Senior Engineer, Cell & Gene Therapy

United States, Houston (Texas)
United States, Portsmouth (New Hampshire)
United States, Walkersville (Maryland)

Today, Lonza is a global leader in life sciences operating across three continents. While we work in science, there’s no magic formula to how we do it. Our greatest scientific solution is talented people working together, devising ideas that help businesses to help people. In exchange, we let our people own their careers. Their ideas, big and small, genuinely improve the world. And that’s the kind of work we want to be part of.

The Director Project Initiation Lead (m/f/d) is responsible for providing leadership, managing, and delivering capital investment projects across the Lonza network from initiation through to beneficial use. He/She maintains control of project costs, risks, schedules, and deliverables and interfaces with sponsors from business units, SMEs, operations, and other stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. The position also has responsibilities to lead cross-functional teams across businesses and sites and will be the single point of contact for Project Initiation activities in the Global Engineering team.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Ensure the project teams are resourced and set up to deliver the Global Engineering Front end initiation process.
2. Maintain control of project costs, scope, deliverables, and schedule. Address escalations and implement appropriate mitigations for risks affecting project delivery.
3. Screen incoming business ideas/requests at the ideation stage and develop an appropriate project execution strategy.
4. Responsible for setting project budgets, schedule baselines, and appropriate project controls strategy, including management of scope changes for successful delivery of project objectives.
5. Provide leadership as part of the Global Engineering Front end core team and manage the interfaces with Project Sponsors, Lonza stakeholders, Global cross-functional teams & Customers.
6. Oversee several Lonza and 3rd party contractor discipline leads, e.g., Project Managers of EPCMV companies will directly report to this position when Lonza works with an EPCMV contractor.

Key Requirements:

1. Degree in Engineering (process, pharmaceutical, biochemical engineering, or equivalent) or extensive project management experience in multiple international CAPEX projects.
2. 10+ years of engineering experience or project management on Large Capital Projects (>200mCHF) in chemical, biochemical, pharmaceutical industries, GMP facilities with experience and expertise in the field of site/facility/process and utility functionality, setup and layout, knowledge of current technology in the field of building, building technology, Drug Substance processes, automation, and utility technologies.
3. Good project management skills.
4. Extensive experience in Biotechnology/Pharma Processes.
5. Execution of projects (>40mCHF).
6. Engineering Design, Commissioning & Qualification.
7. Pharmaceutical Industry standards, Quality requirements.
8. Working knowledge of FDA Regulations including GAMP.
9. Excellent problem-solving and Project Management skills.
10. Skilled expert in MS Project, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Office.
11. Open to international business travel (approx 20%).

Every day, Lonza’s products and services have a positive impact on millions of people. For us, this is not only a great privilege but also a great responsibility. How we achieve our business results is just as important as the achievements themselves. At Lonza, we respect and protect our people and our environment. Any success we achieve is no success at all if not achieved ethically.

People come to Lonza for the challenge and creativity of solving complex problems and developing new ideas in life sciences. In return, we offer the satisfaction that comes with improving lives all around the world. The satisfaction that comes with making a meaningful difference.