Associate Director, Packaging and Serialization

Bristol Myers Squibb • New Brunswick, NJ

2d

About The Position

The Associate Director, Packaging and Serialization provides technical and strategic leadership to ensure compliant, robust, and sustainable pharmaceutical packaging and serialization solutions across the global BMS supply network. This role is accountable for defining and executing packaging and serialization strategies across BMS manufacturing sites, CMOs, and 3PLs, ensuring alignment with global regulatory requirements, enterprise standards, and product lifecycle needs. The position serves as a cross‑functional technical authority within MS&T Device & Packaging Technology, translating enterprise commitments into actionable, scalable solutions while maintaining product quality, regulatory compliance, and supply continuity.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (BS or BA) in Package Engineering, Supply Chain Management, or a related technical discipline.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in pharmaceutical packaging, serialization, or related technical roles.
• Demonstrated experience implementing and sustaining global serialization programs, ensuring regulatory compliance across multiple markets.
• Knowledge of barcode standards and data carriers including GS1 Standards, 2D DataMatrix, linear barcodes, aggregation hierarchies.
• Solid understanding of key relationships, dependencies, and interfaces among business units, IT, and external partners.
• Knowledge of pharmaceutical packaging systems, materials, and testing (primary, secondary, and tertiary).
• Experience in end-to-end package development from concept through commercialization.
• Excellent analytical, problem‑solving, and decision‑making skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise strong independent judgment while keeping leadership and stakeholders appropriately informed.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree (MS, MBA, or equivalent) preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead alignment of cross‑functional workstreams (e.g., Logistics, Quality, Master Data, Packaging; internal and external) with overall serialization objectives and interdependencies.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with workstream stakeholders to drive awareness, understanding, ownership, and execution of serialization requirements aligned to their roles.
• Ensure serialization technical and non‑technical requirements are fully considered across workstreams and incorporated into negotiations with external partners (e.g., vendors, CMOs, 3PLs).
• Own and deliver serialization technical solutions to ensure timely and compliant execution across all global market regulatory requirements.
• Lead collaboration with alliance partners for serialization of existing products and new product introductions across all markets; guide internal teams to support alliance activities and ensure projects remain on track through closure.
• Manage serialization‑related commercial change management activities; serve as change control owner and/or impact assessor as required based on project scope.
• Oversee daily operational issues for commercial serialized products and develop serialization operational capabilities that drive efficiency, robustness, and long‑term sustainability.
• Support technical assessments associated with quality events, deviations, or alerts impacting serialized products or systems.
• Collaborate with Serialization Data operations to ensure sustainability and robustness of implemented serialization processes by aligning serialized data flow with physical product flow; remediate gaps as needed.
• Drive serialization continuous improvement through standardization, digitization, and automation to enhance efficiency, data integrity, and operational resilience.
• Ensure standardized implementation of serialization capabilities and recommend process improvements across BMS sites, CMOs, and 3PLs to support timely, efficient, and sustainable execution.
• Serve as subject matter expert in barcode standards and data carriers, including GS1 Standards, 2D DataMatrix, linear barcodes, and aggregation hierarchies.
• Lead or support serialization activities related to mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, including Day 1 readiness and post–Day 1 execution.
• Lead pharmaceutical secondary and tertiary package development activities from development through commercialization and lifecycle management.
• Provide subject matter expertise in packaging component selection, testing, and packaging process engineering; drive continuous improvement in packaging efficiency, reliability, and right-first-time performance.
• Collaborate with R&D, marketing, supply chain, logistics, internal and external manufacturing sites, to successfully develop, transfer and launch packaged products for US and export markets.
• Lead packaging related investigations and root cause analysis.
• Mentor and coach team members and stakeholders on package development, package sustainability, and serialization best practices.
• Integrate sustainability principles into package design decisions, including material selection, component rationalization, size and fit optimization, and packaging configuration across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.
• Serve as the packaging sustainability subject matter expert (SME) for internal stakeholders, project teams, and leadership forums.

Benefits

• Health Coverage: Medical, pharmacy, dental, and vision care.
• Wellbeing Support: Programs such as BMS Well-Being Account, BMS Living Life Better, and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).
• Financial Well-being and Protection: 401(k) plan, short- and long-term disability, life insurance, accident insurance, supplemental health insurance, business travel protection, personal liability protection, identity theft benefit, legal support, and survivor support.
• Work-life benefits include: Paid Time Off US Exempt Employees: flexible time off (unlimited, with manager approval, 11 paid national holidays (not applicable to employees in Phoenix, AZ, Puerto Rico or Rayzebio employees) Phoenix, AZ, Puerto Rico and Rayzebio Exempt, Non-Exempt, Hourly Employees: 160 hours annual paid vacation for new hires with manager approval, 11 national holidays, and 3 optional holidays Based on eligibility, additional time off for employees may include unlimited paid sick time, up to 2 paid volunteer days per year, summer hours flexibility, leaves of absence for medical, personal, parental, caregiver, bereavement, and military needs and an annual Global Shutdown between Christmas and New Years Day.
• All global employees full and part-time who are actively employed at and paid directly by BMS at the end of the calendar year are eligible to take advantage of the Global Shutdown.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees