Manager, Operational Excellence CAR T

Johnson & Johnson Co.; Raritan (NJ); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Johnson & Johnson in Raritan, NJ is seeking an Operational Excellence Manager to lead and drive continuous improvement across the site, applying Lean principles, JJPS, Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen, and Six Sigma to improve quality, flow, productivity and cost.

This role partners with Operations, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain and other stakeholders to identify opportunities, eliminate bottlenecks and deliver measurable, sustainable results while supporting the site’s ramp-up and regulatory

Qualifications

• Experience leading continuous improvement initiatives in a manufacturing or biopharma setting.
• Proven ability to deploy Lean, Six Sigma and Kaizen across functions.
• Strong project management and stakeholder leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead continuous improvement initiatives across the site using Lean, Six Sigma and CIP.
• Partner with Operations, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain to identify opportunities and deliver measurable results.
• Own CIP pipeline targets, program schedules and tactical implementation plans.
• Coach and develop Belt levels, driving capability building and problem-solving.
• Lead performance management cadences and support regulatory/compliance objectives.

Skills

Lean

Six Sigma

Kaizen

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Planisware

Job description

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at jnj.com

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Job Function:

Supply Chain Engineering

Job Sub Function:

Process Engineering

Job Category:

People Leader

All Job Posting Locations:

Raritan, New Jersey, United States of America

Job Description:

About Innovative Medicine

Our expertise in Innovative Medicine is informed and inspired by patients, whose insights fuel our science-based advancements. Visionaries like you work on teams that save lives by developing the medicines of tomorrow.

Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every step of the way.

Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/innovative-medicine

We are searching for the best talent for a Manager, Operations Excellence to join our Team in Raritan, NJ.

Our Raritan, NJ Cell Therapy facility is scaling up operational flows to serve more patients and meet the highest quality standards without compromising manufacturing efficiency. The Senior Manager is responsible for leading and driving long-term strategy and regulatory compliance, while aspiring for extraordinary excellence and performance. This position will also maintain excellent communication with business partners to lead expectations effectively and will help build the organization in alignment with operational ramp-up.

Position Summary:

Janssen Biotech, Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, and Legend Biotech USA Inc., have entered into a global, strategic collaboration to develop, manufacture, and commercialize a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. This innovative strategic partnership is designed to combine the strengths and expertise of two companies to advance the promise of an immunotherapy CAR T platform and investigational treatment

The Operational Excellence Manager is responsible for working with business partners to identify improvement opportunities and assess, develop and implement improvement project plans across the site. Also supports the deployment of the Continuous Improvement programs and ensures projects and initiatives meet customer and company requirements by providing technical and business program leadership. This role supports the Business Partners to act as a change agent in driving continued operational excellence in the organization. The person will be responsible for the establishment and implementation of standard processes to ensure performance targets are met as it relates to Continuous Improvement. The Operational Excellence Manager will employ process excellence methodologies to bring value to the customer and drive Right the First Time mentality. The incumbent supports project leads and project teams in developing program schedules and tactical implementation plans to meet overall program targets. Responsible for providing leadership in the tactical approach, deployment & execution of Process Excellence (Six Sigma, Lean & Design Excellence) in partnership with production leadership & the PE team. The person evaluates potential business impact for improvement projects and advises on their implementation.

Key responsibilities:

The Operational Excellence Manager CAR-T will lead and drive continuous improvement initiatives across the organization, applying Lean principles, JJPS, Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Kaizen, and structured root-cause problem solving to improve quality, flow, productivity, cost, and overall operational performance. This role will partner cross-functionally with Operations, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain, and other key stakeholders to identify improvement opportunities, eliminate waste and bottlenecks, implement high-impact CIP and strategic programs, and ensure measurable and sustainable business results.

The role will also be responsible for building Operational Excellence capabilities and strengthening a culture of continuous improvement through coaching, Lean/Six Sigma belt development, talent development, and problem-solving facilitation. The Manager will support performance management through tiered daily management, site scorecards, critical metric monitoring, Gemba, and corrective action management, while helping leaders translate business priorities into clear actions, accountability, and sustainable performance improvements.

• Responsible for all JJPS business processes, lean leadership and the Culture of Excellence at the site.
• Value Stream Mapping – Responsible to Maps site capabilities, identifies gaps, and delivers reliability improvements for all strategic brands.
• CIP Pipeline Process- This person is the owner for the CIP pipeline process, yearly site CIP targets, support business planning/financial cycles, lead the site cost improvement portfolio in Planisware, and the CIP site important metric.
• Site Performance Management Process- Leads the performance management cadence, execution & prepares site performance review decks for external platform reporting. Leads and manage the Performance management processes through all site tiers.
• Lead Key Site/Global Programs- Executes key OPEX Strategic Initiatives and programs such as Smart Change Over & OEE Program, Golden Batch, Waste to Excellence/Yield, ZBB, Conceptualization Workshops for GP Improvement, etc.
• Capability Building- Responsible for the training and certification of YB, GB and BBs at the site. Provides coaching & mentoring to candidates for Project Management and Lean/Six Sigma certifications.
• Base Business- Supports Idea generation programs, Kaizen and Internal/External benchmark. Lead talent development of direct reports through delivery of performance management processes (goal setting, development plan creation and performance reviews). Lead team resources through project planning, resource allocation and prioritization, recruitment, and budget preparation. Organisational change and collaborator management for the team.
• Strategy Deployment-Partners with leaders to develop and implement the site vision, mission, and long-term strategic roadmap aligned with ATSC, IMSC MTO, and Platform Strategy. Uses business metrics, analytics,