Production Supervisor (Small Animal)

Charles River Laboratories, Inc.; Raleigh (NC); On-site; USD 74,000 - 84,000; Full time

Job summary

Charles River Laboratories, Inc. in Raleigh, NC is seeking a hands-on Production Supervisor to lead the Breed Operations team. You will oversee daily production, ensure quality, safety, and biosafety standards, and coach a high-performing group to meet operational goals.

This role emphasizes developing talent, coordinating workloads, and driving continuous improvement while partnering with HR, leadership, and customers to deliver consistent results.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences or related field.
• 4+ years of leadership experience leading high-performing teams.
• Associate degree option available with leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead daily operations by supervising production staff, coordinating workloads, scheduling activities, and achieving goals.
• Drive compliance and operational excellence by SOPs, safety and biosafety protocols, audits, documentation, and equipment upkeep.
• Manage production and resources by overseeing production and shipping, inventory, metrics, timecards, and scheduling.
• Develop and lead talent through hiring, onboarding, training, performance management, and succession planning.
• Partner across functions with HR, leadership and customers to address relations, concerns, and continuous improvement.
• Support strategic growth by identifying productivity and cost-reduction opportunities and contributing to budgeting.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Coaching

Prioritization

Problem-solving

Computer skills

Safety

Biosafety

Education

Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences or related

Associate degree in Life Sciences or related

High School Diploma or GED

Job description

For 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we’ll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.

JOB SUMMARY

Lead Operations. Develop Teams. Drive Excellence.

Are you a hands-on leader who thrives in fast-paced production environments and enjoys developing high-performing teams? We're seeking a Production Supervisor to support our Breed Operations team in Raleigh, NC.

In this role, you'll oversee daily operations, ensure adherence to quality, safety, and biosafety standards, and lead a team dedicated to operational excellence. If you're passionate about coaching employees, improving processes, and driving results, we'd love to hear from you.

What You'll Do

As a Production Supervisor, you will:

• Lead Daily Operations by supervising production staff, coordinating workloads, scheduling activities, and ensuring departmental goals, quality standards, and production targets are achieved.
• Drive Compliance & Operational Excellence by maintaining adherence to SOPs, safety and biosafety protocols, auditing production areas, overseeing documentation, and ensuring equipment and facilities are maintained to the highest standards.
• Manage Production & Resources by overseeing production and shipping activities, monitoring inventory levels, reviewing operational metrics, managing timecards and scheduling, and supporting efficient use of departmental resources.
• Develop & Lead Talent through hiring, onboarding, training, coaching, performance management, employee development, succession planning, and fostering a positive, high-performance team culture.
• Partner Across Functions by collaborating with Human Resources, leadership teams, and customers to address employee relations matters, resolve customer concerns, support continuous improvement initiatives, and drive successful business outcomes.
• Support Strategic Growth by identifying opportunities to improve productivity, reduce costs, enhance efficiencies, contribute to departmental planning and budgeting, and implement best practices that support long-term operational success.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Candidates must meet one of the following combinations of education and experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences or a related field
  4+ years of leadership experience leading high-performing teams and supporting operational success
• Associate degree in Life Sciences or a related field
  6+ years of leadership experience
• High School Diploma or GED
  8+ years of leadership experience

Preferred Qualifications: ALAT Certification

We are looking for someone with:

Strong leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills

Experience coaching, mentoring, and developing employees

Ability to prioritize tasks and manage competing operational demands

Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities

Computer proficiency, including data entry and word processing applications

Commitment to safety, quality, and operational excellence

SALARY

The pay range for this position is $73,500 - $84,000 / annually. Please note that salaries vary within the range based on factors including, but not limited to, experience, skills, education, certifications, and location.

About Research Models & Services
Fundamental to basic research and discovery is the use of in vivo models to help identify disease targets and determine potential biological pathways that regulate the condition. As the world’s leader in the production and distribution of the highest quality research animal, with 1 out of 2 animal models produced for preclinical research globally, we understand the importance of this step. With seven decades of experience, our expertise is unmatched, allowing us to provide you with the perfect model, including disease-specific and preconditioned options, for basic research and beyond.

About Charles River
Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients’ clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.

With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client’s unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world.

At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly worked on 80% of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past five years.

We’re committed to providing benefits that elevate your quality of life. Based on your position these may include: bonus/incentives based on performance, 401K, paid time off, stock purchase program, Health and wellness coverage, employee and family wellbeing support programs, and work life balance flexibility.

Charles River is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, family status, pregnancy, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

It is unlawful in some states (including Massachusetts) to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

For more information, please visit www.criver.com.

Nearest Major Market: Raleigh
Job Segment: Pharmaceutical, Biology, Biotech, Employee Relations, Laboratory, Science, Human Resources