Director, Operational Excellence

Vantive: A New Company Built On Our Legacy

Baxter is on a journey to separate our ~$5B Kidney Care segment into a standalone company. Vantive* will build on our nearly 70-year legacy in acute therapies and home and in-center dialysis to provide best-in-class care to the people we serve. We believe Vantive will not only build our leadership in the kidney care space, it will also offer meaningful work to those who join us.

At Vantive, you will become part of a community of people who are focused, courageous and don’t settle for the mediocre. Each of us are driven to help improve patients’ lives worldwide. Join us as we revolutionize kidney care and other vital organ support.

*Completion of the proposed separation of Kidney Care from Baxter into a standalone company (to be named Vantive) remains subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions.

Summary:

The Lead System Integrator (LSI) team is a part of the R&D organization that supports the Kidney Care business segment. Within the team, we provide R&D focused, project management support for all product phases, innovation initiatives, new product development and improvement programs for existing therapy systems. This collaborative role gives you the direct opportunity to define solutions to new products challenges and services to patients and continue Baxter’s mission to save and sustain lives.

Baxter is a global company with R&D sites at multiple locations in the world; competences and capabilities are spread over the different R&D sites, and you will commonly collaborate with colleagues across several of these R&D sites and with other functional representatives. Work assignments within the team are highly variable and we can promise you a work environment with exciting project management challenges and variability in your day-to-day activities.

The Director role is responsible for establishing and leading the Lead System Integratorteam and supporting the projects within the Kidney Care portfolio. This team will be focused on supporting Kidney Care drug products (dialysis solutions, concentrates, etc) and related sciences (Sterility Assurance, Analytical Chemistry, materials compliance, Extractables & Leachables, Toxicology) projects and initiatives.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities.  This section contains a list of five to eight primary responsibilities of the work.  The incumbent will perform other duties as assigned.

• Establish and lead a team of Lead System Integrators (LSIs) supporting research and development (R&D) project management work and facilitates technical decision making for pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and other regulated healthcare products
• Establish and continuously improve relevant operating mechanisms to drive organizational accountability, aggressive project execution, and diligent technical rigor
• Ensure LSI organization accountability for R&D focused program schedule creation, tracking, and execution
• Responsible for strategic portfolio management for all projects supported by the Drug Products and Sciences organization
• Establish and drive maintenance of on-market product roadmaps in collaboration with R&D product design owners (PDOs) and cross-functional interfaces
• Accountable for R&D team project performance, program schedule commitments, budget commitments and spend
• Leads team in defining program strategies, developing goals, and facilitates cross-functional decision making through structured, best-practice processes
• Provides clear direction on product lifecycle management requirements to meet expectations of external customers and business stakeholders
• Interacts through program updates and reviews with all functions and levels of management ensuring effective ongoing communications across teams and stakeholders
• Ensures identification, escalation, and communication of project risks, development of risk assessment/mitigation plans and proactive management of risk response strategies
• Anticipates potential conflict situations for proactive solutions and manages conflict situations to result in win-win outcomes
• Maximizes business results through continuous improvement in organization's ability to execute programs from identification through implementation
• Participates as a member of cross functional teams and/or integrates cross functional inputs into project delivery
• Demonstrates understanding of and adherence to FDA, ISO and IEC design control procedures, regulations, and standards

Qualifications.  To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  List knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required. 

• Significant technical product lifecycle management experience (as an engineer or scientist on a project team) preferred
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing project/portfolio management focused operating mechanisms
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills in written and verbal form.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical subjects to executive level audiences of varying technical backgrounds
• Functional management experience; global team management experience preferred
• Ability to manage multiple cross-functional teams simultaneously in a matrix environment
• Detailed understanding of project management principles and methodologies
• Demonstrated ability to draw conclusions and make recommendations based on technical inputs from multiple and varied functions (Marketing, Quality, Regulatory, etc.).
• Ability to provide technical leadership for medical product projects with substantial complexity and scope
• Ability to decompose complex problems into actionable plans/tasks
• Understanding of design requirements for development, validation, and verification of medical products

Education and/or Experience.  Include the education and/or experience that is necessary to perform the job satisfactorily.

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Sciences or equivalent field
• 7+ years of R&D experience; 5+ years project management experience
• Experience in pharmaceuticals or medical device industry preferred

Equal Employment Opportunity

Baxter is an equal opportunity employer. Baxter evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, disability/handicap status or any other legally protected characteristic.

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Reasonable Accommodations

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