Maintenance Team Lead

Job Description

Kite is a cell therapy company that is focused on providing patients with highly effective, life-saving therapies. We have two commercial products, Yescarta® and Tecartus®, along with a robust pipeline of various autologous and allogeneic clinical programs.

We are seeking a highly motivated Maintenance Team Lead for Kite Pharma to support our Oceanside, CA site. You will lead a dedicated team of Maintenance and instrumentation technicians in supporting Virial Vector production maintenance as a working member of the team.

Responsibilities

• Supervises Maintenance Technicians, including organizing and prioritizing daily tasks, performing training, and writing performance reviews.
• Schedules the daily activities of Maintenance Technicians in the maintenance, repair, calibration of equipment and/or mechanical, electrical systems in respective area of responsibility, ensuring that Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and all other regulatory requirements are followed.
• Procures spare parts, labor, special tools, contracts, documentation (such as CRRA’s, SOP’s) and equipment availability for work execution.
• Ensures that Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and all other regulatory requirements are followed.
• Develops the weekly, and plant shutdown schedule / work lists. Identifies external resources as needed for recovery activities.
• Functions as project lead.
• Provides refresher training to departmental size groups.
• Revises SOPs and other controlled documentation as necessary. Controls inventory and specialized tools.
• Receives all work orders from the requesting departments of the areas to which he/she is assigned, except for emergency work that is requested of the appropriate maintenance supervisor for immediate attention.
• Ensures the safety needs are given a top priority in work planning and scheduling.
• Estimates jobs showing sequence of steps, the number of mechanics and required man-hours for each step.
• Estimates cost of each work order in terms of direct labor, materials required and total cost.
• Maintains backlog files of work orders awaiting scheduling in accordance with their priority and requested completion date.
• Attends meetings with the production planning department and participates in the overall plant scheduling of the following week's work, and negotiates for downtime "windows" during which preventive and corrective maintenance requiring downtime can be performed.
• Finalizes own schedules for which he/she is responsible, ensuring that the work scheduled balances with the man-hours available so that a full day's work is provided each person.
  Follows up with Team Leaders and Maintenance Technicians to ensure the schedules and work orders are executed at the proper time.
• Carefully reviews completed schedules and corresponding work orders returned by the maintenance area supervisors, monitors work order progress, and prepares associated reports.
  Reviews with the maintenance area supervisors the actual labor expended versus estimated labor and material used for completed jobs, in order to determine co-effective measures needed to improve the accuracy of estimating and improving methods of doing work.

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s Degree and 3 years of experience in a Facilities or Process/Instrumentation Maintenance lead role in a biotech/pharma industry

OR

Bachelor’s Degree and 5 years of experience in Facilities or Process/Instrumentation Maintenance lead role in a biotech/pharma industry

OR

High School Degree and 9 years of experience in Facilities or Process/Instrumentation Maintenance lead role in a biotech/pharma industry

• Current Leaving Certificate and Trades Certificate GSL.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience in biotech or pharmaceuticals industry as a process maintenance technician or Instrumentation technician or lead role in 1 of the tech trades
• Previous experience working in highly regulated manufacturing environments
• Demonstrates extensive understanding and application of maintenance principles, concepts, and practices, and standards.
• Demonstrates proficiency in current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and safety regulations.
• Demonstrates excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications.