R&D Change & Transformation Lead

Job description

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 the R&D Organizational Change Management (OCM) Lead, you will execute and sustain change strategies for R&D initiatives, including an initial focus on our data and AI digital transformation. This role is critical to helping Elanco R&D adopt new ways of working, build a stronger digital mindset, and move the organization toward its next level of capability. You will take a practical, hands-on approach to organizational change, meeting the organization where it is today while helping leaders and employees see what is possible. You will work directly with employees, managers, senior leaders, and executive sponsors to build commitment, address resistance, and create lasting behavioral and operational change. You will help establish and evolve the change management capability within R&D, adapting proven change management practices to the needs of the organization rather than applying a one-size-fits-all framework. Success will be measured through meaningful adoption, engagement, behavior change, and business outcomes. Your Responsibilities Design and execute practical change strategies for R&D initiatives, using proven OCM practices and a structured approach to move change from definition and planning through implementation and sustainment. Partner closely with program and project teams while adapting the approach to the needs, maturity, and culture of each part of the organization. Coach executive sponsors, managers, and R&D leaders to effectively lead their teams through change. Help leaders communicate clearly, role-model new behaviors, address resistance, remove roadblocks, and maintain accountability throughout the change journey. Build and mobilize a Change Champion network across R&D functions. Develop strong relationships with champions, equip them to engage their teams, surface concerns and resistance, and help employees understand how changes will affect their day-to-day work. Create meaningful employee engagement, communication, and learning experiences that translate complex changes into clear, practical actions. Partner with learning and project teams to develop role-based training and support that helps employees understand not only what is changing, but why it matters and how to succeed in the new environment. Measure and sustain adoption by defining meaningful adoption and engagement measures, identifying areas of resistance or change fatigue, and using those insights to guide corrective actions. Metrics and dashboards should support meaningful people engagement and help demonstrate the value and impact of change efforts. Drive execution and accountability across change activities by establishing clear plans, milestones, ownership, and follow-through. Bring enough project management discipline to keep work moving, surface issues early, and hold stakeholders accountable for commitments. What You Need to Succeed (minimum qualifications) Education: Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Psychology, Organizational Development, Human Resources, Business, Communication, or a related field. Experience: Significant progressive experience in Organizational Change Management, including hands-on leadership of large-scale organizational change within a sizable, complex organization. Demonstrated experience personally leading significant change efforts more than once and working through the practical challenges of organizational adoption. Organization-wide engagement: Demonstrated ability to work effectively at all levels of an organization, from frontline employees and people managers through senior leaders and executive sponsors. Must be comfortable listening to concerns, addressing resistance, building trust, and helping individuals and teams navigate through change. Change leadership & coaching: Proven ability to coach managers, senior leaders, and executive sponsors through organizational transformation. Strong ability to influence, challenge, and support leaders while helping them communicate clearly, model expected behaviors, and actively lead change within their organizations. Communication & learning: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical, data, or organizational concepts into clear, practical, audience-specific messages. Strong experience developing learning, enablement, or role-based training that supports behavioral adoption and new ways of working. Practical leadership style: Strong emotional intelligence, sound judgment, and a pragmatic, hands-on approach to problem solving. Able to simplify complexity, adapt established change practices to the organization rather than relying on a rigid methodology, and operate effectively in an environment where change capability is still being built. Execution & accountability: Demonstrated ability to manage complex work, establish clear actions and milestones, follow through on commitments, and hold stakeholders accountable while working across a matrixed organization. What will give you a competitive edge (preferred qualifications) Industry & domain experience: Experience working within R&D, pharmaceutical, biotech, animal health, life sciences, o