Senior Director Engineering

Amgen Inc. (IR); Thousand Oaks (CA); On-site; USD 203,000 - 274,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Retirement and Savings Plan

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Life and disability insurance

Stock-based incentives

Generous time-off plans

Flexible work models

Job summary

Amgen in Thousand Oaks, CA, seeks a Senior Director to lead Engineering Technical Authority for Drug Substance and Single-Use infrastructure, guiding global network strategy and capital projects. The role drives technical directions, site support, and lifecycle management while enabling scalable, compliant execution across sites.

You will shape front-end planning, develop capabilities in ETA, and mentor leaders across a matrix organization, partnering with operations, quality, and process

Qualifications

• Doctorate in Engineering with 5+ years people-leadership experience.
• Alternative: Master’s in Engineering with 9 years leadership.
• Bachelor’s in Engineering with 11 years leadership.

Responsibilities

• Provide enterprise technical leadership for Drug Substance and Single-Use systems.
• Shape front-end planning and project strategy.
• Lead cross-site engineering teams and network initiatives.
• Ensure compliant, scalable engineering decisions across sites.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Biologics manufacturing

Capital project leadership

Front-end planning

Education

PhD in Engineering

Master’s degree in Engineering

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering

Tools

Single-Use systems

Regulatory-aligned engineering

Job description

Senior Director - Engineering Technical Authority (Drug Substance, Infrastructure, and Single-Use)

Career Category Engineering Job Description Join Amgen’s Mission of Serving Patients At Amgen, if you feel like you’re part of something bigger, it’s because you are. Our shared mission—to serve patients living with serious illnesses—drives all that we do. Since 1980, we’ve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world’s toughest diseases. With our focus on four therapeutic areas –Oncology, Inflammation, General Medicine, and Rare Disease– we reach millions of patients each year. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline of medicines to treat cancer, heart disease, inflammatory conditions, rare diseases, and obesity and obesity-related conditions. As a member of the Amgen team, you’ll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer, fuller happier lives. Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them, you’ll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career.

What you will do

The Senior Director, Engineering Technical Authority, provides enterprise technical leadership for Amgen’s Drug Substance engineering network, with additional accountability for Single-Use strategy and selected infrastructure support through the Engineering Technical Lead organization. This is a global role with primary focus on the global Drug Substance network. This leader is responsible for setting technical directions, deploying engineering capability, and ensuring consistent support across capital projects, lifecycle asset management, and global network initiatives. The role connects long-range technical strategy with project execution and site support, ensuring that engineering decisions are scalable, compliant, and aligned across the network. The position is also the primary Engineering Technical Authority interface for front-end planning and participates in the front-end planning core team to help shape project strategy, technical approach, and engineering engagement for future investments. A Key element of this role will be to drive the Evolution of the ETA organization to develop new capabilities to address the changing technical landscape and to act as leader and change agent amongst their peers in the ETA and other organizations in Global Engineering as we grow and evolve our team.

Leadership scope

This role has leadership responsibility for the engineering organization supporting: Drug Substance subject matter experts, project engineering, and network technical support Single-Use network leadership, Single-Use system design, and Single-Use support for capital projects in Drug Substance and Drug Product Engineering Technical Leads supporting capital projects across the global manufacturing network, serving as technical leads for Drug Substance, infrastructure, and other selected engineering scopes Engineering global network coordination and technical alignment This position has multiple direct reports and provides oversight to a broader engineering organization that includes engineering leaders, subject matter experts, project engineers, and Engineering Technical Leads supporting capital projects and network priorities.

Key responsibilities

The ideal candidate is a senior engineering leader with deep technical credibility in biologics manufacturing, strong capital project experience, and the ability to lead through organizational complexity. This person must be comfortable operating at both strategic and execution levels, influencing senior stakeholders, and building strong technical organizations that support global networks and competing priorities.

