Senior Technical Lead - Value Engineering

Baxter International Inc.•Marion, NC

2d•$128,000 - $176,000

About The Position

This is where your work makes a difference. At Baxter, we believe every person—regardless of who they are or where they are from—deserves a chance to live a healthy life. It was our founding belief in 1931 and continues to be our guiding principle. We are redefining healthcare delivery to make a greater impact today, tomorrow, and beyond. Our Baxter colleagues are united by our Mission to Save and Sustain Lives. Together, our community is driven by a culture of courage, trust, and collaboration. Every individual is empowered to take ownership and make a meaningful impact. We strive for efficient and effective operations, and we hold each other accountable for delivering exceptional results. Here, you will find more than just a job—you will find purpose and pride. This is where your expertise helps people. You are a problem solver. Complex projects or unexpected challenges are just opportunities to bring your considerable abilities to use. Whether working independently or with a trusted team, you are always ready to tackle a project and work hard to find solutions. Your talent is needed across a wide variety of industries. As a Technical Cost Out (TCO) Lead, you have a wide array of career choices, but are motivated by the opportunity to work in a company that supports innovation, professional development, and a purposeful mission. We are a team of inquisitive individuals who embrace a collaborative environment to take on sophisticated challenges that meet the needs of our patients. We often need to change directions and respond to issues to avoid disruptions in our fast-paced manufacturing environment. Together, we build and maintain a positive work environment. Our team is dedicated to quality. Delivering life-saving products is about getting them right, and our technical expertise and experience working in a manufacturing environment empower us to meet that challenge. When you join us, you will work with a team of committed individuals who trust each other to deliver on the tasks at hand. We support innovation and out-of-the-box thinking balanced with collaboration across functions and other teams. Our leadership understands the need for continuous education and provides opportunities for further development. The Senior Technical Lead – TCO Engineering is a core leader within the TCO (Technical Cost Out) organization and is accountable for delivering sustainable material and component cost reduction, supply resilience, and margin improvement through advanced technical analysis, specification optimization, alternate sourcing, and disciplined cross‑functional execution. The role serves as a technical authority and execution leader, partnering closely with Procurement, R&D, Quality, Operations, Strategy, and Suppliers to identify, validate, and implement complex cost optimization initiatives while safeguarding product performance, regulatory compliance, and continuity of supply.

Requirements

7-10+ years experience with Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Materials, Plastics, Chemicals, Packaging, or Manufacturing engineering, science, or related field.
Proven experience delivering multi-million dollar value engineering savings.
Strong track record of leading complex, cross‑functional initiatives end‑to‑end using structured project and change management methodologies.
Deep working knowledge of GMP, change control, deviation/CAPA processes, and validation/qualification principles in a regulated manufacturing environment.
Advanced analytical and problem‑solving capability, with the ability to translate technical detail into business impact.
Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and influence at multiple organizational levels.
Willingness and ability to travel as required.
Applicants must be authorized to work for an employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Nice To Haves

Proven leadership experience in alternate sourcing, supplier qualification, and supplier transitions within regulated manufacturing environments, delivering measurable cost savings.
Experience translating technical changes into enterprise‑level business value, including insourcing transitions, technology transfers, and footprint changes.
Demonstrated expertise in value engineering, design for manufacturability, and process optimization.
Strong experience with cost modeling, should‑costing, and clean‑sheet methodologies.
Lean / Six Sigma certification and applied use in cost and productivity programs.

Responsibilities

Lead the identification and evaluation of complex, multi‑site total cost optimization opportunities across materials, components, and processes across sites, with specific focus on insourcing, alternate sourcing, process and product value engineering, and cost‑to‑serve optimization.
Partner with Manufacturing Strategy to ensure alignment to the designed future state and long‑range capacity and footprint strategies.
Perform and review advanced should‑cost, clean‑sheet, teardown, and cost model analyses, providing fact‑based recommendations to senior stakeholders.
Provide technical cost leadership input to category strategies with robust cost drivers, benchmarks, and market intelligence.
Lead and facilitate cross‑functional Continuous Improvement, Kaizen, and structured cost optimization workshops, ensuring prioritization of high‑impact, executable initiatives.
Lead and mentor cross‑functional technical teams through the planning and execution of complex initiatives using advanced engineering and scientific techniques, procedures, and criteria. This includes constructing integrated schedules, managing interdependencies, and guiding technical support functions.
Serve as a technical escalation point for specification optimization, material substitution, and product or process changes.
Oversee and coordinate sample builds, pilot runs, trials, testing, and technical validations, ensuring rigor and right‑first‑time execution.
Ensure disciplined execution of change control, validation/qualification, and cut‑in planning, balancing speed, risk, and compliance.
Act as a senior technical partner to Procurement, Quality, R&D, Operations, Strategy, Finance, and other stakeholders to align cost, risk, and performance objectives.
Lead technical engagement with strategic and critical suppliers, driving process understanding, cost transparency, manufacturability improvements, and readiness assessments.
Support and guide dual qualification, risk mitigation, capacity expansion, and supplier development initiatives, ensuring long‑term resilience and scalability.
Own initiatives end‑to‑end, from opportunity framing and business case development through execution, validation, and formal hand‑over of savings to Operations and Finance.
Ensure robust documentation of assumptions, risks, mitigations, approvals, and savings methodologies in alignment with governance requirements.
Proactively identify and escalate risks related to quality, regulatory compliance, service, cost realization, or timelines to appropriate forums.
Drive continuous improvement of TCO ways of working by capturing best practices, lessons learned, and contributing to the internal TCO playbook and center of excellence methodology.

Benefits

medical and dental coverage that start on day one
insurance coverage for basic life, accident, short-term and long-term disability, and business travel accident insurance
Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), with the ability to purchase company stock at a discount
401(k) Retirement Savings Plan (RSP), with options for employee contributions and company matching
Flexible Spending Accounts
educational assistance programs
time-off benefits such as paid holidays
paid time off ranging from 20 to 35 days based on length of service
family and medical leaves of absence
paid parental leave
commuting benefits
Employee Discount Program
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
childcare benefits