R&D IAC Operations and Communication Manager

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Role Title:  R&D IAC Operations and Communication Manager

Level:  P2

Location:  IAC, Bangalore

Reports to:  R&D Site Lead

Role Summary

This role is a strategic partner and force multiplier to the R&D Site Lead & Lead Team, operating at the center of site leadership rather than in support of it. This role is responsible for translating global & site strategy into tangible action, culture & communication at Elanco Innovation & Alliance Center (IAC). This role is responsible for serving as the chief of operations and communications for the local site. The person in this role serves as a trusted extension of the R&D Lead Team, representing the office in forums where sound judgment, discretion, and credibility are essential.  The Site Operations role not only provides administrative and coordination support but also helps advance key site priorities through a focus on leadership effectiveness, strategic alignment, and organizational health advancing global initiatives and translating them at the ground level in consultation with the local R&D Lead Team.

Core Responsibilities

Strategic Partnership & Site Leadership

• Serve as strategic advisor and thought partner to the R&D Site Lead & Lead Team shaping how strategic initiatives translate into concrete site-level action

• Partner with the leadership team and enable the site's strategic planning and prioritization efforts by facilitating discussions, tracking key initiatives, and helping ensure leadership attention is directed toward critical priorities

• Facilitate stakeholder discussions and support business case development for strategic site capabilities, including opportunities to enhance IAC’s role as an AI hub within the R&D, partnering on the AI COP

• Build and sustain direct working partnerships with R&D executive and functional lead team members, acting as a trusted point of contact on their behalf for site-level priorities, cross-functional dependencies, and follow-through

Executive Communications & Organizational Narrative

• Provide support and enable successful delivery of flagship site events such as R&D Connect Week —from theme and content architecture through post-event communications to the larger audiences (internal & external)

• Facilitate and support senior leadership engagement initiatives including townhalls, and speaker preparation

• Provide communications support for the Site Lead by helping craft executive briefings, leader emails, and broader site communications that are impactful, engaging, and people-centric

• Build and protect a consistent communications narrative that ties site activity back to a central R&D theme across the year

Organizational Health

• Work closely with the HSE Lead and team, providing coordination and operational support while acting as an integral member of the team.

• Champion site culture enhancement ideas that include employee engagement initiatives, cross-functional team building activities, and serving as the R&D ERG Liaison in partnership with the EBS ERG Leadership.

• Lead organizational change management (OCM) on site, through major transitions, pairing structured process with communication that helps people make sense of what's changing and why

• Partner with R&D Lead Team to collate talent advancement and the STA (short-term assignment) pipeline for talent across the site

Governance, Project & Team Leadership

• Project manage operational initiatives to delivery representing the local R&D Lead Team and global functional leaders

• Schedule and facilitate R&D Lead Team meetings, floor initiatives and cross-functional governance forums, capture minutes, key decisions + action points

• Own the site's project portfolio dashboard and reporting cadence for leadership and global stakeholders

• Maintain oversight of site operations (logistics, visitor and delegate management, calendar and travel support for visiting leaders), ensuring consistent quality and timeliness

• Potentially own and execute site based projects

Additional Preferences

• Proven experience operating as a strategic partner to leaders in a global, matrixed organization

• Executive presence and the discretion to handle highly confidential, sensitive matters

• Exceptional written communication — able to write convincingly and authentically

• Track record of driving execution across functions without formal authority

• Comfort leading through ambiguity and building structure or governance where none previously existed

Other Information

• Based in Bangalore, India, at the IAC site, expected to complete 30 days/Quarter of in-office presence.

• Frequent partnership with global, cross-time-zone stakeholders across the US and Europe

• Proficiency across the MS Office suite; comfortable adopting AI and new-age content tools

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

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