Director, Enterprise Architecture - Research and Development
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 21, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 13, 2026. Gilead Sciences scores A on the Alion truth index.
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
The Director, Enterprise Architecture, Research & Development is an individual contributor and strategic architecture leader responsible for shaping the technology direction for Gilead R&D. Operating in a centralized, federated model, this role partners with scientific and business leaders, domain and solution architects, data and digital teams, security, infrastructure, quality, compliance, product and delivery organizations.
The Director serves as a trusted advisor and architecture lead for initiatives of varying size and complexity across R&D. The role translates current and anticipated scientific and business needs into capability models, target-state architectures, transition plans, investment recommendations and multi-year roadmaps. The Director guides architecture decisions through established governance and ensures solutions are secure, scalable, interoperable, compliant, financially sound and fit for scientific purpose.
Reporting into the Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture Lead, this position is a critical role in our centralized Enterprise Architecture team, and a key leader for our Architecture Community of Practice.
This position is based in our global headquarters in Foster City, CA.
Job Responsibilities
- Shape and evolve R&D technology strategy and multi-year roadmaps, aligning scientific priorities and future capability needs with enterprise architecture standards and technology strategy.
- Lead architecture for initiatives of varying size and complexity that enable larger R&D functions or multiple functions to achieve their objectives, connecting business, information, application, integration, data, platform, security and technology domains.
- Develop capability models, current-state and target-state architectures, reference architectures, transition architectures, reusable patterns and implementation guardrails that guide delivery and long-term evolution.
- Define architecture strategy for scientific AI and knowledge capabilities, including foundation and domain-specific models, model adaptation, retrieval architectures, knowledge graphs, ontologies, semantic layers, scientific agents and AI-enabled workflows.
- Evaluate build, buy, reuse, integrate, modernize, consolidate and retire options. Develop recommendations that balance business value, total cost of ownership, risk, technical debt, interoperability, resource needs and long-term maintainability.
- Lead architecture reviews through established governance forums. Clearly document and communicate options, trade-offs, decisions, risks, exceptions, dependencies and remediation actions in business and technical terms.
- Provide architecture guidance across the solution lifecycle, including use-case analysis, prototyping, blueprinting, design, integration, testing, validation, deployment, operational readiness and lifecycle management.
- Advise R&D and IT leaders on short- and long-range technology strategies, emerging industry and domain trends, modernization opportunities, investment priorities and architecture risks.
- Partner with Quality, Security, Privacy, Responsible AI and Compliance stakeholders to embed appropriate controls, data integrity, validation, resilience and regulatory requirements into architecture decisions.
- Recommend investments and resources needed to execute architectural work; support business cases and portfolio decisions by evaluating financial, technical and operational trade-offs and anticipated value.
- Identify cross-project synergies and opportunities for reuse, simplification and standardization. Help reduce duplication and technical debt while improving adoption of approved platforms, patterns and standards.
- Guide product, engineering and delivery teams, mentor architects and technical leaders, and strengthen architecture practices, methods, tools and the federated architecture community.
- Lead or advise significant change and adoption efforts associated with new architecture standards, platforms and ways of working. Represent Gilead in relevant external professional or industry forums as appropriate.
Basic Qualifications
- Master’s degree and 10+ years of relevant experience; OR
- Bachelor’s degree and 12+ years of relevant experience; OR
- Associate degree and 14+ years of relevant experience; OR
- High school diploma/GED and 16+ years of relevant experience.
- Extensive IT experience in a corporate or other relevant business environment, with significant architecture experience across end-to-end solution design, including use-case analysis, prototyping, blueprinting, integration, testing, validation and deployment.
- Significant experience leading architecture for projects of varying size and complexity across one or more business functions, including contributing expert input to longer-range business and technology strategies and roadmaps.
- Experience developing capability models, current-state and target-state architectures, reference and transition architectures, integration patterns and multi-year roadmaps.
- Experience advising senior business and IT leaders, communicating complex architecture decisions and trade-offs, and influencing cross-functional stakeholders without direct authority.
- Experience overseeing, coaching or guiding architects, engineers or other technical professionals.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, life sciences, chemistry, bioinformatics, business or a related discipline.
- Deep understanding of pharmaceutical R&D workflows and technology ecosystems, including research informatics, laboratory systems, scientific computing, data platforms, knowledge management and AI/ML-enabled capabilities.
- Thorough knowledge of enterprise and solution architecture principles, practices, standards, frameworks, methods and tools across end-to-end solution design; TOGAF, IT4IT or comparable certification is preferred.
- Advanced business and financial acumen, including experience evaluating total cost of ownership, ROI, investment trade-offs, platform sustainability and resource requirements.
- Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, APIs, event-driven and integration architectures, modern application architectures, high-performance computing, data and analytics platforms, and secure AI architectures.
- Experience operating in a regulated life sciences environment and partnering with quality, validation, security, privacy and compliance functions across the R&D lifecycle.
- Experience leading significant change efforts and incorporating change management into large-scale technology initiatives.
- Experience with vendor evaluation, technology due diligence, strategic sourcing support and architecture input to investment governance.
- Ability to represent complex and high-profile initiatives to senior leaders and executives and distill complex matters into clear business cases and executable roadmaps.
- Awareness of emerging technology and industry trends, with experience bringing relevant external insights into architecture strategy and practice.
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.
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