Associate Director, Quality Risk management

Working with Us
Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it. You’ll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high-achieving teams. Take your career farther than you thought possible.

Bristol Myers Squibb recognizes the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives. Read more: careers.bms.com/working-with-us.

Position Summary
The Associate Director, RBQM – Hematology, Oncology, Cell Therapy, Immunology, Cardiology and Neuroscience will mainly be responsible for developing the Quality Narrative at the study and/or ASSET and Therapeutic Area levels to document end-to-end RBQM for critical to quality (CtQ) data, processes, and vendors, demonstrating effective risk and issue management. Provide quality and compliance consultation to clinical trials teams throughout study lifecycle and establish a feedback loop to ensure mitigation strategies are adjusted when new or unanticipated issues arise once the trial has begun.

Key Responsibilities
• Develop the Quality Narrative (or equivalent) at a study and/or ASSET and TA level, to document the end-to-end risk-based quality management for CtQ data, processes and vendors demonstrating effective risk and issue management. This will involve collecting all the relevant inputs from the RBM framework (CORM) as well as R&D Quality Clinical Quality Assurance on audits and inspections.
• As part of the upstream protocol authoring process, partner with Drug Development, in particular the CORM function, to embed Quality by Design principles and help identify study specific critical to quality (CtQ) data, processes and vendors and ensure adequate risk mitigation strategies have been implemented.
• During trial conduct, provide feedback on risks to study specific critical to quality factors and ensure mitigation strategies are adjusted when new or unanticipated issues arise once the trial has begun. This will involve partnering with the CAPA CoE and Serious Breach pillar and Clinical Quality Assurance to gather input from audits, inspections, internal quality events, significant issues, and external intelligence to inform QbD.
• At the study level, conduct spot checks to ensure risk mitigation strategies are accurately translated into operational plans.
• Assist the business in defining and establishing Acceptable Ranges/QTL and KRIs for CtQ data.
• Support for cause, critical and/or complex quality issues as well as serious breaches for the TA, where deemed necessary.
• Provide quality and compliance consultation to clinical trials teams (where relevant, in partnership with CORM) throughout study lifecycle.
• Provide regulatory intelligence on current and upcoming regulations to ensure we remain compliant with all applicable requirements.
• Establish strong partnership with business stakeholders.
• Partner with the study teams to ensure effective management of significant quality issues/noncompliance and important protocol deviations for CtQ data, processes and vendors.
• Support the monitoring and evaluation of CtQ factors throughout the study lifecycle and adapt Quality plans accordingly.
• Provide R&D Quality expertise, critical thinking, deliver training and share best practices and lessons learned into future trials.
• Ensure rapid communication and escalation of quality issues, including potential misconduct or issues of significant deviations with project/products, to the business and Health Authorities, as needed.
• Ensure compliance with ICH (E8, E6, E9) and other relevant regulatory requirements.
• External engagement as needed with industry/trade/QA associations, regulatory agencies, vendors, and licensing partners as well as pharmaceutical company peers.

Other
• Drive quality into the business through proactive quality support, mentoring and/or coaching and consultation.
• Provide guidance and expectations to the business to enable execution of external and internal regulations on a global and cross functional level.
• Lead multidisciplinary or cross-functional work/project teams; serve as part of strategic team(s) within the group/discipline.
• Lead and/or contribute to the implementation of large-scale initiatives and/or organizational changes (such as functional optimization) that affect the department.
• Act as a highly credible technical/ functional expert; routinely provide technical/functional guidance/coaching to direct and indirect reports/peers within the line or crosslines.
• May influence the external environment through interactions with regulators, trade associations, or professional societies.
• Actively share knowledge with others across multiple disciplines and across lines through existing knowledge sharing processes and systems.

Qualifications & Experience:

• B.S. and/or M.S. in Chemistry, Biology, or Health or Quality related field or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience

• Minimum 8+ years QA experience or relevant experience in quality management, biomedical science, clinical development, or regulatory compliance.

