Associate Director, Clinical Supply Chain Lead
About the role
Sana Biotechnology is growing, and we are hiring new team members who believe in the potential of engineered cells as medicines, who are passionate about delivering the possible to patients, and who lead with the desire to work on novel ideas.
Responsibilities
Manage the end-to-end clinical supply chain model, developing and continuously refining readiness plans that define critical path activities, dependencies, risks, and decision points for clinical dosing.
Lead the development, authorship, and lifecycle management of logistics SOPs, chain of custody processes, and the Drug Product Handling & Preparation Manual, including site training content for Day-of-Dose execution.
Oversee the selection, onboarding, qualification, and ongoing operational management of external logistics partners, specialty couriers, and service providers.
Ensure tight alignment between clinical demand, manufacturing slot availability, batch release timing, and logistics execution, working across Technical Operations to proactively escalate and resolve scheduling conflicts.
Serve as the operational owner for day-to-day patient-specific product scheduling and shipment coordination, aligning transport constraints with QA release windows for short-shelf-life products.
Monitor live shipments and lead real-time issue resolution, exception handling, and process FMEA development for delays, deviations, or temperature excursions.
Act as the primary TechOps contact for clinical sites, partnering with Clinical Operations to identify site-specific constraints (storage capabilities, OR workflows, delivery hours) to execute successful readiness assessments.
Establish clear technical escalation pathways—including issue intake, triage, and decision ownership—while ensuring consistent, proactive communication of timelines and risks to internal stakeholders and sites.
Contribute to deviation investigations and CAPAs in partnership with Quality, driving continuous improvement by incorporating lessons learned from mock runs, early patient waves, and site feedback into standard workflows.
Engage in crucial conversations by providing and receiving feedback supporting the growth and development of team members.
Demonstrate ability to engage and effectively influence team members across multidisciplinary teams while prioritizing multiple projects and meeting deadlines.
Drive curiosity, scientific rigor and excellent problem-solving skills across a performance-driven environment.
Requirements
A Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Life Sciences, or a related technical field; however, a specific combination of extensive professional experience and alternate education will be considered in exchange for this degree.
6–10+ years of professional experience in Supply Chain, Technical Operations, CMC, or related roles within the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry.
Hands-on experience supporting clinical trial supply, specifically with advanced modalities such as cell therapy or gene therapy.
Deep operational understanding of GMP, GCP, GDP (Good Distribution Practices), and chain of custody principles.
Proven capability managing project critical paths, dependency tracking, and cross-functional coordination using tools such as Excel, Smartsheet, or MS Project.
Demonstrated experience authoring SOPs and work instructions within a highly regulated compliance environment.
Qualifications
Innate ability to assess talent that will help grow the organization and add to Sana’s culture.
Direct operational experience supporting first-in-human or early-phase clinical cell therapy programs.
Technical expertise handling highly time- and temperature-sensitive logistics configurations.
Prior exposure to formal qualification, validation, or dry-run readiness testing activities for clinical site delivery.
Skills
Operational excellence
Project management
Logistics and supply chain management
Regulatory compliance
Collaborative teamwork
Benefits
Base pay range: $170,000 - $210,000/year
Hybrid workspace model
Flexible hours aligned with manufacturing release and site delivery schedules
Pay
The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $170,000 and $210,000/year; however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.
Schedule
This position is based in Cambridge, MA, and operates under a hybrid workspace model.