Senior Specialist, Operations

Merck; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck Durham is seeking a Senior Operations Specialist to lead and support the vaccine manufacturing process. The role emphasizes data distillation into actionable reports, strong collaboration with site teams, and driving continuous improvements on the shop floor.

The candidate should have hands-on problem-solving ability, experience with regulatory interfaces, and a proactive approach to prioritization in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Minimum five (5) years of relevant experience in manufacturing, technical, or mechanical support in a high-volume lean operation.
• Technical writing experience, e.g. investigations, change requests, SOPs, batch records, protocols.
• Ability to work independently and within multi-functional teams in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Supports end-to-end Value Stream Map driving production improvements and standard work on the shop floor.
• Collaborates with Operations, Technology and Quality on regulatory responses and remediation projects.
• Assists shift managers in providing leadership on the production floor, including during extended absences.
• Acts as liaison between team and support groups for day-to-day issues and tech transfer of new products.
• Author and own execution of Operations protocols.
• Develop and own Operations corrective actions.
• Author and revise Standard Operating Procedures.
• Support internal and external regulatory inspections and present as needed.
• Perform batch record review within timelines and coordinate with Quality on comments.
• Serve as Day shift Operations representative for site needs.
• Lead or support production and quality projects and process improvements.
• Lead real-time shop floor problem-solving efforts.
• Support investigations of process deviation events.
• Provide production-floor expertise on safety, compliance, equipment, and regulatory requirements.

Skills

Leadership

Technical writing

Problem solving

Communication

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor degree in engineering (chemical/mechanical/electrical)

BS in Engineering or Science fields

Tools

SAP

Job description

Job Description

As part of our company's Vaccine Manufacturing Organization, the Durham team is seeking a highly motivated individual to serve as a Senior Operations Specialist within the Operations Manufacturing Support team. In this role, you must be able to work efficiently in a fast-paced environment and be hands-on when called for by the situation. This role requires the ability to distill large quantities of complex data into simplified reporting and actionable measures, strong problem-solving skills, rapid disciplined decisions and prioritization of work. The position must also demonstrate strong collaboration and communication skills to enable interfacing with both internal contacts (site level) and external contacts (external customers, sister sites, vendors) to support these initiatives.

Job Description

As part of our company's Vaccine Manufacturing Organization, the Durham team is seeking a highly motivated individual to serve as a Senior Operations Specialist within the Operations Manufacturing Support team. In this role, you must be able to work efficiently in a fast-paced environment and be hands-on when called for by the situation. This role requires the ability to distill large quantities of complex data into simplified reporting and actionable measures, strong problem-solving skills, rapid disciplined decisions and prioritization of work. The position must also demonstrate strong collaboration and communication skills to enable interfacing with both internal contacts (site level) and external contacts (external customers, sister sites, vendors) to support these initiatives.

The position requires strong leadership, technical writing, and problem-solving skills. You will lead and/or support critical project initiatives at the site, support the ongoing sterility assurance program, and be involved in developing and implementing corrective actions. Enthusiasm for continuously learning is a requirement.

Responsibilities Include, But Are Not Limited To

• Supports the end-to-end product Value Stream Map driving production improvements, inventory management, cost reductions, and standard work at the shop floor level.
• Collaborates with Operations, Technology and Quality to author regulatory inspection observation responses and completes remediation projects, as required.
• Assists shift managers in providing leadership to the production floor. Capable of providing primary leadership to team during extended periods of manager absence such as vacations
• Serves as liaison between the team and support groups in resolving day to day issues and in support of various projects and initiatives including the tech transfer of new products
• Author and own execution of Operations protocols
• Develop and own Operations corrective actions
• Author and revise Standard Operating Procedures
• Support of internal and external regulatory inspections, presenting on topics as needed.
• Executes and manages Operations batch record review within established timelines for release and effectively liaisons with Quality to resolve comments in a timely manner
• Day shift Operations representative for various site needs (Quality Assessments, Process Simulation support, etc.)
• Leads/Supports production and quality projects and process system improvements
• Lead problem-solving of real-time shop floor issues
• Support investigations of process deviation events
• Provide expertise to the production floor, understanding the full process requirements (safety, compliance, equipment, regulatory) in order to best understand and resolve production issues.
• Works independently and is capable of balancing shifting priorities without introducing disruption to the organization. Capable of working through uncertainty with minimal levels of manager direction.
• Potential to work on shift directly with an Operations team as needed for shop floor support.

Education Minimum Requirement

• Bachelor Degree (science/chemical, mechanical, or electrical engineering preferred)
• Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Engineering (such as Chemical, Mechanical, Bio-Engineering, Bio-Medical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, etc.) or Science Fields (such as Chemistry, Biology, Microbiology, etc.) strongly preferred

Required Experience And Skills

• Minimum five (5) years of relevant experience in a manufacturing, technical, or mechanical support role in a high-volume lean operation
• Technical writing experience, i.e. investigations, change requests, standard operating procedures, batch records, protocols.
• Must be able to work both independently and within multi-functional teams in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Experience And Skills

• Sterile manufacturing shop floor experience highly preferred.
• Working knowledge of cGMPs and of regulatory requirements as they apply to the vaccine/pharmaceutical industry.
• Experience with formal problem-solving techniques and a hands-on approach to problem-solving, such as root cause analysis and/or Lean Six Sigma tools.
• Experience using inventory management and maintenance planning software (MRP/ERP) such as SAP, automated control systems and electronic batch record systems.
• Experience managing against metrics and scorecards in a business environment.
• Experience with presenting to an internal / regulatory auditor.
• Advanced knowledge of Excel, Minitab, JMP, and