The position will operate in a highly cross-functional and collaborative team that drives strategy and execution of multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
Responsibilities

• Develop scenario alternatives, identifies risks, and propose mitigation plans, and manages variances in timings, resources and budget and ensures integrity of the R&D Operations portfolio and governance
• Identifies issues to be raised with leadership and teams and proposes solutions and mitigation plans
• Lead project management efforts to support the implementation and continuous process improvement efforts related to scientific services and other R&D Operations initiatives.
• Responsible for developing appropriate KPIs and measuring the success of each project/ service, ensuring engagement and that project priorities are communicated to all relevant stakeholders.
• Act as a catalyst for productivity, monitoring the scientific community’s needs, sharing best practices, insights, ways of working and tools to enable scientific collaboration and R&D processes
• Provide regular updates/highlights including KPIs and project alerts. Contributes actively to dashboards reporting for established Governance committees and ad-hoc meetings as requested
• Ensures communication from the project team to all stakeholders of various functions and sub-teams as needed. This includes project reports, key activities, and timely alerts.
• Act as the point of contact and subject matter expert for R&D Operations
• Facilitate decision making, ensuring alignment with project team members, functional representatives, and other key stakeholders.

Competencies And Skillset
Education and experience

• Good knowledge of the R&D Biopharmaceutical industry, processes and ecosystems preferred
• Experience applying Design Thinking/ Human Centric Design to drive change and transformation required
• Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering, Data Science or related discipline with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience (MBA preferred) across different functional groups preferred
• Project Management certification preferred, with demonstrated experience working with cross functional, diverse and multicultural teams in agile and waterfall
• Experienced or with strong interest in applying technology and data to process improvement
• Operational Excellence certification preferred (LEAN or other), with demonstrated leadership executing complex transformation projects
• Proven leadership, capacity to coordinate several activities and stakeholders including external partners, if relevant.

Skills

• Ability to network and communicate across diverse functions, and to work in a matrix organization
• Anticipate risks and propose mitigation plans, ability to propose creative solutions to operational/strategic issues
• Excellent business acumen and strategic agility. Good judgment and decision-making abilities.
• Strong business acumen and customer orientation with strong analytical thinking and digital literacy skills
• Self-motivated, prone to action, autonomous and results oriented with ability to lead multiple complex initiatives (short, mid and long-term) with impact
• Strong interpersonal and communication/presentation skills while demonstrating humility
• External orientation and entrepreneurial spirit with the ability to identify, deliver and implement novel approaches to deliver solutions inspired by best practices
• Critical thinking – ability to challenge the status quo
• Purpose driven with ability to influence and passionate about collaborating with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders across different levels and R&D colleagues to identify solutions and deliver on plans

Sanofi Inc. and its U.S. affiliates are Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employers committed to a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; creed; religion; national origin; age; ancestry; nationality; marital, domestic partnership or civil union status; sex, gender, gender identity or expression; affectional or sexual orientation; disability; veteran or military status or liability for military status; domestic violence victim status; atypical cellular or blood trait; genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing) or any other characteristic protected by law.
As a healthcare company and a vaccine manufacturer, Sanofi has an important responsibility to protect individual and public health. All US based roles require individuals to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of your job responsibilities.
According to the CDC, an individual is considered to be “fully vaccinated” fourteen (14) days after receiving (a) the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or (b) the single dose of the J&J vaccine. Fully vaccinated, for new Sanofi employees, is to be fully vaccinated 14 DAYS PRIOR TO START DATE.
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At Sanofi diversity and inclusion is foundational to how we operate and embedded in our Core Values. We recognize to truly tap into the richness diversity brings we must lead with inclusion and have a workplace where those differences can thrive and be leveraged to empower the lives of our colleagues, patients and customers. We respect and celebrate the diversity of our people, their backgrounds and experiences and provide equal opportunity for all.