Project Technical Manager

AstraZeneca•Gaithersburg, MD

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

At AstraZeneca, we pride ourselves on crafting a collaborative culture that champions knowledge-sharing, ambitious thinking and innovation – ultimately providing employees with the opportunity to work across teams, functions and even the globe. Recognizing the importance of individualized flexibility, our ways of working allow employees to balance personal and work commitments while ensuring we continue to create a strong culture of collaboration and teamwork by engaging face-to-face in our offices 3 days a week. Our head office and BlueSky Hub in downtown Toronto are purposely designed with collaboration in mind, providing space where teams can come together to strategize, brainstorm and connect on key projects. Our dedication to sustainability is also central to our culture and part of what makes AstraZeneca a great place to work. We know the health of people, the planet and our business are interconnected which is why we’re taking ambitious action to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, from climate change to access to healthcare and disease prevention. What you’ll do as the Project Technical Manager, you will:

Requirements

5-10 years relevant Capital project technical and execution experience, preferably within the pharmaceutical industry and major capital investments
Degree in an Engineering or Science discipline with of experience of project management and/or project delivery
Experience of pharmaceutical research & development capital projects
Experience of working in a global organization and you are aware of how "engineering delivery" needs to be adapted to take account local differences.

Nice To Haves

Experience of working successfully with Design Contractors and Equipment suppliers on major projects
Excellent communication, customer & partner management, enabling and influencing skills
Proven leadership qualities with motivational ability to motivate and direct others in a dynamic and complex environment through change.
Self-motivated and able to act on their initiative, highly organized with proven time-management and structured prioritization skills.
Tenacity and resilience to respond to unforeseen situations
Demonstrable problem solving and analytical skills, be a good communicator (written and verbal), have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to quickly build relationships with others.
Strong collaborator with ability to create and maintain effective working relationships and willing to challenge behaviors and actions.
Detail focused completer/finisher with a results-orientated mindset

Responsibilities

Technical Direction and Governance: Define the project’s technical strategy and decision-rights, ensuring all technical disciplines align to a single, coherent direction that meets business and project needs.
Cross-Disciplinary Leadership: Lead and task-manage a significant team of SMEs, orchestrating seamless transfer of technical responsibilities across phases and partners to keep momentum and quality high.
Scope Integrity and Alignment: Keep the full technical scope tight and controlled, constantly aligning deliverables to the defined project scope, budget and schedule while adapting to change with transparency.
GMP Technical Package Delivery: Own the delivery of GMP-compliant, functional and robust technical packages (process, packing, automation, critical utilities, HVAC) that perform at start-up and throughout early operation.
SHE Stewardship: Ensure the design and execution adhere to Safety, Health and Environment requirements, embedding safe-by-design principles and lifecycle risk management.
Contractor Competence and Assurance: Evaluate the technical competence of design contractors and proposed external team members, ensuring the right partners with the right capabilities are in place.
SME Resourcing: Define and secure the required SMEs and support from global and local technical functions, ensuring timely, fit-for-purpose expertise across all technical areas.
Technical Conscience: Act as the project’s technical conscience throughout the lifecycle—challenging assumptions, highlighting impacts and safeguarding standards, quality and operability.
Integrated Process Design: Work across functions to create a complete, integrated and compliant process design; influence stakeholders and explicitly surface impacts on budget and schedule to drive informed decisions.
Standards and Methods: Ensure relevant methodologies, tools, specifications, guidelines and technical solutions are applied consistently to improve quality and repeatability.
Performance and Start-up: Co-develop measurable technical performance criteria with the client team and verify they are met through commissioning, qualification and early operations.
Lessons Learned and Continuous Improvement: Capture and document technical learning post-completion to accelerate capability and performance on future projects.
Partner Collaboration: Establish effective collaboration and ways of working with internal and external partners to speed decision-making and remove friction.