Head of Operational Excellence Clinical Development- Vaccines

Job Title: Head of Operational Excellence Clinical Development- Vaccines

About the Job

Join the team protecting half a billion lives every year with next-gen science, mRNA innovation, and AI-driven breakthroughs. In Vaccines, you’ll help advance prevention on a global scale - and shape the future of immunization.

Vaccines R&D is moving toward a more structured and collaborative approach to sustain performance and innovation over the long term. The Excellence Model is designed to help Vaccines R&D continuously adapt to its evolving context by engaging employees at all levels. This model is supported by a dedicated organization: the Operational Excellence (OE) team. 

The Operational Excellence (OE) team supports Vaccines R&D by improving processes and ways of working. Each function has its own Function OE team, focused on deploying and sustaining OE practices within its area. Reporting directly to the Head of Function and working in close collaboration with the Global OE team (dotted line). Their role is to align improvement initiatives with both functional priorities and global standards, provide coaching and tools, and help operational teams drive performance and continuous improvement. This structure ensures harmonization across functions while staying close to day-to-day operations. 

About Sanofi:
We’re an R&D-driven, AI-powered biopharma company committed to improving people’s lives and delivering compelling growth. Our deep understanding of the immune system – and innovative pipeline – enables us to invent medicines and vaccines that treat and protect millions of people around the world. Together, we chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives.

Main Responsibilities:

Operational Excellence Strategy and Deployment within the function

• Drive the deployment of the function’s Operational Excellence roadmap within the function. 

• Coordinate diagnostics and/or gap analyses (business case) with Function OE Leaders and operational teams to identify improvement opportunities (from shop floor to function management). 

• Ensure the alignment of the function’s Operational Excellence roadmap with Vaccines R&D (function & global) strategic priorities and business needs. 

• Ensure that the training is consistent with the provided OE structure. 

• Actively contributes to initiative prioritization and arbitration in collaboration with the Function Head. 

• Assess and validate that each on-going and closed improvement initiative within the function complies with the core principles of Operational Excellence. 

• Pro-actively support function performance and measure the impact of the initiative 

• Consolidate and monitor the function’s Operational Excellence roadmap progress and report to both local and central stakeholders. 

• Build required methodologies, tools and standards according to the VRD OE Methodology development plan. 

• Support the Function Head in reaching performance targets and propose countermeasures when needed. 

• Build, maintain, and continuously improve governance structures, routines, and performance management. 

• Drive risk mitigation by escalating critical risks and gaps and enabling decisive action. 

• Define adoption strategy and secure execution of change management 

Capability Building within the function.

• Consolidate individual OE development needs required to implement the function's improvement initiatives. 

• Validate the training plan in alignment with the function’s Operational Excellence roadmap and its improvement priorities. 

• Monitor and report progress of training activities. 

• Conduct competency assessment and validation for Function OE Leaders. 

• Promote feedback culture and continuous learning mindset. 

• Ensure adoption and application of OE standards, routines, and methodologies. 

• Act as a reference point for the function regarding OE core principes, methodologies, tools and standards. 

• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and operational innovation within the function. 

Executive Leadership Impact

• Act as a Leader within the leadership team, contributing to strategic decision-making and organizational priorities while ensuring adherence to OE principles. 

• Drive VRD culture evolution by promoting desired mindsets, behaviors, and organizational values across the function. 

• Coach Leadership Team members on mindset, behaviors, and leadership effectiveness to strengthen team performance. 

Cross-function Collaboration

• Share learnings, best practices, and successes across the OE community. 

• Contribute to cross-function OE exchanges and support the continuous evolution of the OE model. 

Knowledge Management

• Drive return-on-experience process and support capitalization efforts from past initiatives. 

• Assess and validate lessons learned and successful practices according OE core principles.

About You  

Education:

• Master’s degree in science, engineering, or business discipline

Experience:

• 10+ years experience in Operational Excellence, including deployment and methodology design. 

• Strong understanding of R&D, Clinical Operations or Clinical Development

• Experience managing OE programs in complex, matrixed environments. 

• Background in training, coaching, and people development. 

• Completion of an OE Instructor program is a plus.  

Soft skills:

• Strategic & Tactical thinking – Plan and translate long-term goals into action plan. 

• Decision-making & prioritization – Acts with clarity and focus under pressure. 

• Leadership & influence – Mobilizes teams, drives alignment, and inspires action. 

• Communication skills – Establish & deliver impactful communication 

• Coaching & training – Develops others through structured support and feedback. 

• Conflict resolution – Navigates tensions constructively to reach shared outcomes. 

• Continuous learning – Embraces growth, curiosity, and adaptability. 

• Collaboration – Builds trust and works seamlessly across teams and functions. 

• Action-oriented – Solves problems pragmatically and drives execution. 

• Cross-Function agility – Operates effectively in matrix environments. 

• Adaptability – Adjusts style and approach to fit shifting contexts and needs. 

• Performance-oriented - Ability to understand and identify function key performance drivers 

Technical skills:

• OE principles and deployment models (Lean, Six Sigma, e.g.)

• OE methodology development, standardization, and implementation. 

• Subject matter expertise in OE principles, tools, and systems. 

• Tactical roadmap definition and initiative portfolio alignment. 

• Portfolio & project planning, execution, and follow-up (finance management, resource management, business case…) 

• Change management and behavioral adoption techniques. 

• Data analysis, problem-solving, and decision-making. 

• Training design and capability-building strategies. 

• Ability to bridge digital innovation with Operational Excellence 

Languages: Fluent English

Why Choose Us?

• Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future-focused team.

• Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.

• Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.

• Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs and at least 14 weeks’ gender-neutral parental leave.

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.

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All compensation will be determined commensurate with demonstrated experience. Employees may be eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs, and additional benefits information can be found here.