Sr. Director Operations and Site Leader

Work Schedule

Standard (Mon-Fri)

Environmental Conditions

Adherence to all Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Safety Standards, Office, Some degree of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) required (safety glasses, gowning, gloves, lab coat, ear plugs etc.)

Job Description

As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team, you’ll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale.

Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every single day to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. At our Pleasanton site, you will lead operations that are central to our global molecular testing portfolio — products that directly support core research, genetic screening, sequencing, and life-saving diagnostics.

The Pleasanton campus is the Centre of Excellence for oligonucleotide manufacturing and research, with ISO13485 and ISO18385 certifications, delivering $900M in annual revenue. The campus comprises of matrixed functions and manufacturing value-streams supporting the production of life science consumables, including both made-to-stock (MTS) and made-to-order (MTO) products. Capabilities within operations include liquid handling automation, custom chemistry synthesis, advanced wet-lab quality control screening, and instrument platform development. With over 650 employees across Operations, R&D and Corporate roles, Pleasanton is a flagship campus within Thermo Fisher Scientific’s global network.

How will you make an impact?

The Senior Director, Operations is the senior leader responsible for overall operational performance, strategic execution, and cultural leadership at the Pleasanton campus. This role carries full accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, compliance, and people development while driving operational excellence through Practical Process Improvement (PPI).

Reporting into the GSD VP Operations, the Senior Director will shape and execute a long-term strategy aligned to global business objectives, ensuring customer centric manufacturing excellence for academic, biopharma, government, and clinical diagnostic markets.

What will you do?

Strategic & Business Leadership

• Develop and execute a multi-year campus strategy aligned to Division and Group level objectives. Ensure alignment with Group matrixed functions and divisional leadership teams.

• Own operations performance across revenue ($900M), costs, capital planning, and margin expansion, to meet or surpass our annual operating plan commitments

• As the campus leader, monitor and manage facilities, logistics handling, EH&S, and permitting for legal compliance.

• Demonstrate financial acumen in manufacturing operations and apply knowledge to daily management, preparing capital requests, pro forma cost modelling, and absorption improvement.

• Lead capacity planning and operational readiness to anticipate and enable demand forecasts, new product introductions and technology expansions across our Genetic Sciences, Bioscience, and Clinical Sequencing Divisions.

• Leverage key performance indicators that drive change and visibility to the team and leadership. Track, trend, and monitor routinely with active data analysis to target and drive results.

• Monitor and manage progress on technical operations projects, ensuring key requirements, business impact, and milestones are met.

Operational Excellence

• Define and establish clear quarterly objectives and expectations, providing direct feedback routinely for performance management and actively engaging in team development and advancement.

• Champion PPI and Lean Enterprise by sponsoring and funding projects, and recommending prioritized action plans to maximize profitability and efficiency.

• Own and maintain best in class safety, quality, on-time delivery, and cost.

• Advance automation and digitization initiatives including oligonucleotide synthesis, formulation, library preparation, and the roadmap for implementing a ISA95 data infrastructure for operations.

• Ensure robust contamination control and cross-facility segregation standards are maintained.

Quality, Regulatory & Compliance

• Maintain and strengthen ISO13485, ISO18385 and related regulatory certifications.

• Ensure compliance to applicable US FDA and global Quality System Regulations. Hold ultimate responsibility for product quality, training effectiveness, audit readiness, and regulatory interactions.

• Leverage technical operations to evolve GMP and other manufacturing process controls to meet customer quality agreements, per request of client business units and commercial development teams.

• Own action plans when corrective steps (CAPA) are required, and implement these in a timely manner.

People & Culture Leadership

• Lead and grow a high-performing site leadership team across functional areas in a matrixed environment.

• Foster a culture of safety, engagement, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Create and execute campus wide employee engagement initiatives and sense of belonging, leading by example.

• Responsible for the hiring, training, coaching and annual performance reviews of operations staff across respective value streams. Provide input and thought leadership for supporting matrix functions.

• Serve as the campus ambassador internally and externally, reinforcing Thermo Fisher’s values of Integrity, Intensity, Innovation, and Involvement. Represent the company and Pleasanton location with the local government.

• Facilitate and mentor the development of senior team members and front-line leaders to be exceptional players.

• Develop team to ensure Pleasanton continues to be an exporter of talent with strong growth and succession pipeline.

Site Scope & Complexity

• $900M annual revenue across multiple product lines, serving 3 global Divisions

• 650 employees across Operations, R&D and Corporate roles in a matrix environment

• 320,000 sq ft of facilities on an owned 80 acre campus

• ISO13485 and ISO9001, IVD production

• Zero Waste and VPP accreditation

• Multi-platform manufacturing including organic chemistry, oligonucleotide synthesis, libraries, arrays, kitting, and packaging

• Logistics hub, North America Repair Center, instrument platform development, R&D wetlabs, BSL2

How will you get here?

Education

Bachelor's degree in related discipline and/or equivalent experience preferred

Degree in Engineering, Life Sciences, Operations Management or related technical field preferred. MBA or advanced business qualification preferred

Experience

• 7-10 years of progressive operations leadership experience in a complex manufacturing environment

• Proven experience leading an operations function with full P&L responsibility

• Deep knowledge of operational excellence, Lean manufacturing, and PPI methodologies

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills both written and verbal and the ability to facilitate effective team interactions

• Strong financial acumen including AOP development, capital planning, and cost optimization

• Track record of successful change management and transformation initiatives

• Experience in biochemistry, molecular diagnostics, oligonucleotide manufacturing, sequencing, next-generation sequencing, qPCR, or forensic technologies preferred

• Experience scaling automated manufacturing solutions and data infrastructure integration preferred

• Experience leading cross-functional teams in a matrixed enterprise organization preferred

Leadership Capabilities

• Strategic thinker with strong execution discipline

• Inspirational people leader who develops and empowers high-performing teams

• Ability to partner with and influence key stakeholders including Finance, R&D, IT, Product Management and the Commercial Sales team.

• Data-driven decision maker with strong analytical capability

• Exceptional communicator across all organizational levels

• Customer-focused with demonstrated success delivering quality and assurance of supply

• High integrity, transparency, and resilience

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Why Join Pleasanton?

Pleasanton is the flagship campus of Thermo Fisher’s Genetic Sciences Division, and the Center of Excellence for oligonucleotide manufacturing. With an automation and digitization pipeline, we are the leader in transformational programs, with a clear vision to drive global operational excellence through PPI and novel technical processes. This is a unique opportunity to lead a scaled, strategically important asset with global impact for our enterprise business.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range estimated for this position based in California is $210,200.00–$315,275.00.

This position may also be eligible to receive a variable annual bonus based on company, team, and/or individual performance results in accordance with company policy. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package that our U.S. colleagues and their families can count on, which includes:

• A choice of national medical and dental plans, and a national vision plan, including health incentive programs

• Employee assistance and family support programs, including commuter benefits and tuition reimbursement

• At least 120 hours paid time off (PTO), 10 paid holidays annually, paid parental leave (3 weeks for bonding and 8 weeks for caregiver leave), accident and life insurance, and short- and long-term disability in accordance with company policy

• Retirement and savings programs, such as our competitive 401(k) U.S. retirement savings plan

• Employees’ Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) offers eligible colleagues the opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount

For more information on our benefits, please visit: https://jobs.thermofisher.com/global/en/total-rewards