Principal, Operational Excellence
About The Position
Avid Bioservices is a leading clinical and commercial biologics CDMO focused on creating innovative solutions to meet the needs of our clients and improve patient outcomes. The Principal, Operational Excellence is a senior individual contributor who designs and implements scalable business processes and operating systems that improve execution, predictability, speed, quality, and organizational performance across Avid Bioservices. The role personally leads complex cross-functional improvements across Manufacturing, MSAT, Quality, Process Development, Engineering, Supply Chain, Business Systems, and related functions. The selected level will reflect the candidate’s demonstrated breadth, complexity, enterprise influence, and sustained implementation outcomes. Neither level has direct people-management responsibility.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in science, engineering, business, operations, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience.
- Progressively responsible experience in Operational Excellence, Lean, manufacturing excellence, business-process improvement, or transformation work.
- Demonstrated implementation and sustainment of operating systems or complex cross-functional improvements in a regulated manufacturing or comparably complex environment.
- Deep knowledge of Lean management systems, tier governance, structured problem solving, value-stream analysis, standard work, performance management, and change execution.
- Demonstrated ability to influence senior, technical, frontline, and, for Senior Principal candidates, executive stakeholders without direct authority.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in biologics, biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, or CDMO operations.
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Master Black Belt, or comparable demonstrated expertise.
- Experience with Manufacturing, MSAT, Quality, Engineering, technology transfer, batch review and release, or business systems.
- Experience implementing tiered-management, daily-management, production-system, or business-excellence frameworks.
Responsibilities
- Diagnose and redesign urgent, high-priority cross-functional processes with unclear ownership, fragmented tracking, inconsistent handoffs, delayed decisions, or dependence on informal institutional knowledge.
- Lead process-maturity initiatives from problem definition through future-state design, implementation, adoption, benefits realization, and sustainment.
- Replace person-dependent practices with scalable workflows, named process owners, common tools, measurable performance, decision rights, and reliable escalation pathways.
- Advance Drive to 45 by improving coordination, visibility, handoffs, ownership, issue escalation, and execution discipline across batch review and release.
- Partner with Manufacturing, Quality Assurance, Quality Control, MSAT, and other process owners to reduce waiting, rework, recurring delays, and unclear accountability while preserving regulated decision authority with designated functional owners.
- Design and strengthen Tier 1 through Tier 4 routines, metric alignment, escalation pathways, leader routines, decision rights, and action closure.
- Continue developing AXS by integrating daily management, visual performance management, structured problem solving, standard work, leader standard work, and enterprise governance.
- Develop performance and governance frameworks that make outcomes, constraints, risks, dependencies, owners, and required decisions visible.
- Build practical Lean capability through hands-on coaching while maintaining implementation accountability and transferring ownership to process owners.
- Establish sustainment plans with named owners, documented standard work, measures, review routines, and response plans when performance declines.
- At the Senior Principal level, shape enterprise Operational Excellence standards, advise executive leaders on systemic operating-model decisions, and lead Avid’s highest-complexity transformation priorities.
- Perform other job-related duties assigned in support of business priorities.
Benefits
- health, dental, and vision insurance
- 401(k) matching
- paid time off
- performance-based bonuses
- opportunities for career growth and development
- supportive and inclusive work environment
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
