Associate Director – Material Excellence, Single Use Technologies & Raw Materials

Location: Portsmouth, NH, USA. Additional network locations considered: Vacaville, CA; Houston, TX. Minimal travel required (typically limited to 1–2 times per year for corporate alignment, network meetings, or specialized training). Schedule: Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Standard Business Hours).

About the role

We are seeking a high-caliber technical authority to join our Group Operations organization as the Associate Director – Material Excellence, SU Technologies Expert & Raw Materials. Reporting directly to the Global Head of Material Excellence, this high-visibility global position is responsible for leading and shaping Lonza’s overarching material strategy—focusing directly on simplification, network-wide harmonization, and supplier assurance across all clinical and commercial manufacturing platforms. You will serve as the premier Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Single-Use Technologies (SUT) and raw materials, driving global material standardization, harmonizing best practices across sites, and eliminating local variance to drive quality, operational efficiency, and cost performance.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the network Subject Matter Authority for single-use technologies and raw materials utilized across diverse clinical and commercial bioprocessing lines, establishing unified global specifications and robust control strategies.
• Drive structural harmonization of material standards across all operational sites to eliminate decentralized "local recipes," ensuring consistent application, reducing SKU complexity, and minimizing localized exceptions or manufacturing deviations.
• Advance Lonza’s Single-Use Assembly (SUA) lifecycle frameworks, standardizing tech transfer requirements, component mapping, and supplier alignment criteria.
• Partner directly with Global Procurement and Quality to strengthen supplier assurance frameworks, managing technical assessments for second-sourcing initiatives and alternate material qualifications.
• Own, author, and govern global change controls relating to material specifications and optimization initiatives to ensure seamless, compliant execution.
• Oversee the technical evaluation and documentation pipeline for complex Vendor Change Notifications (VCN), preparing risk assessments, compendial analyses, and regulatory positioning papers.
• Provide advanced cross-functional technical guidance on raw material and single-use processing deviations, collaborating with local Manufacturing, MSAT, and Validation teams to drive comprehensive root-cause resolutions.
• Maintain total alignment with evolving global pharmacopoeias and health authority expectations, directly supporting corporate client and regulatory inspections as technical lead.
• Lead, coach, and develop a global network of site-based material specialists, steering critical material management strategies and technical risk-mitigation initiatives.

Requirements

• 5–10 years of advanced material science, MSAT, QC/QA, or Operations experience within a cGMP pharmaceutical or bioprocess manufacturing setting, with detailed application knowledge of polymeric materials and single-use systems in a life science context.
• Demonstrated experience operating successfully within a global setting, matrix network, or international multi-site organization, with proven capacity to influence peers outside of your direct department.
• Strong capability to lead, align, and hold disparate cross-functional networks (Site MSAT, Supply Chain, Quality, Regulatory, Procurement) accountable to global standards through a dotted-line relationship structure.
• High-energy, change-agent mentality; comfortable bringing diverse groups together, speaking authoritatively, navigating healthy pushback, and overcoming internal resistance to ensure execution discipline.
• Deep technical proficiency in raw material characterization, single-use component assembly validation, and establishing defensible material specifications aligned with global compendia.
• Strong project management capabilities with a track record of executing complex standardization programs simultaneously; familiarity with global data management platforms, Master Data frameworks, and technical reporting workflows is beneficial.
• Proactive 2-way communication skills and a self-driven, hands-on attitude capable of translating corporate strategic directives into actionable plant-level standards.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree (MS) or equivalent advanced degree in Life Sciences, Engineering, Chemistry, or a closely related technical discipline is required.

Benefits

• An agile career and dynamic working culture.
• An inclusive and ethical workplace.
• Global Strategic Footprint: Direct the material standardizations and lifecycle control strategies impacting operations across 6+ major manufacturing hubs globally.
• Network-Wide Matrix Influence: Lead, coach, and develop a global network of site-based material specialists.
• Compensation programs that recognize high performance. Learn more about benefits.

About Lonza

At Lonza, our people are our greatest strength. With 30+ sites across five continents, our globally connected teams work together every day to manufacture the medicines of tomorrow. Our core values of Collaboration, Accountability, Excellence, Passion, and Integrity reflect who we are and how we work together. Everyone’s ideas, big or small, have the potential to improve millions of lives, and that’s the kind of work we want you to be part of.