Director, External Operations

Site Name: USA - Pennsylvania - Upper Providence, Belgium-Wavre, GSK HQ, UK - Hertfordshire - Stevenage
Posted Date: Mar 20 2026

At GSK, we have bold ambitions for patients, aiming to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade. Our R&D focuses on discovering and delivering vaccines and medicines, combining our understanding of the immune system with cutting-edge technology to transform people's lives. GSK fosters a culture ambitious for patients, accountable for impact, and committed to doing the right thing, making sure that we focus our efforts on accelerating significant assets that meet patients' needs and have the highest probability of success. We're uniting science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together.

Position Summary

The Director, External Operations is a pivotal leadership role within Packaging, Labelling, Distribution, and Comparators (PLDC), responsible for shaping and managing the external network that delivers packaging and labelling for GSK's clinical portfolio. Acting as a strategic bridge between suppliers and internal stakeholders, this role ensures supplier performance, relationship management, and operational excellence to meet current and future business needs.

The Director provides strategic direction for the external packaging and labelling network to deliver high-quality clinical trial supplies across all phases.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership & Team Management: Lead and develop a high-performing team accountable for implementing Third Party Network strategies and acting as the central point of contact for CMOs and external service providers.
• Operational Accountability: Retain ultimate responsibility for operational decisions while empowering accountability across leaders and teams. Establish a unified team and process to deliver GSK's Medicine and Vaccine portfolio.
• Performance Delivery: Achieve key performance indicators focused on CMO capacity utilization, on-time delivery, productivity, and supply chain efficiency. Manage vendor performance to ensure expectations are met.
• Supply Chain Optimization: Establish strategy of utilization and delivery outsource portfolio needs at each CMO. Identify and implement ways to be more efficient in process to reduce CMO lead-times.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Implement and manage governance structures for internal and external providers, ensuring seamless collaboration across the supply chain.
• Continuous Improvement: Drive business improvement initiatives across all relevant functional areas, aligned with performance metrics and customer expectations. Collaborate with CMOs to learn benchmark standards and influence GSK teams to adapt and improve.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Influence and collaborate across a matrixed organisation, engaging senior leaders, to ensure strategic objectives are consistently delivered.
• Supply Chain: Develop strategy and feasibility of integrating acquired assets into the supply chain.

Key Competencies:

• Strategic Leadership & Governance: Define and implement strategies for Third Party Network management and governance, ensuring cross-functional alignment and compliance.
• Operational Excellence & Performance Management: Deliver key performance indicators (KPIs) focused on capacity utilization, on-time delivery, productivity, and supply chain efficiency.
• Resource & Budget Management: Demonstrated ability to allocate resources effectively and manage budgets across multiple complex projects to fixed timelines.
• Regulatory & Quality Expertise: In-depth knowledge of GMP, GCP, and country-specific regulations, serving as an expert resource for compliance and documentation accuracy.
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership: Proven ability to lead diverse, matrix teams globally, fostering collaboration and accountability in a dynamic environment.
• Risk Management & Issue Resolution: Rapid response to global supply chain issues and ability to resolve and report at senior leadership levels.
• Technological & Process Innovation: Apply and assess new technologies to enhance operational efficiency.
• Communication & Stakeholder Engagement: Excellent oral and written communication, interpersonal, and negotiation skills for influencing senior stakeholders and external partners.
• Continuous Improvement & Change Leadership: Drive business improvement programs aligned with performance metrics and evolving customer expectations.
• Talent Development & Organizational Culture: Create a safe, inclusive work environment that supports recruitment, retention, and development of high-performing teams.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Pharmacy, Engineering, Math or Business discipline.
• 10+ years in pharmaceutical industry with experience in Clinical Supply Chain or 3rd party management.

Preferred Qualification:

• Master of Science / Advanced Degree in Science or Business

Working Arrangements:

• This role offers a hybrid working model, with a mix of on-site and remote work. Remote or fully home-working arrangements are not available for this role.

#GSK-LI

Please visit GSK US Benefits Summary to learn more about the comprehensive benefits program GSK offers US employees.

Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases - to impact health at scale.

People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we're committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

If you require an accommodation or other assistance to apply for a job at GSK, please contact the appropriate Recruitment Staff by emailing us at - usrecruitment.adjustments@gsk.com

GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

Important notice to Employment businesses/ Agencies

GSK does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site. All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact GSK's commercial and general procurement/human resources department to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to GSK. The obtaining of prior written authorization is a condition precedent to any agreement (verbal or written) between the employment business/ agency and GSK. In the absence of such written authorization being obtained any actions undertaken by the employment business/agency shall be deemed to have been performed without the consent or contractual agreement of GSK. GSK shall therefore not be liable for any fees arising from such actions or any fees arising from any referrals by employment businesses/agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site.

Please note that if you are a US Licensed Healthcare Professional or Healthcare Professional as defined by the laws of the state issuing your license, GSK may be required to capture and report expenses GSK incurs, on your behalf, in the event you are afforded an interview for employment. This capture of applicable transfers of value is necessary to ensure GSK's compliance to all federal and state US Transparency requirements. For more information, please visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website at https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/