Director R&D EHS Program Lead

Pfizer • Bothell, CT

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, R&D EHS Program Lead serves as the GWE R&D principal leader in industrial hygiene and the broader Environmental, Health & Safety (EH&S) disciplines as it pertains to the support of research operations. Reporting to the Sr. Director, R&D and Capital Strategy Lead this role enables industrial-hygiene expertise. Anchored in this technical authority, this role leads and moderates a global EH&S Community of Practice (CoP), serves as R&D’s lead voice to the enterprise EH&S organization, and establishes the above-site reporting and metrics that give leadership a single, portfolio-wide view of R&D EH&S performance. Influencing and aligning senior stakeholders across GWE, Research and the enterprise Safety, Environmental & Operations (SEO) function, this role delivers Director-level impact principally through expertise and leadership of a community of EH&S professionals.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in industrial/occupational hygiene, environmental/occupational health, chemistry, engineering, or a closely related scientific discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive industrial-hygiene and EH&S experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, or another life sciences/high-hazard, regulated environment.
• Deep, demonstrable expertise in industrial hygiene — exposure assessment, monitoring and sampling, OELs/OEBs, hazard/control banding, and engineering-control evaluation — in laboratory and R&D settings.
• Demonstrated Director-level (or equivalent senior) EH&S leadership, including owning or influencing standards, programs, or communities of practice across multiple sites at an above-site or enterprise level.
• Proven ability to lead, influence and drive outcomes without solid-line authority — directing matrixed teams and aligning senior stakeholders across scientific, operational and corporate functions in a large, global organization.
• Working knowledge of applicable EH&S regulations and standards (e.g., OSHA, EPA, ACGIH, biosafety/containment, process safety) across U.S. and international jurisdictions.
• Technical breadth across core EH&S disciplines — process safety, biosafety, colleague/occupational safety, and environmental impact reduction — in addition to industrial hygiene.
• Excellent oral, written and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across multiple locations, functions and cultures.
• Experience leading or supporting EH&S investigations and technical program development.
• Candidate demonstrates a breadth of diverse leadership experiences and capabilities including: the ability to influence and collaborate with peers, develop and coach others, oversee and guide the work of other colleagues to achieve meaningful outcomes and create business impact.
• Ability to perform complex data analysis and synthesize EH&S performance metrics across a global portfolio.
• Periodic access to laboratory and operational environments, which may require use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and adherence to containment/aseptic protocols.
• Ability to perform detailed, high-judgment work under time constraints and frequent interruptions, while maintaining focus on longer-term priorities.
• Physical fitness to travel to R&D and manufacturing locations to conduct walkthroughs, audits and inspections, including the ability to stand or walk for extended periods, climb stairs, and use PPE such as respiratory and hearing protection.
• Daily virtual collaboration via video conferencing and related technology to effectively exchange information with colleagues across locations.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally to R&D sites (estimated up to ~30%).
• Flexibility to collaborate across global time zones, including availability to work outside standard hours (early mornings/evenings) as needed to fully participate in and maintain communication with a geographically dispersed, international team.
• Adherence to site-specific safe work practices, including PPE and containment/gowning requirements as applicable.
• Permanent work authorization in the United States.

Nice To Haves

• Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) — strongly preferred; additional certification such as CSP, CBSP/RBP, or equivalent a plus.
• Advanced degree (MS/MPH/PhD) in industrial hygiene, occupational/environmental health, business continuity management, or related field.
• Direct R&D/laboratory industrial-hygiene experience with high-potency compounds/ADCs, novel chemistries, and BSL-3 and/or Select Agent programs.
• Experience with EH&S management systems and digital platforms (e.g., Cority, Intelex, Enablon, or similar) and portfolio-level exposure/EH&S metrics and reporting.
• Experience supporting BD/M&A EH&S due diligence and enterprise vendor/service programs within a global, matrixed organization.
• Active, current membership in a relevant professional body, with a formal continuing professional development (CPD) requirement.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical subject matter leader for GWE R&D, leading the anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of chemical, physical and biological exposure hazards across all sites.
• Serve as an active member of the GWE R&D Leadership Team and an extended member of the Safety & Environmental Operations Leadership Team, driving transformative action to reduce EH&S risk and elevate performance consistently across the organization.
• Design and govern qualitative and quantitative exposure-assessment programs — air, surface and personal monitoring, sampling strategies, and interpretation against occupational exposure limits (OELs) and occupational exposure bands (OEBs).
• Lead hazard and control banding for potent compounds, high-hazard biologics/ADCs and novel molecules, defining containment strategies, engineering controls and PPE for the highest-hazard work.
• Provide technical oversight of ventilation, fume hoods, isolators and containment systems, including performance verification and industrial-hygiene sign-off for laboratory and pilot operations.
• Support and implement industrial-hygiene risk-assessment methodologies in partnership with SEO and global policy and procedures, establishing one consistent toolset and documentation standard applied across all R&D sites.
• Ensure consistent application of lab safety programs, developing a consistent GWE-wide approach for each laboratory environment, differentiating between analytical, chemistry, biological, etc., laboratories.
• Lead and manage a global R&D EH&S Community of Practice of 10–12 discipline experts (industrial hygiene, biological safety & containment, process/contractor safety, and EH&S management systems); set priorities and deliverables and drive consistent, outcome-focused standards, tools and best practices.
• Serve as GWE R&D’s representation in the enterprise programs, shaping enterprise policies, standards, reporting and tools — with particular focus on industrial-hygiene standards — so they are fit-for-purpose for R&D, and securing governance and decision rights on R&D’s behalf.
• Lead and sustain site-level EH&S risk registers, rolling up location-based input into a network-wide, forward-looking view of the state of control; establish action plans in response to emerging trends and risk signals, escalating as needed to secure alignment and accelerate resolution.
• Advise senior scientific and operational leaders on practical, IH-based solutions, exercising independent judgment to balance exposure risk with business needs and aligning stakeholders across Workplace Experience, Research and site operations.
• Establish and deliver portfolio-level visibility of EH&S and industrial-hygiene performance — exposure trends and leading/lagging indicators — informing executive decisions and driving continuous improvement.
• Explore opportunities for AI to assist with EHS processes, risk assessments, change control, and metrics, and implement GWE-wide solutions.
• Manage the escalation process for significant EH&S events or compliance issues, lead root-cause investigations, and communicate lessons learned to drive improvement across the R&D network.
• Represent Global Workplace Experience/R&D as decision partner for EH&S service and vendor programs (e.g., IH monitoring services, waste management) in support of enterprise procurement savings; lead EH&S/IH due diligence for business development and M&A activity to anticipate exposure gaps and remediation needs before they impact R&D.
• Leverage the Community of Practice to assess and strengthen industrial-hygiene and EH&S bench strength, enabling succession planning and creating growth and development opportunities.

Benefits

• 401(k) plan with Pfizer Matching Contributions and an additional Pfizer Retirement Savings Contribution
• Paid vacation, holiday and personal days
• Paid caregiver/parental and medical leave
• Health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage
• Relocation assistance may be available based on business needs and/or eligibility.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director