Director, Lab Operations

The Gaithersburg site offers a variety of amenities to help boost productivity and help keep our employees happy and healthy. This includes a fitness center, employee healthcare clinic, electric vehicle charging stations, dry cleaning, full-service cafeteria and copy center. This is where you’ll find newly-designed, activity-based work spaces to suit a variety of working styles while increasing collaboration between teams.  

Introduction to Role:

The Director, Lab Operations, provides leadership, direction, and support to a team of multidisciplinary specialized staff at the AstraZeneca Gaithersburg R&D Site, ensuring seamless delivery of crucial laboratory support services. The Director will ensure the efficient functioning of the laboratories, maintain compliance with industry regulations, lead resources, and foster a productive and safe work environment. This role will also lead services to ensure they meet current and future business requirements, leading change, defining standards, and influencing across the organization. The Director will help build solutions for the future to support the R&D pipeline, give time back to scientists, reduce cost, and build in quality.

Key Responsibilities

Laboratory Operations Management:

• Supervise delivery of Laboratory Operations services through a combination of internal staff and external service providers in key areas: lab support services, consumables and equipment life cycle management, and lab move activities.
• Apply in-depth technical and management expertise while leveragingapplicablee global R&D standards and ways of working.
• Ensure consistent delivery of crucial lab support services by leading the team’s response to customer requests.
• Coordinate and optimize workflows for efficient and timely results.
• Direct mitigation activities during unplanned building system outages and ensure integrated scheduling of building system shutdowns.
• Develop and maintain long-term business relationships with key service providers and consumables vendors.
• Influence and promote deployment of new services and improvements.

Staff Management and Development:

• Assemble an appropriate set of multidisciplinary specialized staff which integrates support of people, processes, and technology to ensure safe and effective delivery of services.
• Coordinate staffing needs with strategic partner organizations.
• Communicate regularly with all team members responsible for service delivery to provide guidance, mentoring, and training as needed.
• Coach staff to develop high-performing work teams within their functional areas and to maintain good working relationships with internal and external enterprise functions.
• Coordinate workflows and projects and build KPIs into new and existing services to ensure focus on measurable outcomes and contractual compliance.
• Lead people, processes, and organizational needs cross-functionally, ensuring each line of service is positioned to drive compliance, give time back to scientists, and provide the highest level of support.
• Collaborate with Procurement to obtain driven bids for service contracts.

Collaboration and Communication:

• Lead customer communications initiatives, develop key messages, set expectations, and monitor satisfaction levels of team members.
• Demonstrate impeccable customer service by providing problem identification, root cause analysis, expedited resolution, and appropriate follow-up.
• Collect voice of customer data from Research and Development scientists and leaders regarding current and potential new services as well as performance against expectations.
• Build strong relationships with other AZ R&D sites to provide input to and implement global ways of working.
• Foster a culture of effective communication, knowledge sharing, and teamwork

Manage & Measure Services:

• Collaborating closely with the central Lab Operations team, implement LabOps vision and policy to ensure the local team provides crucial laboratory support services that enable scientists to focus on Research and Development activities which further the pipeline.
• Ensure business resilience by building an operational excellence framework at all levels of service delivery
• Integrate ways of working across departments and sites and facilitate implementation of new initiatives.
• Improve metrics & KPIs to focus the various outside service providers on consistency, safety, and responsiveness.
• Lead strategic relationships with relevant service providers, collaborating with strategic supplier partners to drive business results.
• Monitor, audit, and ensure service providers operate in accordance with approved management controls.

Processes & Capability Improvements:

• Influence and promote deployment of new service offerings and improvements.
• In collaboration with the central team, define and drive execution projects which improve capability and capacity.
• Collaborate with key R&D site and functional leaders to proactively identify and act upon upcoming initiatives, programs, and requirements with support from the central team where relevant.
• Be responsible for implementation of services; set objectives and targets; establish roles and responsibilities for service programs; review, evaluate, and report on Gaithersburg Lab Operations performance.

Customer & Strategic Focus:

• Continuously lead customer expectations and mosuperviseustomer satisfaction levels of all applicable key customer groups for each service area.
• Create clarity and communicate proactively across boundaries to ensure shared purpose and clear accountabilities across internal/external organization.
• Ensure cross-functional leads set proactive, customer-facing deliverables so that LabOps can more effectively support the evolving needs of R&D.
• Integrate Gaithersburg Lab Operations Services with other Gaithersburg Site Operations strategic efforts, and with other sites as appropriate. Work closely with SiteOps Leadership Team to implement key initiatives.
• Provide primary interface to R&D Site Leaders for all R&D Lab Operations service areas.
• Seek customer feedback from multiple levels of the R&D organization on matters concerning different functional areas to advise on new projects and initiatives.
• Apply knowledge and communication skills to influence or gain acceptance for sensitive situations that require organizational change.

Education, Qualifications, Skills, and Experience

• A Bachelor's degree in a relevant scientific field, or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant (lab and/or operations) experience.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in a management position.
• Successful previous work in a matrix or project organization.
• Strong critical and analytical problem solver; strategy setting & execution skills preferred.
• Good interpersonal and problem-solving skills.
• Highly organized, efficient, and self-motivated.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a team.
• Strong skills for customer service.
• Ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Significant experience with Microsoft Office, database, and data analysis software packages.

Desirable:

• Master’s degree, MBA or higher degree in relevant field.
• Experience and knowledge with applying Six Sigma to R&D.
• Experience working in a LEAN environment.
• Vendor management experience.

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we fuel bold thinking with the power to encourage life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.

The annual base pay for this position ranges from $135,200 to $202,800 . Hourly and salaried non-exempt employees will also be paid overtime pay when working qualifying overtime hours. Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. In addition, our positions offer a short-term incentive bonus opportunity; eligibility to participate in our equity-based long-term incentive program (salaried roles), to receive a retirement contribution (hourly roles), and commission payment eligibility (sales roles). Benefits offered included a qualified retirement program [401(k) plan]; paid vacation and holidays; paid leaves; and, health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans. Additional details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an “at-will position” and the Company reserves the right to modify base pay (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors

At AstraZeneca, we are committed to turning our drug development strategies into reality. We work at all stages of development to translate our life-changing science into medicines to get the best results for AstraZeneca, patients in need and healthcare professionals. We are a diverse and open-minded team harnessing our different skills and experiences. Our differences enable us to explore new ideas and ways of doing things. It keeps us on our toes and excited for what's next. We are part of the solution, involved in key discussions. In our role we act as both a drug developer and Regulator. We think broadly about patients and what it takes to prevent and treat diseases to develop progressive solutions.

Are you ready to lead the way for a new breed of solutions-oriented Regulators? Champion a new approach to Regulatory that supports quick decision-making and balanced risk-taking. Apply now to join our efficient and nimble team at AstraZeneca!

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.