Manufacturing Specialist - Scheduling

Kite Pharma•Frederick, MD

10d•$107,185 - $138,710•Onsite

About The Position

In partnership with Site Supply Planning, this role leads production planning and scheduling for a state-of-the-art CAR T cell therapy manufacturing facility. The position coordinates daily execution of patient-specific manufacturing orders and serves as the primary planning liaison across Manufacturing, Supply Planning, Quality, Facilities & Engineering, and other stakeholders. The role translates demand and supply inputs into executable clinical and commercial CAR T production schedules at the TCF05 manufacturing facility in Frederick, MD, ensuring manufacturing resources, equipment, rooms, stations, processing windows, maintenance activities, and staffing are proactively aligned to prevent manufacturing or disposition delays. Patient-specific CAR T manufacturing requires precise coordination of capacity, staffing, equipment availability, processing windows, maintenance activities, and cross-functional readiness. This role helps convert planning inputs into efficient production schedule, reliable manufacturing execution, reducing risk of delays to support timely production and release of clinical and commercial patient batches.

Requirements

MA / MS with 3+ years of cGMP Manufacturing, Manufacturing Leadership, and/or Operations experience; OR
BA / BS degree with 5+ years of cGMP Manufacturing, Manufacturing Leadership, and/or Operations experience; OR
High school degree with 10+ years of cGMP Manufacturing, Manufacturing Leadership, and/or Operations experience.
Proactive, solutions-oriented mindset with the ability to anticipate constraints, support recovery plans, and adjust schedules as priorities shift.
Strong technical and process-optimization mindset, with ability to improve planning systems, schedule accuracy, and operational efficiency.
Strong data analytics capability, including dashboard development, trend analysis, capacity assessment, headcount planning, and data-driven scheduling decisions.
Exceptional attention to detail in managing patient-specific schedules, resource dependencies, and compliance-critical timing requirements.
Self-motivated, adaptable, and comfortable supporting temporary responsibilities needed to maintain manufacturing continuity.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with ability to influence stakeholders and clearly communicate schedule risks, tradeoffs, and recovery plans.
Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, highly regulated CAR T manufacturing environment with minimal direction and frequent priority changes.
Able to support after-hours, weekend, and on-call needs to maintain schedule continuity and respond to urgent manufacturing or equipment constraints.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences, Supply Chain, Operations, Project Management, or related discipline; logistics, production planning, or supply chain certification preferred.
5+ years of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or cell therapy manufacturing experience with strength in coordination, production planning, scheduling, or operations support.
Experience coordinating across Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Planning, Facilities & Engineering, and other functions in a regulated environment.
Advanced proficiency with MS Office and MS Project; experience with manufacturing scheduling systems, Emerson BioG, SQL, or similar tools preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead intradepartmental planning to support manufacturing execution and timely release of clinical and commercial materials, ensuring clear communication with Site Supply Planning and resource alignment across shifts.
Partner closely with Manufacturing Supervisors, shift leadership, and frontline teams to align production schedules with staffing, floor readiness, and real-time operational constraints.
Convert planning inputs into detailed manufacturing schedules, assigning equipment, rooms, stations, processing windows, and task timing for patient-specific workflows.
Coordinate scheduled and unscheduled maintenance with Facilities & Engineering and Manufacturing to minimize production impact while maintaining compliance and equipment readiness.
Facilitate daily cross-functional planning and readiness meetings to confirm schedule feasibility, identify risks, align resources, and drive issue resolution.
Partner with project teams to evaluate schedule impacts from process changes, facility activities, technology transfers, and improvement initiatives.
Develop and improve planning and logistics tools using MS Project, spreadsheets, Emerson BioG, and relational databases to strengthen operational visibility, schedule adherence, and decision-making.
Maintain planning metrics, identify variances, and support process improvements that strengthen schedule accuracy, accountability, and operational performance.
Develop and maintain headcount modeling to support capacity planning, shift coverage, labor demand forecasting, scenario planning, and resource alignment.
Maintain real-time visibility to equipment status to determine station availability and support accurate, compliant production scheduling.