Senior Director, Vaccine Development Project Leadership – Farm Animal R&D

At Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) – it all starts with animals!

As a global leader in animal health, we are dedicated to innovation and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets. At Elanco, we are driven by our vision of Food and Companionship Enriching Life and our purpose – all to Go Beyond for Animals, Customers, Society and Our People.

At Elanco, we pride ourselves on fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We believe that diversity is the driving force behind innovation, creativity, and overall business success. Here, you’ll be part of a company that values and champions new ways of thinking, work with dynamic individuals, and acquire new skills and experiences that will propel your career to new heights.

Making animals’ lives better makes life better – join our team today!

Your Role

As a Senior Director, Vaccine Development Project Leadership – Farm Animal R&D, you will be accountable for leading multi-functional teams and drive projects from pipeline entry through approval, using both internal and external resources. Scope may include multiple species, geographies and registration pathways. You will collaborate closely with R&D and Commercial leaders to identify and advance new innovation opportunities aligned with Elanco’s global strategy.

This role offers a growth trajectory to oversee our entire Farm Animal R&D vaccine pipeline, delivering high-level strategic impact across Elanco’s global FA vaccine portfolio.

Your Responsibilities

• Deliver the project goals OTIF (on time in full) by proactively managing project plans and assigned team members in accordance with approved timing and budget.
• Define optimized project plans for projects including internal/external resource needs for R&D and manufacturing, development costs, cost of goods and margin.
• Ensure the appropriate strategy is in place and sufficient milestones are identified, monitored, and communicated.
• Ensure permanent collaboration and interaction with critical functions outside of R&D (e.g. Corporate Strategy & Global Launch, Manufacturing & Quality) to ensure proper project valuation & ROI.
• Assembling, revising and leading the project team and evolving it as the project progresses. Work with functional leadership to assign best aligned SMEs to project needs.
• Collaborate effectively and timely communicate with functional SMEs to plan and execute projects.
• Set clear goals and objectives for the project team members, hold self and others accountable.
• Positively influence, foster creativity, and motivate project team members.
• Align with project manager to ensure robust preparation/updates of project plans and timelines for assigned projects. Provide strategic inputs to facilitate accurate and timely project plans, timelines, and budgets.
• Identify & communicate to executive leadership project specific risks, status and opportunity, including impacts.
• Identify & communicate project risks, mitigations and remediation plans proactively.
• Effectively lead engagements with regulatory agencies, external collaborators/vendors as needed for projects.
• Serve on product task force efforts to support R&D, commercial projects as assigned.

What You Need to Succeed (minimum qualifications)

• Master’s degree in a relevant scientific discipline (e.g. animal science, veterinary medicine, chemistry, biology or related sciences) plus relevant industry experience
• Proven vaccine project leadership history across species, technology types & R&D stages.
• Proven project leadership at all stages of product development, including track record of launching farm animal vaccines
• Demonstrated ability to work within regulated product development.
• Demonstrated strong leadership skills and strategic thinking
• High emotional intelligence
• Clear written and oral communication skills

What will give you a competitive edge (preferred qualifications)

• Proven ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• PhD and/or DVM >8 years of R&D project leadership experience in the animal health industry

Additional Information

• Domestic/International travel required (20%)
• 0-2 direct reports

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Elanco we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive work environment. If you think you might be a good fit for a role but don't necessarily meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply. You may be the right candidate for this role or other roles!

Elanco Benefits and Perks

We offer a comprehensive benefits package focusing on financial, physical, and mental well-being while encouraging our employees to pursue our purpose! Some highlights include:

• Multiple relocation packages
• Two weeklong shutdowns (mid-summer and year-end) in the US (in addition to PTO)
• 8-week parental leave
• 9 Employee Resource Groups
• Annual bonus offering
• Flexible work arrangements
• Up to 6% 401K matching

Elanco is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.

Elanco may use automated tools, including AI, to support parts of our recruitment process, such as reviewing applications against job‑related criteria and/or transferrable skills. These tools help ensure a consistent, structured evaluation, but they do not make hiring decisions. All decisions involve a human reviewer. For