Associate Director, Site Supply Chain - Materials Management

AstraZeneca plc; United States; On-site; USD 124,000 - 186,000; Full time

Job summary

AstraZeneca plc is seeking an Associate Director, Materials Management to lead patient materials management at our Santa Monica and Tarzana manufacturing sites for autologous and allogeneic cell therapy programs.

You will own COI/COC traceability, manage material flow from receipt to drug product pack-out, and partner with Quality and Logistics to ensure compliant, reliable operations in a fast-paced biopharma environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Life Sciences, or a related field.
• 8+ years in biopharma supply chain, logistics or cell therapy operations.
• Strong understanding of COI/COC controls and related receipt and pack-out requirements.
• Experience with real-time issue resolution, exception management and corrective actions.
• Working knowledge of GDP, GMP and GxP requirements.
• Ability to influence and lead across teams in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead patient materials management across autologous and allogeneic programs, ensuring COI/COC from receipt to pack-out.
• Coordinate apheresis receipt and drug product pack-out schedule with manufacturing, QA and logistics.
• Own COI/COC processes at the site including SOPs and digital tracking across milestones.
• Monitor and improve data capture, documentation and adherence to workflows.

Skills

Biopharma supply chain experience

COI/COC controls

Real-time issue resolution

GDP/GMP/GxP knowledge

Leadership by influence

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Life Sciences, or related field

Tools

Power BI

Excel

Smartsheet

Job description

Introduction to role

At AstraZeneca Cell Therapy , we are required to deliver complex, autologous and allogeneic cell therapies that ensure compliance to regulatory expectations for patient and donor materials from apheresis to transformed drug product.

The Associate Director, Materials Management role is responsible for leading patient materials management at the manufacturing site in Santa Monica and Tarzana facilities across autologous cell therapy programs. This role serves as thelead for patient material traceability at the manufacturing site, including processes and systems related to the execution of chain of identify (COI) and chain of custody (COC) verification from patient material receipt to drug product pack-out. Additionally, this role will be responsible for the material flow and verification of GMP healthy donor apheresis for allogeneic cell therapy programs.

This role is integral to the Site Supply Chain operationsmodel , using digital systems, milestone visibility and defined escalation pathways to ensure compliance and integrity of patient and healthy donor materials management at the manufacturing facility. This role reports to the Site Supply Chain Director.

Accountabilities

- Lead patient materials management across autologous cell therapy programs, ensuring COI/COC of apheresis through receipt, manufacturing and drug product pack-out.

- Lead healthy donor materials management across allogeneic cell therapy programs, ensuring COC of apheresis and lot traceability from drug substance to drug product manufacturing and drug product pack-out.

- Coordinate apheresis receipt and drug product pack-out schedule in alignment with manufacturing, production scheduling, quality and logistics teams, including day-to-day schedule changes and rescheduling actions.

- Own chain of identity (COI) and chain of custody (COC) process at the manufacturing site including site SOPs/work instructions, and monitor status across receipt, manufacturing release and drug product pack-out using digital tools and real-time milestone visibility.

- Ensure execution discipline for COI/COC traceability , reinforcing adherence to approved workflows, documentation requirements, SOPs, work instructions, and data capture expectations.

- Support operational readiness and hypercare for new studies, products, and countries, including onboarding activities at the manufacturing site and mock shipments where applicable.

- Lead exception management and escalation when patient traceability is not following the expected process, coordinating recovery actions across internal teams and external partners.

- Support fact-finding investigations, root cause assessment and corrective action identification for COI or COC verification execution issues, partnering with Quality where formal deviations or CAPAs are required.

- Support impact assessments and change action identification for new product launches and expansion into new countries, or studies.

- Track operational metrics and identify improvement opportunities , providing insights on recurring issues, execution risks, and corrective actions to improve reliability and consistency.

Essential Skills/Experience

- Bachelor’s degreeinSupply Chain, Engineering, Life Sciences, or a related field.

- 8+ Years experience inbiopharma supply chain, logistics or cell therapy operations.

- Strong understanding ofcell therapy COI/COC controls, and the operational requirements for patient material receipt and drug product pack-out.

- Demonstrated experience inreal-time issue resolution, exception management, shipment recovery, temperature excursion response, escalation handling, operational investigations, and corrective action leadershipin a complex and regulated environment.

- Working knowledge ofGDP, GMP, and GxPrequirements, including deviation and quality processes.

- Ability to lead through influence, balance competing operational priorities, and maintain high execution quality in a fast-paced environment.

- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to provide concise operational updates and elevate risks clearly.

Desirable Skills/Experience

- Advanced degree such asMSorMBA.

- Experience insite manufacturing operations, cell therapy logistics or 24/7 monitoring environment.

- Experience withPower BI, Excel, or Smartsheetfor operational reporting and analysis.

- Experience supporting launches, hypercare and/or expansion into new countries, or studies.

Why AstraZeneca?

At AstraZeneca, you will help shape how life-changing cell therapies are delivered to patients through a more connected, proactive, and digitally enabled operational model. This role offers the opportunity to lead the daily execution of Vein-to-Vein Operations and directly influence service reliability, patient journey continuity, and customer experience.

The annual base pay (or hourly rate of compensation) for this position ranges from $124,069.60 to $186,104.40. Our positions offer eligibility for various incentives—an opportunity to receive short-term incentive bonuses, equity-based awards for salaried roles and commissions for sales roles. Benefits offered include qualified retirement programs, paid time off (i.e., vacation, holiday, and leaves), as well as health, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms of the applicable plans.

Date Posted
04-Nov-2026

Closing Date
22-Nov-2026

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.