Required Competencies:

• Demonstrated applied knowledge of ICH/GCP, regulatory guidelines/directives, clinical research processes and principles of Quality Assurance

• Very experienced in Risk Based Quality Management principles.

• In-depth knowledge of applied risk-management including risk assessment, risk analysis, risk evaluation, risk reporting and communication, risk treatment and the review of continuous risk management

• Understanding of BMS’s therapeutic areas – Hematology, Oncology, Cell Therapy, Immunology, Cardiology and Neuroscience.

• Extensive experience in regulatory inspection preparation, management, and related follow-up.

• Demonstrated analytical and conceptual capability—including proficiency in utilizing data and ability to formulate clear business questions that can be answered with data. 

• Proven problem-solving skills to prevent and overcome complex process and quality related issues during clinical program implementation and execution.

• Communication Skills:  Communicates professionally, clearly, concisely and consistently both verbally and in writing to internal and external customers; excellent presentation skills for compelling peer and Senior Management communication.

• Project Management: Must be able to manage complex assignments/projects and effectively deliver all expected deliverables in a timely manner and proactively communicate changes in pre-established goals and deadlines.

• Considers global influences, situations, and implications when making plans or decisions, solving problems, or developing strategies.

• Responds resourcefully to changing business conditions and opportunities, proactively looking for ways the organization can adapt its plans, tactics, or strategies.

• Fosters a culture in which people continually work to improve services, and work processes.

If you come across a role that intrigues you but doesn’t perfectly line up with your resume, we encourage you to apply anyway. You could be one step away from work that will transform your life and career.

Uniquely Interesting Work, Life-changing Careers
With a single vision as inspiring as “Transforming patients’ lives through science™ ”, every BMS employee plays an integral role in work that goes far beyond ordinary. Each of us is empowered to apply our individual talents and unique perspectives in a supportive culture, promoting global participation in clinical trials, while our shared values of passion, innovation, urgency, accountability, inclusion and integrity bring out the highest potential of each of our colleagues.

On-site Protocol

BMS has an occupancy structure that determines where an employee is required to conduct their work. This structure includes site-essential, site-by-design, field-based and remote-by-design jobs. The occupancy type that you are assigned is determined by the nature and responsibilities of your role:

Site-essential roles require 100% of shifts onsite at your assigned facility. Site-by-design roles may be eligible for a hybrid work model with at least 50% onsite at your assigned facility. For these roles, onsite presence is considered an essential job function and is critical to collaboration, innovation, productivity, and a positive Company culture. For field-based and remote-by-design roles the ability to physically travel to visit customers, patients or business partners and to attend meetings on behalf of BMS as directed is an essential job function.

Supporting People with Disabilities

BMS is dedicated to ensuring that people with disabilities can excel through a transparent recruitment process, reasonable workplace accommodations/adjustments and ongoing support in their roles. Applicants can request a reasonable workplace accommodation/adjustment prior to accepting a job offer. If you require reasonable accommodations/adjustments in completing this application, or in any part of the recruitment process, direct your inquiries to adastaffingsupport@bms.com. Visit careers.bms.com/eeo-accessibility to access our complete Equal Employment Opportunity statement.

Candidate Rights

BMS will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, pursuant to applicable laws in your area.

If you live in or expect to work from Los Angeles County if hired for this position, please visit this page for important additional information: https://careers.bms.com/california-residents/

Data Protection

We will never request payments, financial information, or social security numbers during our application or recruitment process. Learn more about protecting yourself at https://careers.bms.com/fraud-protection.

Any data processed in connection with role applications will be treated in accordance with applicable data privacy policies and regulations.

If you believe that the job posting is missing information required by local law or incorrect in any way, please contact BMS at TAEnablement@bms.com. Please provide the Job Title and Requisition number so we can review. Communications related to your application should not be sent to this email and you will not receive a response. Inquiries related to the status of your application should be directed to Chat with Ripley.

R1603078 : Associate Director, Quality Risk management