Manager, Quality Assurance - East Coast (Princeton, NJ)

About the role

More than one million people in the United States today are fighting blood cancer. While a traditional allogeneic stem cell transplant has been the best hope for many, the transplant itself can prove fatal or lead to serious conditions, such as graft vs. host disease. Headquartered in California, Orca Bio is a commercial-stage biotechnology company redefining the transplant process by developing next-generation cell therapies with the goal of providing significantly better survival rates with dramatically fewer risks. With our purified, high-precision cell therapies we hope to not only replace patients' blood and immune systems with healthy ones, but also restore their lives. We are establishing manufacturing operations on the East Coast to ensure the consistent and reliable delivery of our high-precision cell therapy products. This site is essential to advancing our clinical pipeline and supporting future commercial availability of our life-saving therapies.

Responsibilities

• Provide operational leadership of the site Quality function, including QA Operations, Quality Systems, QC, and Compliance.
• Ensure site Quality activities are conducted in compliance with cGMP requirements, applicable regulatory expectations, approved procedures and Orca Bio quality standards.
• Serve as the primary site Quality partner to Manufacturing and other cross functional teams, providing timely quality guidance and escalation when needed.
• Maintain a strong state of inspection readiness and promote a culture of quality, compliance and continuous improvement.
• Oversee batch record review and disposition of products and materials, ensuring timely and compliant release.
• Lead and manage deviation investigations, change control, CAPA, and complaint management systems.
• Partner with Manufacturing, MSAT, Supply Chain, Regulatory, and R&D to support production timelines, tech transfers, and product development milestones.
• Ensure robust quality oversight of raw materials, in-process materials, and finished goods, including oversight of QC laboratory operations and testing.
• Lead and oversee QC activities supporting site manufacturing operations to ensure QC testing activities are appropriately planned and scheduled to support manufacturing and product release timelines.
• Provide oversight of laboratory investigations, atypical results, out of specification results and other QC related events.
• Support assay transfer, validation, qualification and implementation activities as applicable.
• Develop and implement site quality metrics and dashboards to monitor performance and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Participate in global Quality leadership forums to align site practices with corporate standards and strategy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a scientific or engineering discipline required; advanced degree (MS, PhD, PharmD) preferred.
• 7+ years of experience in pharmaceutical or biotech manufacturing quality, with at least 5 years in a leadership role or proven excellent in role.
• Strong background in cGMP regulations and clinical manufacturing (Phase I–III); experience with biologics, cell & gene therapies, or sterile manufacturing is highly desirable.
• Deep knowledge of GMP and global regulatory standards (FDA, EMA, ICH, etc.).
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams in a dynamic, fast-paced clinical environment.
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and decision-making skills.
• Experience managing regulatory inspections and building compliant quality systems from the ground up is a plus.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to influence at all levels of the organization.

Benefits

• Pre‑IPO equity
• Annual bonus
• Competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Paid time off (PTO)
• 401(k) plan
• Life and accidental death and disability coverage
• Parental leave benefits

Pay

$120,000 - $150,000 a year

Schedule

Full-time