Senior Staff IT Product Lead - Digital Applications (Commercial Data, Analytics & Sales Operations)

SUMMARY/JOB PURPOSE

The Senior Staff IT Product Lead - Digital Applications, will lead a portfolio of digital products critical to Exelixis's success and ambition to launch innovative medicines for patients. This role is pivotal in driving the strategy, development, and operational excellence of our digital application ecosystem, ensuring alignment with business objectives and a strong focus on user experience and value delivery. Operating within a product-centric model, the Senior Staff IT Product Lead will be responsible for defining product roadmaps, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and leading agile product teams to deliver innovative and impactful digital solutions that accelerate drug discovery, development, and commercialization.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Product Strategy & Roadmap (Product-Centric Focus):
  • Own two or more digital products coupled with a thorough understanding and execution of the vision and strategy for those digital products within the Digital Applications job family (e.g., Clinical Trials Applications, R&D Informatics, Commercial Operations Platforms).
  • Own two or more digital products and work with business owners and stakeholders to gather user needs and drive the development of product requirements and user stories.
  • Support other leads in market research and technology reviews to support product planning and identify potential areas for improvement.
  • Own and support the evaluation of product initiatives by helping assess business value, technical feasibility, and compliance considerations.
  • Own the architecture and design of one or two products and ensure digital solutions are aligned with enterprise design and security standards.
• Product Development & Delivery (Agile/Product Team Support):
  • Own product development activities across one or more digital products through the lifecycle—from concept to launch and post-launch support—using Agile practices (e.g., Scrum, Kanban).
  • Own the drafting of user stories and acceptance criteria across two or more digital products.
  • Own the collaboration with engineering, architecture, and QA teams to support the delivery of secure, scalable, and high-quality digital applications.
  • Own the coordination with vendors and service providers to support product delivery timelines and operational needs across two or more digital products.
  • Own the user experience improvements across one or more Digital products by incorporating feedback from usability testing and end user research.
• Stakeholder Management & Cross-Functional Collaboration:
  • Support communication between IT and business teams by helping translate technical concepts into business-friendly language across two or more functional areas.
  • Build working relationships with stakeholders to support alignment on product goals and deliverables across two or more functional areas.
  • Actively contribute in team meetings and cross-functional discussions to stay aligned on priorities and progress.
  • Own the planning sessions and provide input on product-related decisions as appropriate to two or more digital products.
• Operational Excellence, Quality & Compliance:
  • Ownership in maintaining the stability, performance, and security of digital applications in collaboration with IT operations and infrastructure teams.
  • Ownership in managing vendor interactions and support the use of third-party software solutions.
  • Ownership in supporting compliance efforts by helping ensure product features and processes meet regulatory and internal standards (e.g., GxP, HIPAA, GDPR).
  • Ownership to quality assurance activities to help ensure product deliverables meet expectations to two or more digital products.
  • Ownership in the Implementation and maintenance of robust data management & AI practices to protect sensitive information and ensure its accuracy and reliability to two or more digital products.
  • Ownership in monitoring product performance metrics and KPIs to support continuous improvement efforts to two or more digital products.
• Performs other duties as assigned
• Complies with all policies and standards

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

• No supervisory responsibilities.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE/KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS & ABILITIES

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in related discipline and 9 years of related experience; or
• Master's degree in mathematics or statistics or engineering and 7 years of related experience.
• PhD degree in a related discipline and 5 years of related experience; or
• Equivalent combination of education and experience.

Experience

• Minimum of 5 years of experience supporting Enterprise IT enabling business functions.
• Minimum of 7+ years of progressive experience in IT, focused on digital applications or product management within the life science or pharmaceutical industry.
• Proven experience in leading product development teams in an agile/product-centric operating model is essential.
• Strong understanding of the drug discovery or clinical development, or commercialization lifecycle within a pharmaceutical or biotechnology company.
• Demonstrated success in defining and delivering complex digital products that drive significant business value.
• Experience with one of the mentioned specific technologies or platforms as relevant to the specific role, [e.g., SaaS platforms (Veeva, SalesForce) or cloud solutions (AWS, Azure), or functional capabilities specific to business function such as LIMS, SAP ERP, EDC, CTMS, CRM systems widely used in pharma].
• Experience with regulatory frameworks and compliance in a GxP environment.
• Leads IT product strategy and technology enablement across Commercial Data & Analytics, Sales Operations, Incentive Compensation, Strategic Insights, Revenue Management, and Omnichannel Analytics, delivering integrated data products, analytics, and decision-support capabilities for targeting, territory alignment, field performance, sales insights, revenue analytics, and commercial decision-making.
• Data engineering and platform technologies: designs and governs ELT/ETL pipelines and data models using Amazon Redshift, DBT, SQL, Python, AWS, and Databricks to ingest, integrate, and curate first-party and third-party commercial data sets.
• BI and analytics technologies: delivers dashboards, self-service reporting, and visual analytics in Tableau, and applies CIDRe as the commercial data and analytics platform for targeting, field performance, and revenue insights.
• AI and automation technologies: applies Microsoft Copilot, GenAI, RAG, and agentic workflows, with model evaluation and human-in-the-loop safeguards, to automate and enhance data-intensive commercial workflows.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Required:

• Exceptional leadership and team-building skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate diverse teams.
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities, with a data-driven approach to decision-making.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively at all levels of the organization.
• Deep understanding of product management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Scrum, Kanban) and product lifecycle management.
• Solid technical acumen with the ability to understand complex IT architectures and development processes.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.Occasional travel may be required to other company sites, conferences, or vendor locations.

Travel Requirements

• Occasional travel (5–10%) may be required to other company sites, conferences, or vendor locations.

#LI-EZ1

Location: Alameda, CA

Range for this position: $190,000 - $239,500

The base pay offered will take into account job-related knowledge, skills, experience and internal equity, among other factors.

In addition to the base salary, as part of our Total Rewards program, Exelixis offers comprehensive employee benefits package, including a 401k plan with generous company contributions, group medical, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts. Employees are also eligible for a discretionary annual bonus program, or if field sales staff, a sales-based incentive plan. Exelixis also offers employees the opportunity to purchase company stock, and receive long-term incentives, 15 accrued vacation days in their first year, 17 paid holidays including a company-wide winter shutdown in December, and up to 10 sick days throughout the calendar year.

Exelixis is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including lactation, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, age (40 and over), national origin or ancestry, citizenship or immigration status, physical or mental disability, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), veteran status, uniformed servicemember status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities, unless undue hardship and/or a direct threat to the health and/or safety of the individual or others would result.

If you have a disability and need an accommodation in relation to the recruiting process, please email us at: ApplicantAccommodations@exelixis.com.

Exelixis is an E-Verify employer.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

Our office is a modern space that fosters collaboration and creativity. Teams work closely together, sharing ideas and solutions in a supportive atmosphere. We provide all necessary equipment, including dual monitors and ergonomic chairs, to ensure a comfortable workspace.

DISCLAIMER: 
The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification.  It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to the job.