Director, Fermentation Operations (Project Management)
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. We're driven by our vision of ‘Food and Companionship Enriching Life' and our approach to sustainability – the Elanco Healthy Purpose™ – to advance the health of animals, people, the planet and our enterprise.
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: Director, Fermentation Operations
As Director of Fermentation Operations, you will lead the Clinton site's fermentation operations team in producing high-quality animal health products. In this role, you will be responsible for ensuring safety, compliance, cost efficiency, and process optimization, while managing both daily operations and long-term capacity planning. You will directly lead 8–12 employees and oversee a total team of approximately 50.
Your Responsibilities:
Safety & Environmental Leadership: Drive a strong safety culture by integrating safety into every task, ensuring compliance with environmental and safety regulations, and promoting continuous improvement in safety awareness, accountability, and incident prevention.
Operational Excellence & Compliance: Oversee daily fermentation operations to ensure adherence to GMP requirements, quality policies, and regulatory standards; partner with Quality and Technical Services teams to investigate and resolve quality incidents, strengthen quality systems, and maintain a continual state of compliance.
Strategic & Financial Management: Develop and manage the annual business and capital plans, aligning headcount, budgets, and capacity allocation to organizational goals; lead initiatives to improve asset utilization, productivity, and supply chain certification while controlling costs.
Leadership & Workforce Development: Provide direct leadership, coaching, and mentoring to staff; manage performance plans and reviews; address HR matters; foster a diverse and inclusive workforce; and support career growth and succession planning across the team.
Continuous Improvement & Lean Implementation: Utilize Lean manufacturing tools to evaluate and enhance people, process, and equipment efficiency; establish and monitor key process and quality indicators; identify improvement opportunities through performance data and leading indicators; and implement sustainable productivity gains.
What You Need to Succeed (minimum qualifications):
Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in engineering, chemistry, or related field, or equivalent work experience.
Required Experience: Proven leadership experience in a regulated manufacturing environment with working knowledge of unit operations and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
Top Skills: Strong leadership and people development skills; ability to solve problems using data and make independent decisions.
What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (preferred qualifications):
Proficiency in SAP, MS Outlook, and CAPA/event/change management systems.
Strong skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, and other productivity tools.
Experience with Lean manufacturing concepts and process improvement.
Demonstrated success in cross-functional collaboration.
Ability to manage complex projects and organizational priorities.
Additional Information:
Location: Clinton, IN Manufacturing Site
Schedule: 8-hour days with responsibility for 24-hour operations.
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
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
