Associate Director, Site Supply Chain - Materials Management

Introduction to role   At  AstraZeneca Cell Therapy , we are required to deliver complex, autologous and allogeneic cell therapies that ensure compliance to regulatory expectations for patient and donor materials from apheresis to transformed drug product.  The  Associate Director, Materials Management role is responsible for leading patient materials management at the manufacturing site in Santa Monica and Tarzana facilities across autologous cell therapy programs. This role serves as the lead for patient material traceability at the manufacturing site, including processes and systems related to the execution of chain of identify (COI) and chain of custody (COC) verification from patient material receipt to drug product pack-out.  Additionally, this role will be responsible for the material flow and verification of GMP healthy donor apheresis for allogeneic cell therapy programs.  This role is integral to the Site Supply Chain operations model , using digital systems, milestone visibility and defined escalation pathways to ensure compliance and integrity of patient and healthy donor materials management at the manufacturing facility.  This role reports to the Site Supply Chain Director.  Accountabilities   • Lead patient materials management  across autologous cell therapy programs, ensuring COI/COC of apheresis through receipt, manufacturing and drug product pack-out.  • Lead healthy donor materials management across allogeneic cell therapy programs, ensuring COC of apheresis and lot traceability from drug substance to drug product manufacturing and drug product pack-out.  • Coordinate apheresis receipt and drug product pack-out schedule in alignment with manufacturing, production scheduling, quality and logistics teams, including day-to-day schedule changes and rescheduling actions.  • Own chain of identity (COI) and chain of custody (COC) process at the manufacturing site including site SOPs/work instructions, and monitor status across receipt, manufacturing release and drug product pack-out using digital tools and real-time milestone visibility.  • Ensure execution discipline for COI/COC traceability , reinforcing adherence to approved workflows, documentation requirements, SOPs, work instructions, and data capture expectations.  • Support operational readiness and hypercare  for new studies, products, and countries, including onboarding activities at the manufacturing site and mock shipments where applicable.  • Lead exception management and escalation  when patient traceability is not following the expected process, coordinating recovery actions across internal teams and external partners.  • Support fact-finding investigations, root cause assessment and corrective action identification for COI or COC verification execution issues, partnering with Quality where formal deviations or CAPAs are required.  • Support impact assessments and change action identification for new product launches and expansion into new countries, or studies.  • Track operational metrics and identify improvement opportunities , providing insights on recurring issues, execution risks, and corrective actions to improve reliability and consistency.    Essential Skills/Experience   • Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Life Sciences, or a related field.  • 8+ Years experience in biopharma supply chain, logistics or cell therapy operations.  • Strong understanding of cell therapy COI/COC controls, and the operational requirements for patient material receipt and drug product pack-out.  • Demonstrated experience in real-time issue resolution, exception management, shipment recovery, temperature excursion response, escalation handling, operational investigations, and corrective action leadership in a complex and regulated envi