Quality Engineer, Lead (QS&C)

Kyowa Kirin North America • Sanford, NJ

4d • Onsite

About The Position

Kyowa Kirin is a Japanese-based company with a fast-growing global specialty pharmaceutical company that applies state-of-the-art biotechnologies to discover and deliver novel medicines in four disease areas: bone and mineral; intractable hematologic; hematology oncology; and rare disease. Our collective goal is to translate science into smiles by delivering therapies where no adequate treatments currently exist, from drug discovery to product development and commercialization. The Sanford site is the first production facility in North America, and we are headquartered in Princeton, NJ, with offices in California and Mississauga, Ontario. The Quality Engineer Lead is a key individual contributor role with functional Quality authority leading and ensuring quality and compliance during the startup and operation of Kyowa Kirin’s Sanford, NC Greenfield site. For this role, the Quality Engineer Lead will support quality oversite to the following areas: Facilities, Utilities, Maintenance, and Equipment otherwise referred to as FUME, including associated instruments and asset lifecycle systems. This role is responsible for building, implementing, and sustaining Quality Engineering processes that enable GMP operations and long-term regulatory compliance, inspection readiness, and audit defense including interactions with health authorities while ensuring compliant implementation and risk acceptance across FUME and Drug Substance manufacturing processes. This role independently prepares, presents, and defends Quality Engineering approaches and evidence during regulatory inspections, internal audits, and external audits. As an individual contributor, you will take a compassionate and people-focused approach to your work while collaborating with other functional groups, both internal and external, to create a supportive and inclusive environment that align with the organization’s values. Strong interpersonal skills, acknowledging diverse viewpoints, and building cross functional relationships will be the key driver to make decisions that meet both individual and team needs. Key drivers for this role require accountability/ownership for delivering results and completing tasks, adapting to challenges while taking the initiative to problem solve with opportunities to grow, helping achieve business goals and keeping the patient first.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or science related field required.
• Minimum 8 plus years of direct industry experience in a GxP-regulated environment with a focus on Quality Engineering; including demonstrated experience serving as a Quality SME during regulatory inspections and/or audits.
• Demonstrated experience in qualification, validation, change control, and Quality Engineering activities.
• Must be able to work in an office and regulated manufacturing environment, including construction/start-up phases, with appropriate PPE.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in engineering or science related field considered a plus.
• Direct experience with PM and Calibration systems, equipment lifecycle management, or CMMS platforms highly preferred
• Familiarity with DS single-use biologics operations or greenfield startup environments is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Act as the Quality Engineering lead for the Sanford site, owning priorities and outcomes and establish clear standards, workflows, and governance to ensure consistency and sustainability as the site grows.
• Lead and provide Quality oversight of GMP readiness activities for facility startup, including equipment, utilities, facilities, and process validation and documentation generation.
• Sustain compliance through lifecycle management of FUME systems, continuous improvement, and ongoing inspection readiness; confirm readiness of systems by reviewing evidence such as drawings, P&IDs, validation deliverables, and turnover packages to ensure fitness for intended use.
• Drive structured problem solving for issues related to equipment, utilities, facilities, instruments, PMs, and calibrations and contribute to the creation of the Preventative Maintenance (PM) and calibration programs, including review of plans, intervals, and criticality assessments.
• Execute and/or provide quality technical leadership of change controls and risk assessments (e.g., FMEA, hazard analysis), including defining risk strategy, ensuring appropriate mitigation, and approving risk acceptance decisions of FUME systems.
• Drive structure problem-solving for issues related to equipment, utilities, facilities, calibrations, and PMs and ensure all activities are consistent with data integrity expectations, Part 11 requirements, and ALCOA++ principles.
• Partner with Engineering, Validation, and Maintenance Teams to maintain inspection-ready documentation and asset status and work collaboratively across teams to support startup activities and ensure compliant execution.
• Review and approve work orders, CQV protocols and reports, change controls, deviations and CAPAs associated with FUME systems, and serve as the Quality lead for FUME related internal, external, and regulatory audits, including inspection preparation, execution, and follow-up.

Benefits

• 401K with company matching
• Annual Bonus Program (Sales Bonus for Sales Jobs)
• Generous PTO and Holiday Schedule which includes Summer and Winter Shut-Downs, Sick Days and, Volunteer Days
• Healthcare Benefits (Medical, Dental, Prescription Drugs and Vision)
• HSA & FSA Programs
• Well-Being and Work/Life Programs
• Long-Term Incentive Program (subject to job level and performance)
• Life & Disability Insurance
• Concierge Service
• Pet Insurance
• Tuition Assistance
• Employee Referral Awards

What This Job Offers

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