Laurie Mitchell
New Hope,PA
Summary
Senior HR leader with 10 years in HR leadership and 15+ years in commercial roles, supporting 15,000 employees across North America in a global pharmaceutical enterprise. Partner to executives in aligning people strategy with business goals, leading organizational design, building leadership pipelines, and driving culture transformation.
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
Work History
Head, People Excellence – United States
Sanofi
Morristown, NJ
01.2023 - Current
- Lead enterprise-wide HR function for over 13,000 U.S. employees of business partnering, employee relations, compliance, and Centers of Excellence (COE) operations to increase organizational agility, reduce risk, and enhance the employee experience—directly supporting business growth and performance.
- Streamline HR delivery by aligning Centers of Excellence (COE) with organizational objectives, enabling faster, more consistent execution of talent, culture, and engagement initiatives.
- Ensure full compliance with the U.S. Employment laws, while enhancing process efficiency and improving the resolution of complex employee relations issues, reduce case closure times and mitigate risk.
- Collaborate with senior business and HR leaders to deliver enterprise-wide programs and initiatives that build leadership capability, embed a high-performance culture, and drive sustained business growth.
Head, HR Operations – North America & Interim Head of HR, NA Vaccines
Sanofi
Morristown, NJ
05.2020 - 01.2023
- Pioneered transformation of new NA HR operating model as first key market, gaining Executive Committee endorsement to enhance organizational agility, streamline HR delivery, and realize $3M in cost savings—positioning the company for scalable growth.
- North America Lead for Global HR Transformation, defining the capabilities and operating model for HRBPs, HR Operations, and COEs to drive strategic alignment and transformational impact.
- Developed human capital dashboards tracking talent mobility, DEI metrics, and performance outcomes; used data to inform leadership decisions.
- Led M&A HR integration of $3.2B Translate Bio acquisition, including workforce planning, compensation and benefits alignment, culture integration, and retention strategies for critical biotech talent.
- Partnered with commercial leadership on organizational design for U.S. Vaccines business to support the Beyfortus launch, including team capability building.
Head, Talent Management – North America
Sanofi
Morristown, NJ
09.2019 - 05.2020
- Collaborated with U.S. country leadership to develop talent strategy, identifying critical roles and succession plans, enhancing leadership readiness.
- Introduced cross-functional talent reviews to accelerate leadership mobility and close capability gaps, resulting in four critical cross moves in senior U.S. positions.
- Chaired the U.S. Talent Committee, aligning leadership development, succession planning, and critical skill building to enterprise strategy.
Chief of Staff, NA HR & U.S. Country Council
Sanofi
Morristown, NJ
01.2018 - 09.2019
- Directed global and U.S. Enterprise priorities in partnership with the SVP of HR, mobilizing leaders across the U.S. to drive talent development, operational simplification, and cultural integration, enabling scalable growth, and stronger organizational performance.
- Designed and executed a voluntary exit program affecting over 1,000 employees, achieving $107M in savings, with full compliance and leader readiness planning.
- Created the Digital & Analytics Center of Excellence roadmap to streamline operations by optimizing systems and digital assets; collaborated with global owners to evaluate capabilities, resolve challenges, and unlock resource savings through global-to-local deployments.
HR Business Partner – U.S. Market Access, Sales & Trade
Sanofi
Morristown, NJ
07.2016 - 08.2018
- Partnered with business leaders on org design, workforce planning, early talent development, and executive coaching to support multibillion-dollar business goals.
- Led strategic talent acquisition and onboarding for U.S. Head of Market Access, guiding assimilation into the organization to accelerate leadership effectiveness and market access strategy execution.
- Led restructuring of One Trade organization to improve efficiency, customer alignment, and cross-functional collaboration.
Commercial Sales Leadership Roles
Sanofi & Merck
07.2001 - 06.2016
- Directed sales teams of up to 15.
- Top 1% U.S. World Champion Sales Award Winner (2012).
- Led launch coordination for Praluent across 100+ employees.
Registered Nurse – NICU & Pediatrics
Children’s Hospital Boston & GWU Hospital
Education
M.S. - Health Systems Administration
Georgetown University
Washington, DCB.S. - Nursing
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MAStrategic HR Leadership -
Cornell University
Ithaca, NYSkills
- Strategic Talent & Workforce Planning
- Organizational Design
- M&A Integration
- Business Acumen & Strategic Insight
- Leadership Coaching
- Culture & Change Leadership
- Executive Partnership
- People Leadership
- HR Operations
- Data-Driven Decision-Making
Accomplishments
- Chosen for Sanofi’s highly selective Unleash program, reserved for 50 global senior leaders recognized as top-tier talent and high-potential successors for future executive positions.
- Repeatedly awarded highest performance rating (‘Outstanding’), achieved by 10% of employees, for delivering transformative results and enterprise-wide impact.
- Appointed North America Lead for Global HR Transformation, defining the capabilities and operating model for HRBPs, HR Operations, and Centers of Excellence (COE) to drive strategic alignment and organizational transformation.
Timeline
Head, People Excellence – United States
Sanofi
01.2023 - Current
Head, HR Operations – North America & Interim Head of HR, NA Vaccines
Sanofi
05.2020 - 01.2023
Head, Talent Management – North America
Sanofi
09.2019 - 05.2020
Chief of Staff, NA HR & U.S. Country Council
Sanofi
01.2018 - 09.2019
HR Business Partner – U.S. Market Access, Sales & Trade
Sanofi
07.2016 - 08.2018
Commercial Sales Leadership Roles
Sanofi & Merck
07.2001 - 06.2016
Registered Nurse – NICU & Pediatrics
Children’s Hospital Boston & GWU Hospital
M.S. - Health Systems Administration
Georgetown University
B.S. - Nursing
Boston College
Strategic HR Leadership -
Cornell University