Director of Sterility Assurance

ProKidney•Winston-Salem, NC

About The Position

The Director of Sterility Assurance is accountable for defining, implementing, and sustaining the sterility assurance and contamination control strategy for autologous cell therapy manufacturing operations supporting clinical and commercial programs at ProKidney. This role provides strategic and operational leadership for aseptic processing, contamination control, environmental monitoring, cleanroom operations, microbiological quality systems, and inspection readiness across centralized manufacturing activities associated with autologous renal cell therapy products. The Director will ensure compliance with FDA, EMA, and global GMP expectations for sterile and aseptic manufacturing, with particular emphasis on the unique risks associated with patient-specific autologous manufacturing, open manipulations, short manufacturing timelines, cryopreservation, and chain-of-identity/chain-of-custody controls. This individual will serve as a key technical and quality leader supporting BLA readiness, process validation, commercial launch preparation, and pre-approval inspection (PLI) activities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology, Biological Sciences, Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or related discipline required.
12+ years of experience in sterile biologics, cell therapy, or aseptic pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Significant experience supporting autologous cell therapy or other patient-specific manufacturing operations strongly preferred.
Demonstrated experience supporting late-stage clinical or commercial readiness activities, including BLA and PLI preparation.
Prior regulatory inspection experience required.
Deep expertise in aseptic processing, contamination control strategy development, Annex 1 implementation, environmental monitoring, cleanroom operations, microbial investigations, media fill design and execution, quality risk management (ICH Q9), and GMP manufacturing for ATMPs/cell therapies.
Strong executive communication and inspection interaction skills.
Ability to influence across Quality, Manufacturing, and Technical Operations.
Strategic systems-thinking capability.
Strong operational judgment under high-pressure manufacturing conditions.
Ability to build a proactive contamination-control culture.
Excellent mentoring and organizational leadership skills.
Exhibits TRAC Leadership values.
Applicants must be eligible to work in the United States without the need for work visa or residency sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree preferred.
Preferred experience with autologous manufacturing workflows, cryopreservation operations, biosafety cabinet operations, rapid sterility methods, single-use systems, decentralized manufacturing models, and chain-of-identity / chain-of-custody systems.

Responsibilities

Define, own, and govern the enterprise contamination control strategy (CCS) for autologous cell therapy manufacturing operations.
Serve as an SME for sterility assurance, aseptic processing, and contamination control in cell therapy manufacturing environments.
Establish risk-based microbial control strategies tailored to autologous manufacturing workflows and patient-specific processing.
Ensure alignment of sterility assurance programs with FDA aseptic processing guidance, EU GMP Annex 1, ATMP expectations, and applicable ICH guidance.
Provide oversight of aseptic manufacturing operations involving patient-derived starting materials, open and semi-closed manipulations, biosafety cabinet operations, cryopreservation activities, and final product handling and fill activities.
Define sterility-assurance requirements for manufacturing strategies that minimize operator intervention and contamination risk.
Review and approve aseptic process workflows, interventions, and operator practices.
Partner with Manufacturing and QC Micro to optimize contamination control during process scale-out and technology transfer.
Support the strategy for environmental monitoring (EM) programs across GMP cleanrooms and classified processing environments.
Ensure robust trending and investigation of viable and non-viable EM excursions, personnel monitoring results, contamination events, and aseptic process deviations.
Establish scientifically justified alert/action levels and escalation procedures.
Oversee cleanroom qualification and ongoing state-of-control assessments.
Lead strategy for media fills / aseptic process simulations (APS) representative of autologous manufacturing operations.
Ensure APS programs appropriately model extended manipulations, worst-case interventions, operator variability, low-volume processing, and cryogenic handling steps.
Support qualification and validation activities for biosafety cabinets, isolators (if applicable), incubators, cryostorage systems, single-use manufacturing systems, and sterilizing filtration processes.
Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure contamination control strategies are integrated with chain-of-identity systems, chain-of-custody controls, material segregation procedures, and patient-specific manufacturing safeguards.
Assess operational risks associated with multi-product and multi-patient processing environments.
Serve as the sterility assurance SME during FDA inspections, pre-license inspections (PLI), partner audits, and regulatory agency interactions.
Support preparation of regulatory filings and responses related to sterility assurance and aseptic manufacturing controls.
Lead inspection readiness activities related to contamination control strategy, APS/media fills, environmental monitoring, microbial investigations, and aseptic operator qualification.
Provide technical leadership for microbial and contamination investigations.
Ensure timely, science-based root cause analysis and effective CAPA implementation.
Review deviations, change controls, and risk assessments impacting sterile manufacturing operations.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives to strengthen contamination prevention and operational robustness.
Partner closely with Manufacturing Operations, Quality Assurance, QC Microbiology, MSAT, Facilities & Engineering, Supply Chain, and Regulatory Affairs.
Support strategic planning for commercial manufacturing readiness and network expansion.
Build and lead high-performing sterility assurance and contamination control teams.
Develop training programs focused on aseptic behaviors, contamination prevention, Annex 1 expectations, and GMP cleanroom practices.
Foster a strong quality culture emphasizing proactive risk identification and operational discipline.