Associate Director - Operational Excellence
Our Frederick Manufacturing Center (FMC) creates life-changing medicines for people around the world and has been recognized by our local community as being a Top 50’ Business in Frederick and awarded Frederick County’s ‘Best Place to Work’. This distinctive biologic manufacturing facility, with over 800 employees, makes a direct contribution to treating people with cancer, respiratory and autoimmune conditions across the globe. We work hard to deliver life-changing medicines to patients, and we take time to have fun and celebrate our accomplishments. From catered site festivities to competitive events, community outreach activities, environmental and wellness showcases and team-building functions, we take time to recognize our achievements and celebrate our diversity. We are dedicated to creating a culture of inclusion and collaboration and are committed to continuous learning by offering ongoing skill building and training for our staff. Fueled by our aspiration to deliver accelerated growth for our company and to make people’s lives better, there’s never been a more exciting time to join the team and shape the future of AstraZeneca Operations.
As the Associate Director - Operational Excellence, you will provide strategic and technical leadership, training, mentoring, people development, project support, and facilitation to support AstraZeneca Biologics' Lean Six Sigma and Operational Excellence journey. Your responsibilities will include strategic planning, development and deployment, change management, capacity management, and enterprise initiatives.
Accountabilities
- Provides Strategic Leadership for the Operational Excellence (OE) Program:
- Collaborates with Site Leadership Team to create strategic goals and prioritize activities for the Operational Excellence program.
- Advises site leadership on operational excellence, lean initiatives, and culture change.
- Oversees the development and execution of the site’s Operational Excellence strategy to deliver business benefits through Lean and Six Sigma.
- Drives AZ Biologics Operational Excellence (OE) activities.
- Leads the development of overall objectives and long-range goals for OE.
- Continuously evaluates and improves the OE program.
- Acts as a change agent, implementing an Operational Excellence mindset into operational guidelines and practices.
- Provides Project Leadership and Support:
- Leads and facilitates cross-functional improvement teams and coaches business process owners in using operational excellence tools and methods.
- Leads strategic initiatives.
- Coordinates project selection and stewardship.
- Mentors project teams.
- Develops people through training and mentoring at all levels:
- Coaches business process owners at all levels in creating, monitoring, measuring, and analyzing standardized processes.
- Serves as master Operational Excellence trainer, develops training programs, conducts training activities at all levels, and issues appropriate training completion/belt certificates.
- Trains and coaches all functional areas on measurement principles.
- Manages and develops Operational Excellence staff.
- Provides Technical Leadership for Site Continuous Improvement:
- Develops solutions to complex problems requiring ingenuity and innovation.
- Implements a formal management review of KPIs.
- Identifies and achieves significant process and quality improvements through OE initiatives.
- Analyzes and provides feedback for ongoing KPI reports and review meetings.
- Partners with the Global and Biologics Lean Networks to ensure standards fit Biologics and Site processes.
- Adjusts past OE experience to consistently demonstrate AZ Global and FMC Lean standards.
- Works independently with minimal direction.
- Determines organizational objectives and interprets company policies.
- Communicates and displays operational excellence success stories.
Essential Skills/Experience
- Bachelors degree and Six Sigma Black Belt certification required.
- Minimum of 15 years or more work experience in operational excellence, training, consulting, strategy, process improvement, or business analysis required.
- Must have worked as a Six Sigma Black Belt for a minimum of 4 years with formal training and experience in applying Lean Sigma methods and lean methods in DMAIC Six Sigma Black Belt level or PDCA lean projects.
- Strong level of DMAIC and Lean methodology knowledge required.
- Excellent working knowledge of the principles and philosophies of analytical problem-solving techniques, along with a demonstrated track record of achievement.
Desirable Skills/Experience
- Degree in Industrial Engineering, MBA or equivalent work experience preferred.
- Healthcare, pharmaceutical or biotechnology experience preferred.
At AstraZeneca, we believe in empowering our teams to foster a Lean mindset and sustainable practices. We pioneer new approaches across our sites to deliver better outcomes for our patients. Our environment is one of constant change where every day brings new challenges. We value adaptability, flexibility, and the diverse expertise of our teams to overcome obstacles together. We are committed to building trust and respect within our teams, ensuring everyone's voice is heard.
Ready to make a difference? Apply now to join our team!
The annual base pay (or hourly rate of compensation) for this position ranges from $114,281.00 to $171,421.00 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
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 authorisation and employment eligibility verification requirements.
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