Facility Manager

Astellas Pharma • Watertown, MA

47d

About The Position

The Facilities Manager is accountable for the strategic leadership, governance, safety, compliance, and operational excellence of the Astellas Life Sciences Center (ALSC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This role serves as the senior site authority for all facility operations, infrastructure, and capital investments, ensuring the site consistently meets regulatory requirements, supports complex laboratory and office environments, and delivers a safe, resilient, and high‑performing workplace aligned with Astellas standards and site leadership objectives. The Facilities Manager acts as a trusted advisor to the Site Head and Operations leadership, providing strategic direction for facility planning, vendor partnerships, risk management, and long‑term site sustainability, while serving as the primary liaison with the landlord, external service providers, and cross‑functional internal stakeholders.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a science, engineering, or related discipline, with progressive leadership experience in facilities and operations management.
• Significant experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or regulated life sciences environments. Demonstrated ability to lead complex, regulated facility operations and capital programs.
• Strong executive‑level communication skills, with the ability to influence and advise senior leaders and global stakeholders.
• Proven judgment, risk management capability, and decision‑making authority in high‑impact operational environments.
• Deep knowledge of laboratory operations, facility systems, and EHS requirements.
• Ability to independently resolve complex, cross‑functional operational challenges.

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary teams and managing senior vendor partnerships.
• Broad expertise across laboratory and office environments, including infrastructure, energy management, fire protection, IT systems, and biological/chemical safety.
• Track record of delivering large‑scale facility initiatives while ensuring business continuity.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and executive oversight of all facility, infrastructure, and building systems to ensure uninterrupted, compliant, and future‑ready site operations.
• Establish and govern site‑wide maintenance, reliability, and asset‑management strategies for critical systems, including HVAC, electrical, plumbing, life safety, security, and utilities.
• Direct site space planning and utilization strategies across laboratories, offices, shared spaces, and conference facilities to optimize functionality, safety, and long‑term growth.
• Serve as the site incident and escalation authority for weather events, building emergencies, and operational disruptions, ensuring timely decision‑making and communications.
• Maintain executive accountability for site access control, badge governance, and security protocols to ensure compliance, audit readiness, and risk mitigation.
• Oversee and continuously improve facility service request and ticketing processes, leveraging data to identify systemic issues, risks, and opportunities for operational improvement.
• Act as the primary senior interface with the landlord, leading service delivery reviews, inspections, escalations, and contractual performance management.
• Hold ultimate site accountability for compliance with all applicable local, state, federal, and corporate health, safety, and environmental regulations.
• Establish, approve, and govern facility‑related SOPs, site policies, and emergency response frameworks.
• Lead and sponsor facility audits, inspections, and enterprise risk assessments, ensuring timely remediation and sustained compliance.
• Partner closely with Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) leadership to drive a proactive safety culture, regulatory excellence, and continuous improvement across ALSC.
• Ensure robust governance of access control, visitor management, parking operations, and site safety programs.
• Own the strategic governance of all third‑party vendors and service providers, including maintenance, security, cleaning, waste management, IT/AV, and utilities.
• Provide executive oversight of security operations in partnership with NorthEastern Security, ensuring coverage, continuity, and risk mitigation.
• Negotiate, approve, and govern contracts and SLAs to ensure value, performance, and alignment with Astellas standards.
• Serve as the final escalation authority for vendor performance, compliance issues, and service failures.
• Develop and own the ALSC facilities operating and capital budgets, ensuring disciplined financial management and alignment with site and enterprise priorities.
• Approve and oversee facility‑related financial commitments, including invoices, rent, CAM, parking, and service contracts, in partnership with Finance and AP.
• Provide governance for PO creation, approvals, and financial controls (e.g., Ariba), ensuring audit readiness and policy compliance.
• Lead all major facility expansion, renovation, and capital improvement initiatives, from strategic planning and business case development through execution and close‑out.
• Partner with the Site Head and Operations leadership to align capital investments with long‑term site strategy and business growth.
• Ensure contractor safety, compliance, quality, and delivery excellence across all projects.
• Partner closely with the Operations Head and Site Head to execute the CRDO and site leadership vision for ALSC.
• Provide executive oversight of site communications platforms related to facility operations (e.g., SharePoint, Teams, Viva Engage), ensuring accuracy, transparency, and alignment.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Generous Paid Time Off options, including Vacation and Sick time, plus national holidays including year-end shut down
• 401(k) match and annual company contribution
• Company paid life insurance
• Annual Corporate Bonus and Quarterly Sales Incentive for eligible positions
• Long Term Incentive Plan for eligible positions
• Company fleet vehicle for eligible positions
• Referral bonus program

What This Job Offers

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