Operational Excellence & Business Analytics Associate Director
Vertex Pharmaceuticals · Boston, MA
- Level
- Director+
- Team
- Lean / CI
- Base pay
- $160k–$240k
- Experience asked
- 12+ years
- Certification
- Green Belt preferred
- Industry
- Pharma & life sciences
- Posted
- Recently
The role in 30 seconds
A director-level continuous improvement role at Vertex Pharmaceuticals (pharma & life sciences) in Boston, MA. Identify, prioritize, and drive execution of a portfolio of commercial manufacturing improvement and transformation initiatives — partnering with sites and functions while avoiding ownership of routine operations.
- They ask for
- 12+ years · Green Belt preferred
- Tools it names
- Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, Value stream mapping, Root cause, FMEA
- Base pay
- $160k–$240k
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
How this role compares
Against 7 other live lean / ci postings in Massachusetts.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Lean 63%
- ✓ Value stream mapping 50%
- ✓ Six Sigma 38%
- Black Belt 38%
- ✓ New product launch 38%
- ✓ Kaizen 38%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Lean / CI team at Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is CI run from the plant floor or from a corporate OpEx group?
- Which metrics does leadership actually watch: OEE, scrap, cost per unit?
- The posting mentions a Green Belt. Does the company sponsor certification?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
Full description from Vertex PharmaceuticalsAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Job Description
Company Overview
Vertex is a global biotechnology company focused on investing in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious diseases. Across our organization, we work with urgency, rigor, and collaboration to deliver therapies that improve patient outcomes and create long-term value.
General Summary
The Operational Excellence & Business Analytics team serves as the process improvement and performance enablement backbone of CMTO, providing the integrated performance visibility, standardized metrics, and improvement discipline required to run, grow, and optimize Vertex's external commercial manufacturing network.
The Associate Director, Operational Excellence & Business Analytics is an end-to-end role that combines capabilities into a single accountability: the ability to (1) translate enterprise- and asset-level performance data into a coherent, decision-ready view of the network and its individual components, and (2) prioritize and drive the improvement initiatives those insights demand, and (3) present to cross-functional leadership. The role partners closely with Network Performance, Manufacturing Operations, MS&T, Business Operations Leads, and Finance to embed data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement into CMTO's governance and operating rhythms.
This position will serve as a strategic change agent and analytics translator, advancing CMTO's operational excellence culture by demonstrating quantifiable benefits from improvement initiatives, mentoring teams on lean methods and data fluency, and ensuring decisions across the network are traceable, measurable, and reviewable.
Operational Excellence Strategy & Initiative Execution
- •Contribute to setting CMTO's operational excellence strategy, priorities, and success measures, aligned to enterprise and functional priorities
- •Identify, prioritize, and drive execution of a portfolio of commercial manufacturing improvement and transformation initiatives — partnering with sites and functions while avoiding ownership of routine operations
- •Lead initiatives targeting lead-time reduction, launch optimization, yield, and manufacturing success-rate improvements and COGM reduction through structured problem definition, root-cause analysis, options analysis, and ROI calculation
- •Lead Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, and structured problem-solving initiatives across technical and business processes
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Performance Visibility & Standardized Metrics
- •Build and maintain an integrated performance view across network performance, asset execution, readiness, cost, and delivery — ensuring defined KPIs are observable in practice through consistent data availability, structure, and integrity
- •Establish and maintain standard dashboards, metrics, and systems of record that enable consistent CMTO LT and enterprise-level visibility and comparability
- •Partner with Network Performance to translate performance standards into reportable, automated views; partner with Digital Technology & Engineering on digital transformation plans that improve access to accurate, timely data
Decision & Governance Enablement
- •Support scenario analysis and trade-off evaluations for network, asset, and portfolio decisions by making assumptions, options, and implications transparent — without owning execution
- •Enable data-driven governance by ensuring decisions, assumptions, and outcomes are traceable, measurable, and reviewable in CMTO and enterprise governance forums
- •Prepare executive-ready materials, performance narratives, and recommendations for governance reviews and leadership decisions
Continuous Improvement & Change Execution
- •Embed learning, improvement discipline, and change execution into CMTO governance and operating rhythms, using insights and performance signals from Business Analytics and Network Performance
- •Ensure sustainability of improvements through robust change management, control plans, and performance monitoring
- •Identify and deploy AI, automation, and advanced analytics solutions to improve operational performance and analytics scalability
Community of Practice & Capability Building
- •Operate as a community-of-practice leader for manufacturing operational excellence across internal manufacturing and supply chain, driving common standards, methods, and ways of working
- •Mentor teams on lean processes, problem-solving tools, and data fluency, and benchmark industry best practices to inform innovative approaches
Knowledge and Skills
- •Demonstrated success implementing Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, FMEA, Hoshin Kanri, and Change Management methodologies in GMP environments
- •Proven experience leading improvement initiatives targeting lead-time reduction, launch optimization, yield improvement and COGM/COGs reduction
- •Strong experience developing and deploying KPIs, performance dashboards, and standard metrics frameworks across multi-site or multi-partner networks
- •Hands-on proficiency in data analysis, root-cause analysis, scenario modeling, and structured problem-solving
- •Demonstrated experience identifying and deploying AI, automation, and advanced analytics solutions to improve operational performance and reporting scalability
- •Working knowledge of data architecture concepts — systems of record, data integrity, KPI definitions and version control, and partnering with digital/IT functions on data pipelines (without owning them)
- •Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word; experience with enterprise reporting tools such as Power BI, Tableau, SAP, Smartsheet, or similar
- •Ability to translate complex performance data into clear business narratives and influence senior stakeholders
- •Strong collaboration, facilitation, presentation and stakeholder management skills.
- •Ability to operate effectively in a matrixed environment with strong role clarity, partnering acros