Associate Director, Site MPS Support
Merck
Summary
The West Point, PA site is our Company's largest vaccine manufacturing facility that manufactures bulk and final dosage forms for our vaccine products and is growing to meet future demand. Our company's production system, MPS, is an integrated production system for how we design, manage, and continuously improve our operations and supporting business processes, enabled through the development of our people. The West Point Site MPS Team is responsible for driving MPS throughout the organization to enable change in the operating systems, management systems, and mindsets, behaviors, and capabilities of our people to manufacture product of the highest quality, for the lowest cost, and in the shortest lead time. Under the direction of the West Point Site MPS Lead, the successful candidate will work with all levels of site leadership through teaching, 1:1 and team coaching and direct on-the-floor support/on the job development.
Job description
Description of Responsibilities
- Effectively coach and partner with functional leaders, plant manager and the leadership team to develop strategic plans and execute performance improvement activities
- Influence and link improvement objectives to the highest division priorities that align with our Company's long-term strategy
- Provide guidance to frame appropriate business challenges, identifying key business opportunities using data and industry knowledge and trends
- Able to engage sponsors and clients and manage E2E-level initiatives to drive results and realize intended business benefit
- Mentor leaders on effective communication and active listening techniques to fully understand client/customer needs and expectations
- Manage teams to mitigate risk, allocate resources, and drive on-time completion of initiatives
- Provide teaching and coaching to effectively transfer Lean skills into the organization for the development of Lean Leaders and fellow MPS team members who promote a culture of continuous improvement and challenge the status quo
- Utilize various Lean standards in conjunction with our standardized deployment roadmap to diagnose, analyze and improve business processes
- Strong competency in understanding and implementation of a Closed Loop System (Visual Management, Leader Standardized Work, Problem Solving and MPS/TPS Standards)
- Grasp the current situation through skillful application of value stream mapping, capacity analysis, and people capability analysis
- Define a future state and create a master plan to achieve it
- Develop Lean management systems, including visual management, to make problems visible
- Respond with urgency to effectively break down complex problems, lead root cause analysis, and develop effective countermeasures
- Lead and coach kaizens with a team to achieve multiple target conditions that enable progress towards an overall challenge
- Design balanced work, with smooth flow leading to improved lead time, inventory, quality, and more value-added work for the operator/technician
- Lead, develop and coach the implementation of level loaded standardized work across the site
- Successful candidate should understand the use of supporting tools, such as Task Breakdown Sheets, Production Capacity sheets and Standardized Work Charts and Combination Tables
Requirements
- Bachelor's Degree in related field with 5+ years of Lean application experience or 10+ years of Lean application experience with evidence of progression in understanding and successful application of TPS
- Experience analyzing complex end-to-end supply chains and driving process improvement for a complete system in an integrated approach
- Hands-on application of Lean tools: Hoshin Kanri, A3 development, management system development, scientific problem solving, leader standardized work, standardized work, process mapping, value stream mapping, capacity analysis, mistake proofing, SMED, and 5S/visual management
- Proven experience in applying consultative skills (coaching, teaching) to drive a High Performance Organization to think, behave and apply lean methods and tools
- Ability to interact with and coach all levels of the business (senior leaders to shop floor working teams)
- Experience with facilitating and leading teams
- Experience in teaching lean tools, methods, and concepts
- Ability to leverage diverse perspectives and talents to achieve business outcomes
- Ability to influence decision making
- Project management skills (demonstrated experience in managing large teams)
- Solid business acumen
- Proven team building skills
- Excellent listening skills
- Results oriented
- Proficiency in using IT applications to organize, analyze, & present information (e.g. MS-Excel, PowerPoint, Minitab, MS-Teams, Power BI)
- Experience in operations management, manufacturing, or related disciplines
- Experience in a Vaccines or Sterile pharmaceutical environment
Benefits
- Medical insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- Retirement benefits
- 401(k)
- Paid holidays
- Vacation
- Compassionate leave
- Sick days
Company overview
Merck & Co., Inc., known as Merck in the United States and Canada and MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme) internationally, is a premier American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey. Founded in 1891 as the U.S. subsidiary of the German Merck Group, the company became independent following World War I and has since grown into one of the world's largest biomedical companies, ranking fourth globally by revenue. Merck operates across three core business segments: pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and animal health products. The company is renowned for its groundbreaking research and development, having brought numerous life-saving medicines to market including Keytruda (pembrolizumab), a leading immunotherapy for cancer treatment that generated $29.5 billion in 2024 revenue, and Gardasil, a revolutionary HPV vaccine. With approximately 75,000 employees worldwide, Merck maintains a robust pipeline of innovative therapies focused on oncology, vaccines, hospital acute care, cardiology, neuroscience, virology, immunology, and diabetes. The company invests heavily in R&D, spending $17.9 billion in 2024 alone, demonstrating its commitment to advancing scientific discovery. Merck's legacy spans over 130 years of bringing hope to humanity through important medicines and vaccines, operating with a purpose to use leading-edge science to save and improve lives globally while fostering an inclusive workforce and responsible business practices.