Associate Director, Digital Lab Orchestration

About the role

The Associate Director of Digital Lab Orchestration leads the design, integration, and deployment of the orchestration layer that connects QC laboratory systems into a cohesive, compliant, and automated ecosystem. This role bridges QC operations, IT/OT, automation, and data governance to enable end-to-end digital QC workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of the QC Lab Orchestration Layer, enabling workflow coordination across all Laboratory instruments and middleware.
• Define integration patterns (APIs, event-driven, message queues, file-based where needed).
• Ensure scalability, resilience, and performance of lab integrations.
• Translate QC business processes into orchestrated digital workflows.
• Enable automated sample lifecycle management, test execution, result capture, review, and release.
• Support real-time and near-real-time data flow from lab instruments to enterprise systems.
• Assist in annual IT budgeting, vendor negotiations, and resource allocation.
• Ensure integrations comply with GxP, ALCOA+, 21 CFR Part 11, Annex 11 and data integrity requirements.
• Partner with Quality and CSV teams to support validation strategies (risk-based, CSA where applicable).
• Ensure auditability, traceability, and controlled change management.
• Act as the primary integration point between QC, IT, automation, and external vendors.
• Evaluate vendor platforms and integration tools for orchestration capabilities.
• Lead technical discussions with system integrators and software suppliers.
• Support incident resolution, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement.
• Make decisions on integration patterns and drive a connected lab progression in 2026 and beyond.
• Ensure resiliency is incorporated into our architecture- as we move into a connected lab platform.

Requirements

• Knowledge of integration technologies: REST APIs, middleware/iPaaS, message brokers, ETL.
• Familiarity with orchestration/workflow engines.
• Understanding of lab instrument connectivity and data flows.
• Experience with cloud and/or hybrid architectures (AWS, Azure, or similar).
• Industry experience implementing Lab orchestration including Scitara, Tetra Science, or any other emerging tools.

Qualifications

• Senior Manager: 8+ years industry experience in Information Systems and Technology or equivalent combination of education and experience. 6 of those years should be in managing employees and budgets, with 5+ years of experience in a GMP manufacturing environment and experience in a biotech/pharma environment.
• Associate Director: 10+ years industry experience in Information Systems and Technology or equivalent combination of education and experience. 8 of those years should be in managing employees and budgets, with 7+ years of experience in a GMP manufacturing environment and experience in a biotech/pharma environment.
• Experience with IT Compliance guidelines including PICS, CFR21 Part 11, Annex 11 and GAMP preferred.