Business Introduction
We manufacture and supply reliable, high-quality medicines and vaccines to meet patients' needs and drive our performance.
Our network of 37 medicines and vaccines manufacturing sites delivered 1.7 billion packs of medicines and 409 million vaccine doses in 2024 to help make a positive impact on the health of millions of people. Our supply chain is not just core to our operations; it's vital to bringing our innovations to patients as quickly, efficiently and effectively as possible. Technology is transforming how we manufacture medicines and vaccines, enabling us to increase the speed, quality and scale of product supply.
We need the very best minds and capability to help us on our journey to make more complex products, harnessing the power of smart manufacturing technologies including robotics, digital solutions and artificial intelligence to deliver for patients.
Position Summary
GSK is embarking on the development of a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, representing an $800M+ investment in advancing pharmaceutical innovation. This project offers an exciting opportunity to be part of a transformative initiative that will shape the future of manufacturing and operational excellence.
The Portfolio & Program Manager - Operational Readiness is accountable for end-to-end operational readiness planning and execution for a new facility introduction. The role integrates cross-functional workstreams into a single executable readiness plan, drives schedule acceleration opportunities, ensures governance discipline, and enables "operational excellence from day one" through GPS and digital foundations. The role operates in parallel with construction/commissioning activities to ensure the site is ready to accept handover and achieve successful PPQ / facility approval readiness through robust SOPs, training, tech transfer alignment, incoming materials readiness, procurement execution, and risk controls.
This role will provide YOU the opportunity to lead key activities to progress YOUR career. These responsibilities include some of the following:
1. Integrated Operational Readiness Plan & Schedule- Build, maintain, and govern the integrated operational readiness schedule across workstreams (SOPs, Tech Transfer, GPS, Incoming Materials, Procurement) aligned to the Integrated Master Schedule and critical path.
- Drive schedule convergence and acceleration: identify dependencies, sequencing conflicts, resourcing gaps, and pull-forward actions; run weekly lookahead planning and escalation for overdue/at-risk deliverables.
- Establish readiness stage-gates and define entry/exit criteria with stakeholders to confirm readiness at critical milestones.
2. Cross-Functional Workstream CoordinationSOPs & Document Readiness- Coordinate prioritization, drafting, field shakedown, review, and approval of SOPs to enable shopfloor readiness.
- Ensure clear document strategy and ownership (e.g., what lives in SOP vs eBR vs local instructions) and maintain a document tracker integrated into the master schedule.
- Oversee the tracking and management of closure for safety, HAZOP, and risk assessment open items, ensuring all actions are completed in a timely manner.
- Coordinate effectively across teams to guarantee proper resolution and communication of outstanding safety and risk-related tasks.
Tech Transfer / Readiness Interface- Ensure operational readiness deliverables and timing remain aligned to Tech Transfer plans, donor site inputs, and QC method transfer planning.
- Integrate key Tech Transfer and QC readiness milestones into site reporting and governance.
- Oversee change control processes to ensure they are fully aligned with regulatory requirements, optimized for efficiency, and consistently executed according to established schedules.
- Continuously evaluate and refine change management practices, promoting accountability and timely decision-making to support project objectives and operational excellence.
GPS and Lean Six Sigma / Operating System Deployment- Drive operational excellence foundations: tier governance cadence, GEMBA/self-inspection routines, and readiness operating model embedded from the start.
- Enable stable execution through standard work, performance management, and continuous improvement rituals.
Incoming Materials & Supply Readiness- Coordinate supplier transparency setup, material master data readiness, BOM redlines, and incoming materials strategy/list development.
- Ensure materials readiness is linked to eBR/MES needs, procurement lead times, and commissioning/start-up sequencing.
Procurement & Package Readiness- Track procurement readiness for key packages and readiness blockers; coordinate mitigations where procurement timing threatens critical path.
- Partner with Engineering/Project teams to ensure procurement deliverables support FAT/SAT, start-up, and operational readiness needs.
Smart Manufacturing Deployment- Ensure the integration of smart manufacturing technologies and digital solutions across operational readiness workstreams to enhance process visibility, data-driven decision-making, and automation.
