Courtney McBean
SVP, Development Operations Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc.
Courtney McBean is Senior Vice President of Development Operations and Chief of Staff at Ultragenyx, where she aligns strategy, operations, and ways of working to drive performance across R&D. With leadership experience spanning Ultragenyx, Genentech, Medtronic and Worldwide Clinical Trials, she is known for leading complex transformations and building high‑impact, collaborative organisations.
Seminars
- How can life sciences organizations reduce decision‑making friction and role confusion that slows execution across R&D?
- Learn how Ultragenyx diagnosed ‘organizational swirl’ and introduced the Stop the Swirl initiative and Fix It framework using live forums, real‑time coaching, and embedded decision tools
- See how this approach drove sustained cross‑level engagement over 18 months, with measurable participation data and strong qualitative feedback, leading to clearer accountability, shared decision language, and improved execution discipline across teams
This interactive Q&A explores two distinct but connected challenges: the structural friction created by unclear decision-making in complex organizations, and the cultural friction created by generational divides in conduct and expectations.
Both slow execution and eroded trust demand active HR intervention. Participants will examine what these challenges have in common, and where they require fundamentally different approaches.
- How do you diagnose whether your organization’s execution problems are structural (unclear decisions) or cultural (misaligned expectations)?
- What tools or frameworks best help teams develop shared decision language across organizational levels?
- How do you build a conduct framework that is clear and consistent while genuinely accounting for generational difference?
- Where do decision-making clarity and generational culture challenges most often intersect, and how do you address both at once?
