Executive Director, General Manager RMC, Cell Therapy

AstraZeneca•Rockville, MD

15h•Onsite

About The Position

The Executive Director, General Manager Site Head RMC (Rockville Manufacturing Center) reports into the Head of Cell Therapy Manufacturing within the Cell Therapy Development and Operations (CTDO) organization. The position location is Rockville, Maryland. Leadership of all aspects of autologous Cell Therapy manufacturing for a complex stand-alone manufacturing site, to meet customer requirements and to enable realization of the company’s operations strategy to scale Cell Therapy manufacturing. Leads/shapes projects globally with companywide impact (5-year horizon).

Requirements

University graduate, with significant experience (10+ years) in the field of Manufacturing, & Supply Chain; People Management and people development.
Proven track record in managing and leading a large, high-performing team with preferred expertise in autologous CAR-T cell therapies or biologics in a clinical and commercial manufacturing environment.
Ability to engage people in change and working with uncertainty and ambiguity.
Site experience : 10+ years in manufacturing, engineering, facilities, and/or quality site leadership.
Team leadership : Leads a multidisciplinary site leadership team and builds high-performing talent benches.
Regulatory, quality, and SHE governance : Demonstrated oversight ensuring compliance with all applicable standards.
Strategic thinking, influence, and stakeholder management : Translates enterprise strategy into site priorities; influences global and functional stakeholders with credibility and gravitas.
Expert problem solver.
Risk-based decision making : Makes timely, compliant, risk-informed decisions at the site level.
Digital and AI stewardship : Adopts and embeds digital and AI-enabled tools to improve site performance.
Demonstration of leading operations with Automation, Digital and AI
Operational execution leadership : Drives OpEx and Lean execution with clear milestones, resource plans, and performance metrics.

Nice To Haves

Global experience is preferable.

Responsibilities

Lead the RMC Cell Therapy Site for AstraZeneca, the newest cell therapy site.
Ensures processes at the site are carried out in accordance with AstraZeneca’s corporate values, Good Manufacturing Practices, Public Health Codes and applicable standards and laws.
Achieve critical milestones include PPQ readiness, pre-license inspection, BLA filing support, commercial launch and scaling.
AI adoption for productivity gains and increase efficiency in scale.
Advance process robotics and advanced automation as part of cell therapy.
Acts as role model for the AZ leadership capabilities and sets the standard by which senior employees on the site motivate and empower staff to deliver outstanding performance and customer service.
Ensures that the site’s products are made available to external customers whilst adhering to regulations, quality standards, budget and policies.
Sets annual objectives in line with CTDO scorecards, measures the achievement of those individual targets and takes remedial actions where required.
Champions the design of appropriate methods for improving productivity, quality and SHE standards and oversees the implementation of these across the site.
Inspires staff to coach and develop talent to ensure a healthy talent pipeline and succession for senior positions.
Creates an environment in which the working teams can make independent decisions to mitigate any risks to the patient and/or business reputation.
Builds and maintains good reputation and community relations with external stakeholders.
The position will focus on the global supply of autologous Cell Therapies.