- Collaborate with IT, engineering, and operations to deploy advanced manufacturing systems such as IoT sensors, real-time analytics platforms, and digital twins, ensuring alignment with the operational readiness schedule and critical milestones.
3. Risk, Issue, and Dependency Management
- Own the operational readiness risk & issue management rhythm: identification, assessment, mitigation planning, and escalation.
- Maintain and govern the project risk register; ensure mitigations have owners, due dates, and are integrated into the readiness schedule.
- Facilitate recurring risk reviews and ensure lessons learned feed back into schedule, training, and readiness deliverables.
4. Dashboards, Metrics, and Tier Governance- Build and maintain readiness dashboards (tier boards/scorecards) for Safety, Quality, Supply, and schedule conformance; drive consistent weekly reporting.
- Define and implement KPI reporting discipline for monthly leadership updates; ensure data integrity and clear action linkage.
- Track readiness KPIs such as Right-First-Time execution, conformance to schedule, and critical path adherence; drive countermeasures through tier governance.
5. Handover Readiness & Operational Integration- Ensure operations is embedded with the project team and prepared for handover through early training exposure and readiness deliverables tied to system lifecycle activities.
- Promote a strong ownership and learning culture; leverage best practices and lessons learned from sister sites or prior launches where applicable
Key Deliverables- Integrated Operational Readiness Master Schedule (workstream-aligned, dependency-mapped, critical-path aware).
- Workstream dashboards and Tier governance reporting pack (weekly and monthly).
- Operational readiness risk register stewardship with mitigation tracking and escalation.
- Readiness stage-gates / criteria and readiness review facilitation.
- Leadership-ready summaries: RAG status, critical path impacts, top risks, key decisions required.
Key Interfaces / Stakeholders- Project leadership and program management
- Engineering / CQV / Commissioning teams
- Quality (QA/QC) and compliance partners
- Supply Chain, Incoming Materials, and Procurement
- Tech Transfer and donor site counterparts
- Automation / Digital (e.g., MES/eBR), Master Data, and IT partners
- Operations SMEs, Area Owners, and Training/L&D
Success Measures- Conformance to schedule: late task percentage and adherence to weekly plan / tier commitments.
- Critical path milestone adherence: no overdue items impacting critical path.
- Right-First-Time execution across readiness execution activities (e.g., readiness reviews, transfers, start-up preparations).
- Risk closure rate and timely mitigation execution; reduced number of unmitigated high risks.
- Quality and compliance readiness at key stage-gates (audit/inspection readiness indicators as defined by the program).
Why You?
Basic Qualification
We are seeking professionals with the following required skills and qualifications to help us achieve our goals
- BS/BA in Engineering, Life Sciences, Operations, Supply Chain, or related field (MS/MBA helpful for seniority)
- 4+ Years of experience in project, portfolio or program management.
Preferred Qualification
If you have the following characteristics, it would be a plus
- Program/Project credential (PMP, PgMP, or equivalent)
- Change management certification (Prosci) can be a plus if org design/training adoption is heavy
- Demonstrated program/portfolio management experience (integrated schedules, dependencies, critical path, governance cadence).
- Experience leading cross-functional readiness, launch, or operationalization programs in regulated manufacturing environments.
- Strong risk/issue management discipline (risk registers, mitigation ownership, escalation).
- Executive-ready communication skills: concise dashboards, narrative updates, and decision framing.
- New facility introduction / expansion experience; operational readiness executed in parallel with construction/commissioning.
- Familiarity with tier-based management systems and shopfloor GPS cadence.
- Lean / Six Sigma experience, especially if the role is expected to embed GPS/continuous improvement
- Exposure to digital manufacturing foundations (e.g., MES/eBR readiness coordination).
What we value
We value integrity, respect and a focus on quality. We seek curious people who learn quickly and help colleagues grow. You will join a team that values inclusion, clear thinking and practical problem solving.
Ready to apply?
If you are motivated to lead operational readiness for new facilities, we would love to hear from you. Please apply and tell us how your experience will support safe, compliant and on-time facility introductions.
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Please visit GSK US Benefits Summary to learn more about the comprehensive benefits program GSK offers US employees.
Why GSK?Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases - to impact health at scale.
People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we're committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.
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