Manager, Process Utilities

Thermo Fisher Scientific • Union, NJ

5d • Onsite

About The Position

The Manager, Process Utilities is responsible for the safe, compliant, reliable, and efficient operation of site utility systems that support manufacturing, laboratory, and facility operations. This position provides leadership and technical oversight for the Process Utilities organization, including licensed/raised-seal boiler operators, utility technicians, and other assigned personnel. The Manager ensures critical utility systems are operated and maintained in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements, environmental and safety standards, site procedures, and established engineering practices. The role is accountable for workforce development, operational readiness, system reliability, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement of utility operations.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, Facilities Management, Industrial Technology, or a related technical discipline preferred. Equivalent combination of technical education, utility operating experience, and leadership experience may be considered.
• Typically 7+ years of experience in utilities, facilities, central plant, boiler operations, industrial maintenance, or a related technical environment.
• Typically 3+ years of supervisory or management experience leading operators, technicians, or skilled trades personnel.
• Demonstrated experience with industrial or commercial boiler and steam systems.
• Experience managing licensed boiler operators strongly preferred.
• Experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device, semiconductor, food, chemical, or other highly regulated manufacturing environments preferred.
• Working knowledge of: Boiler and steam-generation systems, Pressure vessels and associated safety requirements, Chilled-water and cooling-water systems, Compressed-air systems, Water-treatment principles, Utility distribution systems, Building automation and utility-control systems, Preventive and predictive maintenance, Lockout/Tagout and industrial safety practices, Utility-system troubleshooting and root-cause analysis.
• Knowledge of applicable state/local boiler operator licensing and raised-seal requirements is strongly preferred.
• Strong commitment to safety and regulatory compliance
• Effective leadership of skilled technical personnel
• Sound judgment during utility emergencies and abnormal operating conditions
• Strong technical troubleshooting and problem-solving capabilities
• Ability to establish accountability while developing and supporting employees
• Effective communication with operators, technicians, engineers, manufacturing leaders, Quality, EHS, and senior management
• Ability to prioritize competing operational and maintenance demands
• Strong understanding of operational risk and business continuity
• Data-driven decision-making and continuous-improvement mindset

Nice To Haves

• Experience managing licensed boiler operators strongly preferred.
• Experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device, semiconductor, food, chemical, or other highly regulated manufacturing environments preferred.
• Knowledge of applicable state/local boiler operator licensing and raised-seal requirements is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership and technical oversight for process and clean utility systems supporting pharmaceutical manufacturing operations.
• Ensure the safe, reliable, compliant, and cost-effective operation of critical utility systems, including: Purified Water (PW), Water for Injection (WFI), where applicable, Clean Steam / Pure Steam, Process and Clean Compressed Air, Process Gases, including nitrogen and other specialty gases, Clean-in-Place (CIP) utility interfaces and associated distribution systems, Other GMP-critical process utilities supporting manufacturing, laboratory, and production areas.
• Maintain utility systems in a validated and qualified state in accordance with GMP requirements, site quality systems, approved procedures, and applicable regulatory expectations.
• Serve as the system owner or technical authority for assigned process utility systems, ensuring appropriate lifecycle management, system performance, reliability, and compliance.
• Develop and execute preventive and predictive maintenance strategies to maximize utility availability, reliability, and equipment lifecycle while minimizing unplanned manufacturing interruptions.
• Monitor system performance, capacity, quality attributes, alarms, trends, and reliability metrics to proactively identify deterioration, recurring issues, and opportunities for improvement.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Engineering, Maintenance, Quality Assurance, Validation, Automation, EHS, and Facilities to ensure utility systems continuously meet operational and GMP requirements.
• Lead or support investigations involving utility excursions, equipment failures, deviations, environmental or quality events, including root cause analysis and CAPA development and implementation.
• Provide technical leadership for commissioning, qualification, and validation (CQV) activities associated with new installations, modifications, expansions, and major maintenance activities.
• Review and approve technical documentation as appropriate, including specifications, drawings, P&IDs, SOPs, maintenance procedures, qualification protocols, change controls, deviations, CAPAs, and engineering studies.
• Manage changes to GMP utility systems through established change control and quality risk management processes, ensuring impacts to product quality, validated state, operations, and regulatory compliance are appropriately assessed.
• Establish and maintain appropriate preventive maintenance, calibration, inspection, sanitization, and monitoring programs for clean utility equipment and distribution systems.
• Ensure appropriate control of critical parameters affecting utility quality, including water chemistry, microbiological control, temperature, pressure, flow, sanitization, and distribution-loop performance.
• Support regulatory and customer inspections by providing system documentation, technical expertise, investigation support, and responses related to process and clean utilities.
• Develop and maintain utility capacity and demand forecasts to support production requirements, facility expansion, new product introductions, and long-term site planning.
• Identify and implement reliability, energy-efficiency, water-conservation, sustainability, and operational improvement initiatives without compromising GMP compliance or product quality.
• Manage utility-related projects, operating budgets, capital expenditures, spare-parts strategies, service contracts, and external vendors.
• Establish and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for utility reliability, availability, compliance, maintenance effectiveness, deviations, cost, and system performance.
• Lead, develop, and mentor engineers, technicians, supervisors, and/or utility operations personnel, establishing clear technical standards, responsibilities, training requirements, and performance expectations.
• Ensure utility operations and maintenance activities comply with applicable GMP, EHS, engineering, electrical, pressure-system, and site safety requirements.
• Maintain a state of inspection readiness for all GMP-critical utility systems and ensure documentation accurately reflects current system configuration and operating practices.

Benefits

• A choice of national medical and dental plans, and a national vision plan, including health incentive programs
• Employee assistance and family support programs, including commuter benefits and tuition reimbursement
• At least 120 hours paid time off (PTO), 10 paid holidays annually, paid parental leave (3 weeks for bonding and 8 weeks for caregiver leave), accident and life insurance, and short- and long-term disability in accordance with company policy
• Retirement and savings programs, such as our competitive 401(k) U.S. retirement savings plan
• Employees’ Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) offers eligible colleagues the opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount

What This Job Offers

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