Senior Director, North America Operations

Azenta Life Sciences • Plainfield, IN

1d

About The Position

The Senior Director of North America Operations provides strategic leadership for all specimen management and specimen processing personnel and processes, including North America facility operations, logistics, lab services, and data management. This role serves as a key executive on the SRS leadership team, responsible for developing and executing the operational strategy that delivers both revenue growth and margin improvement.

Requirements

• Four-year degree and 8+ years of increasing operational management experience.
• Experience leading operations that handle, process, or manufacture regulated materials (e.g., CLIA GMP, GTP, GLT, GCP, NABP, GMP).
• Demonstrated experience managing domestic and international operations sites
• Experience in customer service-oriented positions.
• Demonstrated Lean leadership — responsible for deploying and sustaining Lean methodologies (value stream mapping, 5S, standard work, kaizen, visual management) across operations.
• Ability to understand P&Ls and optimize revenue and margin.
• Effective collaborator in a matrixed, multi-business-line environment.
• Strong business acumen and analytical skills.
• Excellent leadership skills and ability to establish a positive employee culture.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to think creatively and build domain expertise in the sample management space.
• Demonstrated experience in team building, negotiation, facilitation, and conflict resolution.

Nice To Haves

• Active participant in continuous improvement and Lean transformation initiatives.
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or Master Black Belt certification.
• Exposure to biological specimen management and processing.
• Supply chain management and procurement experience.

Responsibilities

• Ensure all service failures are identified, investigated, and resolved appropriately.
• Enforce adherence to Nonconformance (NC) and CAPA processes to enable fast resolution of service or quality issues and removal of recurrences.
• Implement and monitor processes that ensure appropriate escalation and continuous communication of issues across the organization.
• Drive a Lean and continuous improvement culture throughout the operational organization.
• Serve as the operational Lean leader — own the deployment and sustainment of Lean methodologies (value stream mapping, kaizen events, standard work, visual management) and 6 Sigma tools across all sites.
• Set and measure meaningful KPIs tied to Lean outcomes, client satisfaction, and leading indicators.
• Establish the overall functional operational vision; Support talent acquisition across the business.
• Identify, monitor, and maintain appropriate resources to successfully achieve milestones and high levels of client satisfaction.
• Be a role model leader with a focus on collaboration with HR, Sales, Project Management, Finance, and Program Management.
• Ensure required oversight associated with all Facilities and Equipment management and expansion across Transport, BioBanking, and Lab Services, including employee and site safety.
• Provide direction to the Resource Management team regarding priorities for facility maintenance and capital planning.
• P&L ownership for operational sites in SRS
• Ownership of captial planning needs for operational sites
• Execute to customer aligned KPIs in operational space
• Support standard business cadence (MBR, QBR, weekly management)
• Drive a strong quality culture that ensures policies, procedures, and work instructions align with regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
• Support the QA function in preparing for, hosting, and providing follow-up for client and regulatory audits.

Benefits

• Equal Opportunity Employer

What This Job Offers

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