Associate Director, Facilities

Lead the Facilities and Maintenance function for the Rockville Manufacturing Center (RMC), a GMP cell therapy manufacturing facility. Provide day-to-day and longer-term leadership for facility operations, maintenance, reliability, calibration support, and associated service delivery. Develop a high-performing, people-focused team and ensure facility and manufacturing equipment are safe, compliant, available, and reliable to support efficient operations and reliable batch supply to patients. Drive customer-focused service, disciplined execution, continuous improvement, and readiness for site growth.

Typical Accountabilities

• Provide operational leadership for RMC facilities and maintenance services, ensuring robust, compliant, responsive, and customer-focused support for manufacturing, laboratories, warehouse, offices, utilities, and other site operations.
• Lead, manage, coach, and develop the Facilities and Maintenance team, including technical personnel. Establish clear priorities and accountability while strengthening capability, engagement, performance, workforce planning, and succession readiness.
• Develop and implement site facilities and maintenance plans, strategies, procedures, service standards, preventive maintenance programs, and calibration schedules aligned with business priorities, global policies, regulatory expectations, and industry best practices.
• Ensure the reliability, compliance, availability, and efficient operation of facility and manufacturing equipment. Oversee maintenance execution, troubleshooting, repairs, upgrades, and restoration activities to minimize downtime and protect production schedules.
• Partner closely with Manufacturing, Quality, Engineering, SHE, Supply Chain, Digital, and other site functions to prioritize work, resolve equipment and facility issues, coordinate shutdowns and interventions, and support reliable batch supply to patients.
• Support new equipment installations, qualifications, commissioning, facility expansions, fit-outs, and other capital or site growth projects, ensuring effective maintenance strategies, documentation, spare-parts planning, and operational handover.
• Ensure all facilities and maintenance activities and documentation comply with GMP requirements, safety and environmental standards, internal policies, and applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Maintain a state of inspection readiness.
• Establish, monitor, and improve Facilities and Maintenance performance metrics, service levels, and work-management practices. Use data, risk-based decision-making, and structured problem-solving to improve reliability, service, compliance, and efficiency.
• Implement preventive, predictive, risk-based, and reliability-centered maintenance approaches appropriate to the site. Identify recurring equipment issues and drive sustainable corrective and continuous improvement actions.
• Manage the Facilities and Maintenance operating budget, forecasts, spare-parts inventory, service contracts, and external resources to deliver cost-effective services and appropriate value for RMC.
• Proactively manage the performance of outsourced service providers and contractors, including expectations, safety, quality, compliance, service levels, and continuous improvement.
• Support emergency response, crisis management, and business continuity planning for facility and equipment-related events, helping ensure site readiness and effective recovery.
• Promote a strong culture of safety, quality, customer service, sustainability, ownership, and continuous improvement through visible leadership, training, employee engagement, and consistent standards.
• Champion Lean ways of working, digital tools, and modern maintenance practices, including effective use of the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), to strengthen planning, documentation, execution, and data visibility.

Qualifications and Skills

• Essential: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant experience in facilities, mechanical, electrical, engineering, maintenance, or a related technical field; significant relevant experience in facilities or maintenance operations; demonstrated maintenance leadership experience within a GMP pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, or similarly regulated manufacturing environment; strong understanding of GMP requirements, equipment maintenance, reliability, safety, environmental expectations, and regulated documentation; experience leading and developing technical teams; experience with CMMS and maintenance planning; strong problem-solving, communication, stakeholder management, budgeting, and organizational skills.

• Desirable: Cell therapy or biologics manufacturing experience; professional certification such as Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP) or relevant Maryland license or certification; experience with preventive, predictive, risk-based, or reliability-centered maintenance; Lean Six Sigma or other continuous improvement experience; experience supporting facility expansion, equipment qualification, and management of outsourced service providers.

Key Relationships to Reach Solutions

• Internal: RMC Facilities, Maintenance, and Engineering teams; Manufacturing Operations; Quality Assurance; Quality Control; MSAT; Safety, Health and Environment; Supply Chain and Warehouse; Digital and Automation; Procurement; Finance; site leadership and cross-functional project teams.

• External: Maintenance contractors, equipment vendors, facilities service providers, suppliers, auditors, regulators, emergency services, and relevant professional or technical partners.

The annual base pay for this position ranges from $118,750.40- $178,125.60 USD. Hourly and salaried non-exempt employees will also be paid overtime pay when working qualifying overtime hours. Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. In addition, our positions offer a short-term incentive bonus opportunity; eligibility to participate in our equity-based long-term incentive program (salaried roles), to receive a retirement contribution (hourly roles), and commission payment eligibility (sales roles). Benefits offered included a qualified retirement program [401(k) plan]; paid vacation and holidays; paid leaves; and, health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans. Additional details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an “at-will position” and the Company reserves the right to modify base pay (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

Date Posted

Closing Date

Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.