Senior Director, TS/MS and Site Head – Elanco Technology Center

Job description

At Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) – it all starts with animals! As a global leader in animal health, we are dedicated to innovation and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets. At Elanco, we are driven by our vision of Food and Companionship Enriching Life and our purpose – all to Go Beyond for Animals, Customers, Society and Our People. At Elanco, we pride ourselves on fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We believe that diversity is the driving force behind innovation, creativity, and overall business success. Here, you’ll be part of a company that values and champions new ways of thinking, work with dynamic individuals, and acquire new skills and experiences that will propel your career to new heights. Making animals’ lives better makes life better – join our team today! Your Role: Senior Director, TS/MS and Site Head – Elanco Technology Center (ETC) As the Senior Director, TS/MS and Site Head of the Elanco Technology Center (ETC), you will provide strategic, technical, and operational leadership for Elanco’s biologics and fermentation development capabilities. In this role, you will lead a team of scientists and engineers to advance deep bioprocess expertise supporting monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and microbial fermentation platforms across the full product lifecycle. You will drive process optimization, technology transfer, and lifecycle management initiatives to improve process robustness, reduce cost of goods, and ensure reliable global supply across Elanco Animal Health. Your Responsibilities: Lead global product lifecycle management across biologics platforms (mAbs, vaccines, and microbial fermentation), driving improvements in process robustness, yield, cycle time, and COGS optimization for commercial products Identify and execute end-to-end process improvement initiatives across upstream, downstream, and analytical operations, including process intensification, raw material strategy, control strategy optimization, and capacity or scale enhancements Partner with global manufacturing sites to resolve complex technical issues, lead root cause investigations, and implement sustainable solutions that improve process capability, throughput, and supply reliability Provide full site leadership for ETC, including safety, quality, compliance, facilities, capital planning, and operational excellence, ensuring ETC remains a Center of Excellence for biologics development, scale-up, and technology transfer Develop and lead a high-performing team of ~25 scientists and engineers, building strong technical capability and influencing enterprise technical strategy through collaboration with R&D, Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory, and external partners What You Need to Succeed (minimum qualifications): Education: Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, or a related scientific discipline Required Experience: 15+ years of experience in biologics, vaccine, or fermentation environments supporting process development and commercial lifecycle management in GMP settings, including at least 5 years of people leadership Experience and proven success in talent development and succession management Top 2 skills: Deep leadership bioprocess expertise across development through commercialization (including strong upstream experience) and demonstrated leadership capability to drive process performance improvements that reduce COGS and improve supply reliability What will give you a competitive edge (preferred qualifications): Experience supporting monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and microbial fermentation products across development and commercial manufacturing Proven track record delivering measurable improvements in yield, throughput, capacity, or cost reduction for commercial biologics processes Strong upstream expertise (cell culture or fermentation) with working knowledge of downstream purification and integrated process control strategies Experience leading site operations, budgets, and capital projects tied to process improvement or capability expansion Strong influencing skills across global manufacturing networks and cross-functional stakeholders Additional Information: Travel: Approximately 20–30% annually Location: Elanco Technology Center – Indianapolis, IN Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Elanco we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive work environment. If you think you might be a good fit for a role but don't necessarily meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply. You may be the right candidate for this role or other roles! Elanco Benefits and Perks: We offer a comprehensive benefits package focusing on financial, physical, and mental well-being while encouraging our employees to pursue our purpose! Some highlights include: Multiple relocation packages Two weeklong shutdowns (mid-summer and year-end) in the US (in addition to PTO) 8-week parental leave 9 Employee Resource Groups Annual bonus offering Flexible work arrangements Up to 6% 401K matching Elanco is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status