Associate Director – External Manufacturing

MSD

Associate Director overseeing external manufacturing partnerships in pharmaceutical industry. Ensuring quality supply and compliance with contract manufacturers, managing complex relationships.

Posted 5/29/2026full-timeRemote • California, Iowa, New Jersey, Pennsylvania • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $129,000 - $203,100 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

ERP

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Dispute resolution with appropriate escalation
Balancing our company's delivery requirements with contract manufacturer’s production plan.
Materials Management (ERP transactions, Logistics)
Oversight of shop floor production (determining when an ExM functional rep should be deployed to the contract manufacturer’s facility)
Continuous Improvement activities
Partners with Procurement in the Identification/Selection of new contract manufacturers and Negotiation/Termination of Supply Agreements, as required
Facilitates the collection of contract manufacturer’s capacity information (e.g. stated capacity, firm capacity, future capacity plans, time horizon/lead times required, comments/concerns, etc.), presents the information to Supply Chain Management and drives recommendations for capacity expansion at contract manufacturers, as required
Ensuring alignment of the Supply and Quality agreements
Executing ERP transactions associated with receipt and movement of company owned inventory, book-to-physical reconciling of company owned inventory at contract manufacturers, and documenting and witnessing destruction of company owned inventory
Ensuring contract terms agreed upon by our company and the contract manufacturer including, but not limited to, purchase orders, forecasts, deliveries, and invoice payments are executed in compliance with the Supply Agreement
Partners with the ExM Company Production System experts and other functionalities supporting ExM (e.g. technical, quality, procurement, etc.) to identify continuous improvement opportunities at contract manufacturers and supports Project management support to the DP NA regional team, and to ensure a greater coordination of ongoing projects within the region

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor degree minimum in the Engineering, Medical, Science, Business, or related areas of study
No less than eight (8) years combined experiences in commercial/business and manufacturing (operations, project management, or quality, technology, supply chain etc.) function in pharmaceutical, chemical or related industry required (or equivalent combination of education/experience)
Knowledge of Drug Substance manufacturing, including common unit operations and shop floor activities.
Fluency in English both verbal and written.

Benefits

Comp & perks

medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family)
retirement benefits, including 401(k)
paid holidays
vacation
compassionate and sick days

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

ERP transactionsMaterials ManagementDispute resolutionContinuous ImprovementProject managementCapacity planningQuality agreementsSupply agreementsInventory managementDrug Substance manufacturing

Soft Skills

NegotiationCollaborationCommunicationProblem-solvingAnalytical thinkingLeadershipOrganizational skillsInterpersonal skillsFacilitationEscalation management

Certifications

Bachelor's degree