Cell Therapy Supply Chain Operational Excellence & Performance Lead

AstraZeneca•Gaithersburg, MD

8d•$121,150 - $181,724

About The Position

The Associate Director, Cell Therapy Supply Chain Operations Transformation & Performance Lead drives business process transformation, operational excellence, and performance management across the Cell Therapy Global Supply Chain organization. Reporting to the Director, Strategy & Business Planning, the role partners with supply chain leaders and business process owners to simplify, standardize, and scale end-to-end supply chain processes while strengthening governance, performance visibility, and decision-making. The role helps build a scalable, future-ready supply chain operating model to support the growth and evolving complexity of the cell therapy business. It shapes supply chain capabilities through Lean principles, process transformation, and digitization, and helps establish a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, accountability, and operational excellence.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Operations, Life Sciences, Business, or a related field.
At least 6 years of relevant experience with a Bachelor's degree.
Experience in biopharmaceutical, biotech, advanced therapy, or other highly regulated operations environments.
Strong understanding of end-to-end supply chain processes, including planning, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, inventory management, and performance management.
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt required.
Proven experience leading business process transformation, operational excellence, or operating model transformation initiatives.
Experience establishing governance structures, KPIs, management routines, and performance frameworks.
Ability to translate complex business challenges into scalable, practical solutions.
Strong facilitation, stakeholder management, influencing, and change leadership skills.
Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with a data-driven mindset.
Ability to operate effectively in a complex, cross-functional environment and influence stakeholders without direct authority.

Nice To Haves

Experience in cell therapy, gene therapy, or advanced therapy supply chain environments.
Experience supporting or leading transformation within a rapidly growing or evolving business.
Experience leading large-scale transformation programs across cross-functional organizations.
Experience with automation, advanced analytics, process mining, digital technologies, or AI-enabled supply chain solutions.
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
Additional certifications such as Prosci, PMP, Scrum Master, CSCP, or CPIM.
MBA or advanced degree in a related discipline.

Responsibilities

Support strategic transformation initiatives.
Establish and maintain the end-to-end supply chain process framework, including standards, governance, ownership, process architecture, and continuous improvement.
Partner with supply chain leaders and cross-functional business process owners to design and implement future-state, scalable operating models.
Drive operational excellence through Lean methodologies, structured problem-solving, process simplification, standardization, and continuous improvement.
Facilitate cross-functional workshops to assess current-state processes, identify opportunities, define future-state solutions, and develop implementation roadmaps.
Develop and enhance the global supply chain performance management framework, including KPIs, tier-based performance management, management review routines, and escalation processes.
Establish meaningful metrics, data definitions, and reporting structures to improve performance visibility, accountability, and data-driven decision-making.
Support governance forums and cross-functional management routines that strengthen alignment, prioritization, decision-making, and issue resolution.
Partner with Digital and Supply Chain teams to identify and implement automation, advanced analytics, digital, and AI-enabled solutions that enhance supply chain effectiveness.
Use data and analytics to identify trends, uncover improvement opportunities, measure transformation outcomes, and support strategic decision-making.
Build partnerships across Planning, Procurement, Manufacturing, Logistics, Quality, Digital, and other key functions to drive end-to-end transformation.
Lead change management and stakeholder engagement to drive adoption of new processes, tools, operating models, and governance structures.
Develop and communicate transformation roadmaps, progress, performance insights, and key outcomes to senior stakeholders.
Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, and scale supply chain capabilities as the cell therapy business evolves.
Help establish a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, accountability, and operational excellence across the Global Supply Chain organization.