Maintenance Lead

About the role

Location: Morrisville, NC (onsite). Relocation support is not offered; applicants must be able to work onsite in Morrisville, NC.

Imagine leading the strategy, performance, and future of a critical manufacturing site's maintenance organization. As a Maintenance Lead, you'll play a pivotal role in ensuring equipment reliability, operational excellence, and GMP compliance while shaping a high-performing team that supports the delivery of innovative medicines. This is an opportunity to influence site-wide engineering initiatives, drive continuous improvement, champion safety and quality, and make a lasting impact on patients by ensuring manufacturing operations run efficiently and reliably every day.

Responsibilities

• Lead site Maintenance & Calibration operations to ensure safety, compliance, reliability, and business continuity.
• Develop and execute maintenance strategies that improve asset performance and equipment uptime.
• Drive TPM and Asset Lifecycle Management initiatives across manufacturing and engineering operations.
• Ensure GMP, FDA, quality, and HSE requirements are embedded in all maintenance activities.
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing maintenance organization and frontline leadership team.
• Oversee contractor performance, service providers, and maintenance-related third-party partnerships.
• Manage maintenance budgets, resource planning, and capital investments to meet business objectives.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives that enhance efficiency, reliability, and cost performance.
• Maintain inspection readiness and support regulatory audits, customer audits, and PAI activities.
• Partner cross-functionally with Manufacturing, Quality, Engineering, and Technical Operations to achieve site goals.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline.
• 8+ years of engineering experience within a regulated manufacturing environment.
• 5+ years of maintenance leadership experience with direct people management responsibilities.
• Proven experience leading Maintenance & Calibration programs in a GMP-regulated environment.
• Demonstrated expertise in Asset Lifecycle Management, reliability, and asset performance improvement.
• Experience managing large capital projects, maintenance contractors, and external service providers.
• Strong knowledge of FDA, GMP, GxP, Quality, and HSE requirements.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams, drive continuous improvement, and deliver business results.

Pay

The salary for this position is expected to range between $114,100 and $211,900 annually. The final salary offered is determined based on factors like relevant skills and experience, and will be reviewed periodically upon joining Novartis. Novartis may adjust the published salary range based on company and market factors. Compensation includes a performance‑based cash incentive and, depending on the role level, eligibility for annual equity awards.

Benefits

US‑based eligible employees receive a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, life and disability benefits, a 401(k) with company contribution and match, and a variety of other benefits. Employees are also eligible for a generous time off package including vacation, personal days, holidays, and other leaves.