Senior Specialist, Operations

At our company, we aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. We're at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. Join our team and be part of a company that is making a difference. Summary, Focus and Purpose The Manufacturing Operations Senior Specialist role within our company is a manufacturing leadership role supporting a vaccine end to end manufacturing process (e.g. media preparation, harvesting, filling, lyophilization, capping and inspection, and packaging), testing and release. You must provide direction, coaching, and technical expertise to operations support personnel responsible for running/improving the manufacturing, testing and release processes and business systems. This individual must actively manage their assigned team to reliably support commercial operations (including hiring, employee development, routine 1:1 meetings and coaching, recognition, and performance management). Additionally, they must become proficient in the use of manufacturing systems and knowledgeable of site procedures to lead their team through resolving/improving manufacturing and business processes. Key Functions Employee Development / People Management Develop, motivate, and manage a team to ensure reliable manufacturing, testing and release execution Assign yearly performance objectives for the team in alignment with department and site goals Provide regular feedback and coaching to employees on work performance Provide leadership to the team as needed based on the team’s capabilities and maturity Process Execution | Continuous Improvement Provide a leadership presence on the manufacturing floor Champion standard work to drive consistent use of best practices across teams Regularly help the team troubleshoot issues to minimize downtime and maintain product quality Identify opportunities to improve the process (e.g. cycle times, ease of execution, reliability) Support work as needed to implement improvements (e.g. scheduling, staffing, protocol execution) Coach team members in executing smaller improvement projects in their operational area Represent Operations on project teams Communication Lead and support site (Tier) meetings to facilitate flow of information up/down through the organization Hold regular team meetings to cascade information and collect team feedback Provide clear consistent communication to site stakeholders Escalate issues as needed to ensure the right support/awareness is given to issues as they arise Serve as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) during tours to provide area/process overview information to visitors/auditors upon request Quality & Safety Compliance Foster strong safety culture on the team through actions, coaching, and prioritization Coach individuals when reporting safety issues and completing corrective/preventative actions Drive culture of compliance through actions, consistent quality-driven decision making, and coaching of the team (e.g. documentation, housekeeping, area 5S, etc.) Participate in safety/regulatory audits (i.e. tours, topic discussion) Financial Manages the Site cost center, including capital spend, creating and managing all profit plans and forecasts throughout the year Recognize opportunities for cost savings and communicates them for potential project chartering Education Bachelor degree in Engineering, Life Science, or related field with five years in a Manufacturing Operations or Site support role or prior military experience OR Master of Science or Business degree with three years of the described experience. Required Experience | Knowledge | Skills Medical clearance Demonstrated ability to lead a team (i.e. experience leading directly as a supervisor/coach or indirectly as part of a project or through routine process execution) Lean Six Sigma