Technical Operations Manager CMC

Cerus Corporation; Concord (CA); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision insurance

401(k) matching

RSUs

Job summary

Cerus Corporation in Concord, California, is seeking an experienced Technical Operations Manager with deep CMC expertise to drive process development, validation, and tech transfer for medical device and pharmaceutical products. You will coordinate internal teams, CMOs, and external labs to ensure compliant development, scale-up, and regulatory submissions.

The role emphasizes collaboration across QA, RA, Manufacturing, and R&D, with responsibilities spanning material management, inventory, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in a relevant scientific field.
• Progressive experience in CMC development, process validation, and regulatory submissions.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical expertise for development and commercial products across CMC.
• Support process development, characterization, scale-up, analytical testing, and technology transfer internally and at CMOs.
• Manage change controls, deviations, CAPAs, and risk assessments.
• Lead stability programs for API and combination products.
• Ensure compliance with FDA, EMA, ICH, USP, ISO, and ASTM requirements.
• Author and review technical documentation and data for regulatory submissions.

Skills

Project management

Technical writing

Communication

Regulatory submissions

Education

B.S. or M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, or related discipline

Tools

CMO management

Job description

About Cerus:

Cerus aims to be the global leader and trusted partner of blood centers and hospitals whose technology, services, and commitment are the lifeblood of safe and accessible blood for patients around the world.

This is a hybrid opportunity based out of Concord, CA where you'll work twice a week in the office.

Position Summary

Cerus is seeking an experienced Technical Operations Manager with expertise across Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) activities supporting commercial and development-stage products. This role will serve as a key technical resource responsible for driving process development, process validation, technology transfer, manufacturing and analytical support, regulatory submissions, and lifecycle management activities across medical device, pharmaceutical, small and large molecule combination products.

The role will work closely with internal cross-functional teams, Cerus internal development and analytical laboratories, contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) contract testing laboratories (CTLs), and regulatory partners to ensure successful execution of CMC programs. The individual will leverage internal laboratory capabilities where appropriate while coordinating and overseeing external partners to execute analytical development and testing, process development, technology transfer, validation, and manufacturing activities. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in pharmaceutical and/or medical device manufacturing, analytical sciences, regulatory compliance, process validation, and commercialization activities, with demonstrated success supporting global regulatory filings and product lifecycle management. In addition, the role will provide operational oversight for site activities including material management, shipping and receiving, inventory control, and equipment maintenance and coordination of internal and external technical resources to ensure efficient execution of development and manufacturing programs.

Primary Responsibilities

• Provide technical expertise for development and commercial products.
• Support process development, characterization, scale-up, analytical (development, release and stability testing) and commercialization activities internally and at CMOs.
• Support manufacturing and analytical testing-related investigations
• Manage change controls, deviations, CAPAs, and risk assessments.
• Lead stability programs for API and combination drug product.
• Ensure compliance with FDA, EMA, ICH, USP, ISO, and ASTM requirements.
• Author and review technical documentation, specifications, protocols, and reports.
• Author, review, interpret data for CMC sections for global regulatory submissions.
• Collaborate with RA, QA, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and R&D teams.
• Manage shipping & receiving activities for clinical and development materials, ensuring compliance with applicable quality and regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate inventory management activities, including tracking of raw materials, components, consumables, reference standards, and development samples.

Qualifications

• B.S or M.S. in, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, or related scientific discipline preferred.
• 10 years of experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, or combination product industries with a minimum of 5 years experience with CMC development, process validation, analytical development and validation, stability management, tech transfer, change controls, and regulatory submissions preferred
• Demonstrated success managing CMOs and cross-functional project teams.
• Excellent technical writing, communication, and project management skills.
• AI-enabled process and analytical development and manufacturing optimization is a plus.

Travel

Up to 15% domestic and international travel as required.

We understand that our people are essential to our success. This philosophy is revealed in our competitive benefits package, designed to improve employees' lives both on and off the job.

Benefits plans

medical, dental, vision, domestic partner benefits, paid maternity and paternity leaves, healthcare and dependent care flexible spending, life and accidental death insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance, matching 401(k), RSUs

Work and family

EAP, legal and financial services, health club membership discounts, tuition reimbursement

Compensation:

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $160,000-$175,000 annually. Base pay is one part of the total package to compensate and recognize employees for their work.