Associate Director, Warehouse

Based on the Alexion AstraZeneca College Park Campus, the Associate Director, Warehouse will provide end-to-end governance of warehouse operations for a pharmaceutical campus supporting biologics Bulk Drug Substance (BDS) manufacturing, Finished Product (FP) packaging, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) manufacturing, and associated dispensaries. This role owns compliance, safety, quality, service, and cost performance across routine warehousing, controlled-temperature/freezer operations, and dispensary best practices. The leader will manage substantial teams across multi-shift operations, driving adherence to manufacturing schedules, right-first-time execution, and throughput traceability. Superior SAP expertise (including S/4HANA) and a data-driven, Lean and AI-enabled mindset are essential to elevate reliability, transparency, and continuous improvement.

The role will report into the Senior Director, Site Operations.

Accountabilities:

• Strategic Warehouse Governance: Define and execute the warehouse strategy for BDS, FP packaging, API, and dispensaries, aligning capacity, capabilities, and infrastructure to business plans, growth, compliance and regulatory expectations.
• Compliance and Audit Readiness: Ensure full compliance with cGMP, GDP, GxP, EHS, and data integrity; own and lead audit/inspection readiness, responses, and sustainable remediation; maintain validated systems and controlled documentation.
• Cold Chain and Freezer Governance: Own governance for controlled-temperature and ultra-low freezers, including qualification, mapping, continuous monitoring, excursions management, and robust change control aligned to product stability requirements.
• Dispensary Best Practices: Govern weigh-and-dispense operations, segregation controls, traceability, identity verification, reconciliation, and environmental/cleanliness standards to prevent cross-contamination and ensure material right-first-time issuance.
• Service to Manufacturing Schedule: Ensure materials availability and timely issuance to meet and maintain production plans; build and manage firm/forecast signals, safety stocks, and buffers; proactively resolve constraints to protect schedule adherence.
• Deviation, RCA, and CAPA Leadership: Track and trend delays and exceptions; lead effective root cause analysis; implement verified CAPAs; measure effectiveness and prevent recurrence with statistical and visual analytics.
• Throughput, Flow, and Traceability: Optimize end-to-end material flow from receipt to point-of-use; enforce serialisation, batch/lot traceability, and full chain-of-custody; drive cycle-time reduction and dock-to-stock performance.
• SAP Ownership (ECC and S/4HANA): Serve as process owner for SAP warehouse and materials management (MM/EWM, QM, PP-interfaces), master data rigor, inventory controls, bin/location strategy, ATP, and advanced analytics; champion S/4HANA capabilities to improve accuracy, transparency, and productivity.
• Systems and Digital Enablement: Integrate WMS/EWM with LMS/EMS, LIMS, QMS, CMMS, and temperature monitoring; leverage dashboards, mobile/scanning, and RFID/IoT to reduce errors and increase real-time visibility.
• AI and Advanced Analytics: Apply basic AI tools for demand sensing, exception detection, predictive maintenance for cold-chain assets, workflow automation, and decision support; establish guardrails for validated use in GxP contexts.
• Lean, Standard Work, and CI: Institutionalize 5S, visual management, kanban, SMED for changeovers in dispensary, and gemba-based problem solving; codify standard work and leader standard work; run kaizen tied to SQDCP metrics.
• Inventory Integrity and Governance: Own cycle counting, physical inventory, material status controls, expiries/retentions, and controlled destructions; minimize write-offs and obsolescence through policy and analytics.
• Safety and Risk Management: Lead EHS programs including hazardous materials handling, ergonomics, powered industrial trucks, lockout/tagout, and emergency response; perform risk assessments and ensure safe, compliant operations.
• People Leadership and Culture: Lead substantial teams across shifts and supervisors; set clear standards for accountability, coaching, upskilling, and engagement; build a culture of adherence to plan, right-first-time, and continuous improvement.
• Stakeholder Management and Communication: Communicate clearly across levels—shopfloor to site leadership—on performance, risks, and priorities; partner with Manufacturing, QA, QC, Planning, Engineering, Validation, and Procurement.
• Capacity and Capital Planning: Plan headcount, storage capacity, MHE, racking, and cold-chain assets; sponsor capital projects, URS development, qualification, and change control with minimal disruption to operations.
• Documentation and Data Integrity: Ensure SOPs, work instructions, job aids, training, and forms are current and effective; uphold ALCOA+ principles across electronic and paper records.
• Vendor and 3PL Oversight: Govern 3PLs, carriers, and cold-chain service providers through KPIs, QSLs, and QAA/SLAs; ensure transport qualification and lane risk management for inbound/outbound flows.
• Budget and Cost Control: Own the warehouse cost center; manage labor, overtime, transportation, packaging materials, and MHE costs; deliver productivity and cost-to-serve improvements without compromising compliance or service.
• Business Continuity: Maintain robust contingency plans for cold-chain failures, network disruptions, IT outages, extreme weather, and supply shocks; execute drills and ensure resiliency of critical materials.

Essential Skills/Experience:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (Supply Chain, Engineering, Sciences, or related) required; Master’s degree preferred.
• Experience: Minimum 10 years dedicated warehouse experience with the majority (min 6 years) in governance/leadership roles within GMP pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical environments.
• SAP Expertise: Superior SAP proficiency required; hands-on S/4HANA experience strongly preferred, including EWM/MM and interfaces to PP/QM.
• Leadership: Proven leadership of substantial, multi-shift teams and frontline supervisors with a track record of accountability, standards deployment, and performance management.
• Technical Domains: Evident deep knowledge of routine warehousing, cold-chain/freezer governance, and dispensary best practices in GMP settings.
• Schedule Adherence: Demonstrated success ensuring manufacturing schedule execution, with strong skills in tracking/trending delays, RCAs, and effective CAPA implementation.
• Lean and AI: Competence with basic AI tools and Lean/CI methodologies; experience embedding standard work and using analytics to drive improvements.
• Communication: Superior written and verbal communication, able to influence and tailor messages to operators, cross-functional peers, and senior leadership.
• Regulatory and Safety: Strong understanding of cGMP/GDP, data integrity (ALCOA+), EHS requirements, and relevant dangerous goods regulations (e.g., IMDG, IATA/ICAO, ADR/UNECE as applicable), including site procedures for hazardous waste and spill response.
• Certifications (Preferred/Required by role scope): Valid IATA/ICAO Dangerous Goods certification for air shipments; ADR (road) or equivalent local/regional certifications; HazMat training etc
• Tools and Certifications (Preferred): APICS/ASCM (CPIM/CSCP), Six Sigma/Lean certifications, cold-chain certifications, and familiarity with digital warehousing tools (RFID, IoT, mobile scanning).

Why AstraZeneca:
Here, impact is personal and shared—your work safeguards therapies for people with complex, underserved conditions, and your ideas shape how we deliver them. You will find unexpected teams in the same room unleashing bold thinking: operators, quality experts, engineers, and data specialists solving problems side-by-side. We balance ambition with kindness, champion inclusion and different perspectives, and back experimentation with the strength of a global biopharma and the agility of a biotech. We invest in your growth and encourage you to give back to the communities where we live and work, so your leadership leaves a legacy beyond the warehouse.

Call to Action:
If you’re ready to turn rigorous governance and digital excellence into reliable supply for patients, step into this role and build a warehouse operation that sets the standard for compliance, resilience, and flow!

Date Posted

06-Feb-2026

Closing Date

22-Feb-2026

Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.