We’re here for one reason and one reason only – to cure cancer. Every moment is dedicated to developing treatments and every action moves us one step closer to our goal. We’ve made incredible scientific breakthroughs and our pioneering personalized CAR T-cell therapies have changed the paradigm. But we're not finished yet.
Join Kite, as we make even bigger advances in cancer therapies, and help shape where our business and medical science goes next.
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 Kite and help create more tomorrows.
Job Description
Everyone at Kite is grounded by one common goal – curing cancer. Every single day, we seek to establish a direct line between that purpose and our day-to-day work. Join us in our mission!
We are looking for a Director of APAC Regional Supply Chain to manage our APAC Supply Chain operations across Australia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. This role ensures seamless, patient-centric delivery of Kite’s cell therapies by bridging Commercial Operations with Technical Operations to enable a world-class customer and patient experience across more than 90 Authorized Treatment Centers (ATCs) in the APAC region.
The Director APAC Regional Supply Chain is responsible for guaranteeing uninterrupted patient supply, strengthening operational resilience, and driving continuous improvement across a diverse and fast-growing region. This position requires strategic leadership, deep operational expertise, and the ability to operate effectively across diverse cultures, multiple time zones, and regulatory frameworks.
This individual leads a team of Supply Chain professionals located across 3 countries and 4 time zones (PST+3 to PST+17), with 6 direct reports leading Launch Management, Cell Order Management, Japan Supply Chain Operations (including Japan Depot Material Management), Logistics, Trade Compliance, and Change Control.
This role is a member of the Global Supply Chain Leadership Team as well as of the International Kite Leadership Team (IKLT). In the latter representing Global Supply Chain for the commercial International Region, including Brazil, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, and additional countries preparing for launch.
This position is based in Santa Monica or Tokyo and reports to the Vice President, Global Supply Chain.
Responsibilities (include but are not limited to):
Regional Supply Chain Leadership
Lead and be accountable for end-to-end APAC Regional Supply Chain Operations, including Regional Cell Order Management, Launch Management, Japan Depot Material Management, Regional Logistics, Trade Compliance, and Change Control.
Ensure excellent regional operational performance in line with targets and guarantee uninterrupted, reliable patient supply.
Further develop and optimize the APAC regional operating model to support regional scale expansion, continue to improve efficiency, reduce cost, and enhance customer experience.
Partner with Network Planning and Product Supply Chain Leads to optimize supply allocation across Kite’s global manufacturing network.
Regularly reassess and optimize APAC shipping lanes to ensure compliance, cost efficiency, and adherence to Trade Compliance and Kite’s Quality standards.
Strengthen APAC regional operational resilience by ensuring robust, regularly tested Business Continuity Plans aligned to identified risks (rated on likelihood/impact).
People Leadership & Team Development
Lead, inspire, grow, and retain the high-performing APAC Regional Supply Chain team across multiple countries, cultures, and time zones using people centric leadership tools, including regular 1:1s, skip-levels, Individual Development Plan conversations, bi-weekly Pulse meetings with APAC RSC LT, and quarterly APAC RSC All Staff meetings.
Establish clear priorities, ensure effective workload management, and foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Cross-Functional & Regional Partnership
Maintain and reinforce established strong relationships with Business Unit Directors (BUDs) and senior Commercial leaders across the APAC region.
Serve as the primary Global Supply Chain representative to the International KLT and for APAC BUDs.
Partner closely with the Regional Supply Chain Leads from Americas and Europe/Middle East to share best practices and ensure globally aligned and efficient operations (where relevant).
Act as the voice of the region to other teams and functions within Commercial and Technical Operations, providing actionable operational insights, country feedback, and risk assessments.
Support business case development for new country launches, product expansions, and other strategic initiatives within the APAC region and the broader International Region.
Continuous Improvement, Innovation, and Capability Building
Evaluate and advance opportunities for regional improvement, digital enablement, automation, and future capability building.
Champion a continuous improvement mindset across APAC Regional Supply Chain and drive the team to strengthen customer experience, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.
Kite is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of innovative cancer immunotherapies with a goal of providing rapid, long-term durable response and eliminating the burden of chronic care. The company is focused on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor (TCR) engineered cell therapies designed to empower the immune system's ability to recognize and kill tumors. Kite is based in Santa Monica, CA. For more information on Kite, please visit www.kitepharma.com. Sign up to follow @KitePharma on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kitepharma.
For Current Kite Pharma Employees and Contractors:
Please apply via the Internal Career Opportunities portal in Workday.
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