Operational Excellence Leader: NASD

Scorpion Therapeutics; Dover (DE); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Agilent Technologies seeks an Operational Excellence Lead for its Nucleic Acid Solutions Division to drive deployment roadmaps, kaizen events, and standard work across GMP manufacturing for oligonucleotides. You will connect metrics to throughput, capacity, and quality while coaching cross-functional teams and enabling tech transfer.

The role emphasizes Lean leadership, Hoshin Kanri, and continuous improvement, with significant travel to facilities in the US.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in life sciences, engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years in GMP manufacturing with 8+ years in Lean process leadership.
• Experience deploying and sustaining production systems with deep GMP knowledge.
• Proven track record of delivering operational improvements and business results.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute deployment roadmaps via diagnostics.
• Establish tiered daily management and lead kaizen events.
• Translate business strategies into operational priorities using Hoshin Kanri.
• Connect operational metrics to throughput, capacity, and quality outcomes.
• Coach teams in structured problem-solving and standard work.
• Support tech transfer and new product introduction with process optimization.
• Embed standardized working methods and collaborate across production and quality teams.

Skills

Lean process leadership

GMP manufacturing knowledge

Kaizen events

Problem-solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in life sciences/engineering

Tools

Hoshin Kanri

Six Sigma

TPS (Toyota Production System)

Job description

Role

Operational Excellence Lead for Agilent’s Nucleic Acid Solutions Division, overseeing the build and sustainment of manufacturing systems for therapeutic oligonucleotides in GMP-regulated biopharma production.

Responsibilities

develop and execute deployment roadmaps via diagnostics; establish tiered daily management; lead kaizen events targeting yield, cycle-time, and process efficiency; translate business strategies into operational priorities using Hoshin Kanri; connect operational metrics to throughput, capacity, and quality outcomes; utilize shop-floor data systems and identify digital tools for process improvement; coach teams in structured problem-solving and standard work; support tech transfer and new product introduction with process optimization; embed standardized working methods; collaborate across production and quality teams; coordinate benchmarking across sites.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s or master’s in life sciences, engineering, or related fields; 10+ years in GMP manufacturing with 8+ years in Lean process leadership; proven experience deploying and sustaining production systems, with deep knowledge of chemical/pharmaceutical GMP processes; strong track record of delivering operational improvements and business results.

Preferred

Lean, Six Sigma, or TPS certification; experience in biologics or cell/gene therapy manufacturing, process validation, or tech transfer.

Location

US-based with approximately 50% travel to facilities in Colorado and across the broader ATD footprint.

Employment

The role is full-time, predominantly on-site, with remote work options.