Founding QA & Facilities Lead (GMP Readiness)

OPM Biosciences; Pleasanton (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

OPM Biosciences seeks a founding QA leader for U.S. operations to build and lead the Quality Management System supporting cell line development, cell culture process development, and small-scale media production.

You will oversee document control, deviations/CAPA, batch record review, supplier quality, and lot release, driving the site toward GMP readiness as operations expand. A hands-on leadership style is essential to scale facilities and ensure compliant growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, facilities, life sciences, or related field.
• 7+ years of relevant experience in biotech, pharma, diagnostics, medical device, or other regulated technical environments.
• Hands-on experience supporting labs, cleanrooms, utilities, and vendor-managed maintenance programs.
• Strong working knowledge of HVAC, pressure cascades, utilities, alarms, and building systems in GMP or GMP-like settings.
• Experience with startup, expansion, commissioning, or major facility improvements is strongly preferred.
• Able to balance technical detail with execution speed in a small, fast-moving organization.

Responsibilities

• Own facility operations for the Pleasanton site, including labs, cleanrooms, warehouse, cold storage, utilities, and support spaces.
• Manage preventive maintenance, calibration coordination, work orders, spare parts, and service contracts for facility and utility systems.
• Oversee site utilities including HVAC/BMS/EMS interfaces, CDA, vacuum, RO/DI, gases, cold rooms, freezers, LN2 systems, and emergency response readiness.
• Partner with QA, QC, Production, and EHS to maintain facility compliance, environmental readiness, and inspection preparedness.
• Support equipment move-in, installation, commissioning, verification, and startup activities for new and relocated equipment.
• Act as primary on-site contact for landlords, contractors, service vendors, and selected local authorities for facility-related matters.
• Lead change control, CAPA support, deviation follow-up, and root cause investigations related to facility and utility issues.
• Develop and maintain SOPs, PM programs, logbooks, alarm escalation workflows, and facility records.
• Drive cleanroom and controlled-area housekeeping standards with internal teams and external cleaning vendors.
• Build and manage facility budgets for maintenance, repairs, small capital projects, and operating supplies.
• Identify reliability risks early and implement practical solutions that reduce downtime and protect startup timelines.

Skills

QA leadership

Document control

CAPA and deviations

Batch record review

Supplier quality

Lot release

SOP development

Facility management

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, facilities, life sciences

Job description

OPM Biosciences seeks a founding QA leader for U.S. operations to build and lead the Quality Management System supporting cell line development, cell culture process development, and small-scale media production.

You will oversee document control, deviations/CAPA, batch record review, supplier quality, and lot release, driving the site toward GMP readiness as operations expand. A hands-on leadership style is essential to scale facilities and ensure compliant growth.