Sr Manager, Industrial Engineering & Process Optimization

Twist Bioscience•Portland, OR

16h•Onsite

About The Position

The Sr. Manager of Industrial Engineering & Process Optimization will drive continuous improvement across high-throughput manufacturing operations by identifying, prioritizing, and executing initiatives that increase line capacity, reduce turnaround time, improve first pass rate, and optimize resource utilization. This role will apply industrial engineering methodologies—including time-motion studies, line balancing, capacity modeling, root cause analysis, and value stream mapping—to diagnose bottlenecks and quality losses across people, process, and equipment, and will develop data-driven business cases to determine whether the right solution is a process redesign, equipment/automation investment, or staffing model change. Reporting into the Engineering organization, this role will partner closely with Manufacturing leadership, Operations, Quality, and Automation Engineering to translate floor-level constraints into scalable, sustainable improvements, balancing near-term throughput gains with long-term operational excellence. The ideal candidate brings a strong analytical foundation (OEE, Cpk, takt time, first pass yield, cost-per-unit modeling), and experience operating in a Quality-regulated environment (including ISO 13485).

Requirements

A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related technical field
8–12+ years of progressive experience in industrial engineering, continuous improvement, or manufacturing process optimization
3–5+ years in a supervisory, management, or cross-functional team leadership role
Demonstrated hands-on experience working within ISO 13485 or GxP-regulated environments.
Strong analytical foundation with expertise in OEE, Cpk, takt time, and cost-per-unit modeling
Proven ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders without direct authority over manufacturing execution
Hands-on expertise using core industrial engineering tools (time-motion studies, line balancing, capacity modeling, and value stream mapping)

Nice To Haves

Experience working within high-throughput biomanufacturing, biotechnology, or life science manufacturing environments.
Demonstrated track record of leading complex, multi-functional process optimization or automation initiatives from diagnostic to execution.

Responsibilities

Analyze manufacturing line performance data to identify capacity constraints, turnaround time bottlenecks, and labor utilization inefficiencies across production processes
Investigate first pass rate losses and defect trends; lead root cause analysis efforts in partnership with Quality and Manufacturing to reduce rework, scrap, and reprocessing
Develop and prioritize a pipeline of improvement opportunities, evaluating whether process redesign, equipment/automation investment, or staffing changes offer the best return
Build business cases and ROI models for proposed improvements, including capital equipment requests, to support engineering and manufacturing leadership decision-making
Design and implement process changes using industrial engineering tools (time-motion studies, line balancing, value stream mapping, DOE) and validate improvements through structured pilots
Partner with Automation Engineering to scope opportunities where equipment or automation upgrades can address capacity, quality, or labor constraints
Collaborate with Manufacturing and Workforce Planning to right-size staffing models and improve labor efficiency without compromising quality or compliance
Establish and track key performance indicators (OEE, first pass yield, cycle time, cost-per-unit) to measure the impact of improvement initiatives over time
Ensure all process changes are executed in compliance with GxP requirements, working with Quality Assurance on change control and documentation
Present improvement roadmaps, project status, and results to senior engineering and manufacturing leadership