Network leadership

Provide enterprise technical leadership for Drug Substance systems, Single-Use systems, and assigned infrastructure-related scopes. Lead the organization responsible for delivering technical direction, aligned engineering support, and consistent standards across the global manufacturing network. This includes: Setting technical direction and aligning engineering strategies, standards, and practices across projects, sites, and network priorities Leading the organization responsible for Drug Substance SMEs, project engineers, network support, Single-Use leadership, Engineering Technical Leads, and global network coordination Ensuring effective deployment of engineering resources to support capital projects, lifecycle asset management, and network initiatives Driving alignment of technical knowledge, lessons learned, standards, and best practices across the network Ensuring the organization provides technical support for troubleshooting, reliability improvement, failure analysis, non-conformance response, and other lifecycle needs requiring engineering expertise Shape major projects early Serve as the initial point of contact for ETA in front-end planning and participate in the front-end planning core team. Help shape project strategy, scope development, technical options, engineering engagement, and the path to successful project execution. Lead engineering support for capital projects and network execution Ensure the organization provides effective technical leadership across planning, design, construction, commissioning, qualification, and start-up. Oversee Drug Substance subject matter expertise, project engineering support, Single-Use implementation, and Engineering Technical Lead support for major capital projects across the global network. Ensure strong technical stewardship for process systems and aligned execution of engineering standards, technical decisions, and support models across projects and sites.

Leadership and representation

Coach direct reports and help build a strong organization of technical leaders and engineering experts. Strengthen technical depth, organizational effectiveness, and succession capability within the ETA organization. Partner effectively with site leaders, capital project teams, operations, quality, process development, and senior leadership. Representing Amgen with external firms, technical societies, and regulatory bodies as needed.

Basic Qualifications

• Doctorate degree in Engineering and 5 years of Engineering industry experience OR Master’s degree in Engineering and 9 years of Engineering industry experience OR Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and 11 years of Engineering industry experience AND In addition to meeting at least one of the above requirements, you must have at least 5 years’ experience directly managing people and/or leadership experience leading teams, projects, programs, or directing the allocation of resources.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or another relevant engineering discipline with life science experience
• Significant experience supporting biologics Drug Substance manufacturing facilities and Drug Substance process systems
• Strong understanding of Drug Substance process engineering, manufacturing unit operations, and lifecycle technical support
• Significant experience leading engineering organizations that support capital project design and execution in regulated manufacturing environments
• Demonstrated enterprise technical leadership across multiple sites, projects, and engineering networks
• Experience leading leaders, developing organizations, and building high-performing technical teams
• Significant experience with Single-Use systems, including strategy, design, implementation, and lifecycle support
• Experience leading project engineering organizations, subject matter expert teams, or matrixed technical resources supporting major capital programs
• Experience supporting engineering activities across global manufacturing networks
• Proven ability to shape technical strategy and engineering engagement during front-end planning and early project development
• Strong understanding of capital project delivery, including planning, design, construction, commissioning, qualification, and start-up
• Strong knowledge of applicable regulations and standards, including cGMP, building codes, and applicable pressure vessel and engineering codes
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong relationships across all levels of the organization
• Strong executive presence and the ability to influence decisions across senior leadership forums
• Financial acumen to deploy initiatives that add shareholder value
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver results in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to represent Amgen with outside firms, technical societies, and regulatory bodies
• Knowledge of industry trends, technology developments, and emerging engineering practices

What you can expect of us

As we work to develop treatments that take care of others, we also work to care for your professional and personal growth and well‑being. From our competitive benefits to our collaborative culture, we’ll support your journey every step of the way.

• A comprehensive employee benefits package, including a Retirement and Savings Plan with generous company contributions, group medical, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts
• A discretionary annual bonus program, or for field sales representatives, a sales-based incentive plan
• Stock-based long-term incentives
• Award‑winning time‑off plans
• Flexible work models where possible.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship for this role is not guaranteed.

Equal Opportunity

Amgen is an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other basis protected by applicable law. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

Salary

The expected annual salary range for this role in the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico) is posted. Actual salary will vary based on several factors including but not limited to, relevant skills, experience, and qualifications. In addition to the base salary, Amgen offers a Total Rewards Plan, based on eligibility, comprising of health and welfare plans for staff and eligible dependents, financial plans with opportunities to save towards retirement or other goals, work/life balance, and career development opportunities.

Salary Range

202,821.05USD -274,404.95 USD

About Amgen

Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing, and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology. Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its biologics manufacturing expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential. For more information, visit www.amgen.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/amgen