Sr Manager/Associate Director, Engineering

Abzena Inc.; Bristol Township (Bucks County); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Abzena, a leading biotech CDMO, seeks an Associate Director, Engineering and Facilities to lead site infrastructure, GMP utilities, cleanrooms, and building systems to support clinical and commercial manufacturing.

You will drive reliability-centered maintenance, lifecycle asset management, and capital projects, partnering with MSAT and Manufacturing to ensure inspection readiness and right-first-time manufacturing.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in pharma/biotech manufacturing leadership.
• Experience with cGMP operations in biologics/bioconjugation.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and strategic thinking.

Responsibilities

• Lead engineering teams across maintenance, calibration, metrology, and facilities operations.
• Ensure cGMP compliance and inspection readiness; manage deviations and CAPAs.
• Oversee bioconjugation facilities; support containment, environmental controls, and cleaning.
• Manage budgets, capital projects, and contracts; optimize resource allocation.
• Drive continuous improvement and develop long-term infrastructure strategy.

Skills

Leadership

Regulatory compliance

Facilities management

cGMP knowledge

Capital projects

Education

Bachelor's in Engineering

Tools

CMMS

Job description

With extensive experience in developing biologics and bioconjugates, we offer a seamless service delivered by fully integrated teams, from early discovery to commercial manufacturing.

Forward-thinking and committed, we find the best solution and use the right technologies to design, develop and manufacture your products to ensure we get vital medicines to patients quickly and safely.

We are dedicated to quality excellence. We are driven to get better treatments to market, efficiently and responsibly by reducing timelines and delivering the highest quality products and services.

We are Abzena. More than a CDMO, we are a responsible and dedicated partner that takes care of your products from concept to patient.

The Associate Director, Engineering and Facilities is accountable for the strategic leadership, reliability, and compliance of all facility, utility, and engineering systems supporting cGMP bioconjugation manufacturing operations. This role ensures uninterrupted execution of manufacturing through robust facility performance, lifecycle asset management, and engineering excellence.

This position owns site infrastructure, including GMP utilities, cleanroom environments, process equipment, and building systems. The Associate Director establishes and drives a reliability-centered maintenance program, capital project execution, and long-term infrastructure strategy to support clinical and commercial manufacturing.

The role operates as a core member of the site leadership team and is directly responsible for eliminating facility-related execution risk, ensuring inspection readiness, and enabling right-first-time manufacturing performance.

Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership

• Lead Engineering teams, including maintenance, calibration, metrology, and facilities operations
• Build a culture of accountability, technical ownership, and urgency aligned with manufacturing needs
• Establish clear roles, expectations, and performance management across the organization

GMP Compliance and Inspection Readiness

• Ensure facilities and engineering systems operate in full compliance with cGMP, FDA, EMA, and global regulatory expectations, own deviation investigations, CAPAs, change controls, and engineering-related quality systems
• Lead facility and utility support during internal, client, and regulatory inspections
• Ensure all systems are maintained in a validated state, including qualification and requalification activities

Bioconjugation Process Support

• Ensure facility and equipment design supports safe handling of high-potency compounds and complex conjugation processes
• Support containment strategies, environmental controls, and cleaning systems specific to ADC and bioconjugation manufacturing
• Partner with MSAT and Manufacturing to troubleshoot process-related equipment issues and optimize performance
• Ensure alignment between process requirements and facility capabilities

Financial and Resource Management

• Develop and manage Engineering budgets, including maintenance, capital, and contracts
• Optimize resource allocation to balance cost, risk, and operational performance
• Build workforce plans aligned with site growth and operational complexity

Continuous Improvement and Strategy

• Establish KPIs and Tier escalation for Engineering performance
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on reliability, efficiency, and compliance
• Implement industry best practices in maintenance, asset management, and digital systems
• Develop long-term infrastructure strategy to support commercial readiness and scale

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in pharmaceutical or biotechnology manufacturing, with significant experience in engineering and facilities leadership
• Proven experience supporting cGMP operations, including biologics or bioconjugation manufacturing environments
• Demonstrated leadership of engineering, maintenance, and facilities teams in a regulated environment
• Deep understanding of GMP utilities, cleanroom design, and facility operations
• Strong experience with capital project execution, including equipment and facility commissioning and qualification
• Expertise in CMMS systems, asset lifecycle management, and reliability engineering principles
• Strong knowledge of regulatory expectations (FDA, EMA) related to facilities and engineering systems
• Ability to operate at both strategic and tactical levels, driving execution while setting long‑term direction
• Strong problem‑solving capability with a focus on root cause and sustainable solutions
• Effective communicator with the ability to influence cross‑functional teams and senior leadership

FLSA: Exempt

Abzena is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, and training.