Associate Director, Engineering

About the role

Join Us in Shaping the Future of Animal Health
Our Animal Health Division is investing $895 million in expanding our manufacturing and research & development facilities in De Soto, Kansas — the state’s largest economic development project to date.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of bioprocess engineering professionals, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.

• Provide strategic and technical leadership for regional vaccine technology transfer activities end-to-end, ensuring successful planning, execution, and implementation at receiving sites.

• Provide technical leadership and support to the capital project for the design, build, and readiness of the new blend, fill, and freeze dry facility.

• Proactively identify, assess, and mitigate technical risks associated with transfer execution through structured evaluations, data-driven analysis, and cross-functional action planning.

• Partner with site leadership, Quality, Manufacturing, Engineering, Network Strategy, Regulatory Affairs and Technical functions to resolve complex technical issues and ensure robust post-transfer performance.

• Drive strong post-transfer support through monitoring, troubleshooting, escalation management, and continuous improvement activities.

• Ensure compliant technical documentation and clear stakeholder communication in accordance with quality, regulatory, and internal governance requirements.

• Support regional knowledge management activities by contributing to the development and sharing of transfer packages, playbooks, lessons learned, and best practices to strengthen standardization and consistency across sites.

• Build team capability through coaching, mentoring, development planning, feedback, and succession planning for direct reports and technical staff.

• Influence decision-making across functions and sites to support business priorities, operational readiness, and successful transfer outcomes.

Requirements

• Minimum Requirement: Bachelor’s degree with significant relevant experience in Biotechnology, Biochemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Pharmacy, or a related life science/engineering field.

• Required Experience and Skills:

  • Prior people management/leadership skills, including coaching, mentoring, performance development, and team building highly preferred.
  • Demonstrated success leading technology transfers, technical programs, or cross-functional projects with increasing scope and complexity.
  • Strong understanding of vaccine/biologicals manufacturing processes.
  • Experience in vaccine/biopharma regulated environments.
  • Experience with process characterization, scale-up/scale-down, process robustness, and technical troubleshooting.
  • Proven ability to lead through influence, build alignment, and drive decisions across functions and sites.
  • Excellent problem-solving, decision-making, and analytical skills.
  • High degree of ownership, scientific rigor, and continuous improvement mindset.

• Preferred Experience and Skills:

  • Experience providing technical support to capital projects, preferably involving facility design, build, commissioning, qualification, or readiness activities.
  • Familiarity with USDA regulatory expectations.
  • Proficiency in technical risk assessment and data analysis for process performance.
  • Excellent technical writing and communication skills for diverse stakeholders.
  • Strong project and program leadership skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
  • Experience influencing cross-functional teams without formal line authority.
  • Demonstrated ability to deliver business results through operational, technical, and people leadership.
  • Experience supporting organizational capability building and standardization initiatives.

Schedule

Able to work first shift, Monday through Friday as base schedule. Off-shift coverage may be required based on manufacturing and transfer activities.

Qualifications

Education: Minimum Requirement - Bachelor’s degree with significant relevant experience in Biotechnology, Biochemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Pharmacy, or a related life science/engineering field.

Required Experience and Skills:

• Minimum 8 years of experience in biopharmaceutical or vaccine manufacturing, process development, technology transfer, MS&T, or a related technical discipline.
• Prior people management/leadership skills, including coaching, mentoring, performance development, and team building highly preferred.
• Demonstrated success leading technology transfers, technical programs, or cross-functional projects with increasing scope and complexity.
• Strong understanding of vaccine/biologicals manufacturing processes.
• Experience in vaccine/biopharma regulated environments.
• Experience with process characterization, scale-up/scale-down, process robustness, and technical troubleshooting.
• Proven ability to lead through influence, build alignment, and drive decisions across functions and sites.
• Excellent problem-solving, decision-making, and analytical skills.
• High degree of ownership, scientific rigor, and continuous improvement mindset.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Experience providing technical support to capital projects, preferably involving facility design, build, commissioning, qualification, or readiness activities.
• Familiarity with USDA regulatory expectations.
• Proficiency in technical risk assessment and data analysis for process performance.
• Excellent technical writing and communication skills for diverse stakeholders.
• Strong project and program leadership skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Experience influencing cross-functional teams without formal line authority.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver business results through operational, technical, and people leadership.
• Experience supporting organizational capability building and standardization initiatives.

Benefits

The salary range for this role is $142,400.00 - $224,100.00 This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.

Pay

The salary range for this role is $142,400.00 - $224,100.00 This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.

Schedule

Able to work first shift, Monday through Friday as base schedule. Off-shift coverage may be required based on manufacturing and transfer activities.