Director, Facilities & Engineering

At Vericel Corporation, we are pioneers in advanced cell therapies for sports medicine and severe burn care, transforming patient lives through cutting-edge regenerative medicine. Our commitment to innovation, patient-centered focus, and scientific excellence drives us to develop groundbreaking treatments including MACI (knee cartilage repair), Epicel and Nexobrid (burn care). 

Position Summary:

The Director, Facilities & Engineering provides site leadership for facilities, utilities, manufacturing equipment, process instrumentation, and engineering services supporting a regulated biotechnology manufacturing environment. The role is accountable for safe, compliant, reliable, and cost-effective operation of site assets across their lifecycle, including design, startup, commissioning, qualification support, maintenance, troubleshooting, optimization, upgrades, and retirement. The Director leads the Facilities & Engineering organization, sets maintenance and reliability strategy, manages departmental resources and budgets, and partners cross-functionally to support production, quality, compliance, and business objectives. 

Schedule: This position is onsite Monday - Friday, primarily at our Cambridge, MA office. Some time will also be required in our Burlington, MA office as well.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Organization 

• Lead, develop, and retain a high-performing Facilities & Engineering team; establish clear accountabilities, goals, succession plans, and development priorities. 
• Provide coaching, performance feedback, recognition, and corrective action as appropriate, and ensure managers effectively carry people-leadership responsibilities through the organization. 
• Establish departmental priorities, resource plans, training plans, and performance metrics aligned with site and company objectives. 
• Promote a culture of safety, quality, compliance, collaboration, ownership, and continuous improvement.

Facilities, Engineering & Reliability

• Own the site strategy for facilities, critical utilities, manufacturing equipment, process instruments, building infrastructure, and associated lifecycle support. 
• Ensure robust preventive and corrective maintenance programs, asset reliability practices, spare-parts strategy, and effective use of the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). 
• Partner with Manufacturing and other stakeholders to plan maintenance windows, shutdowns, emergency work, and resource allocation while minimizing operational disruption. 
• Oversee troubleshooting, root-cause resolution, equipment and facility upgrades, and continuous-improvement initiatives that improve reliability, capacity, compliance, and total cost of ownership. 
• Ensure appropriate prioritization and execution of scheduled work orders and emergency work requests in a 24/7 biotechnology manufacturing environment. 

Capital Projects & Technical Execution 

• Provide leadership and governance for Facilities & Engineering projects from concept through design, construction, startup, commissioning, qualification support, turnover, and closeout. 
• Ensure projects are appropriately scoped, resourced, risk-managed, and delivered to approved safety, quality, schedule, and budget expectations. 
• Manage engineering consultants, contractors, service providers, and vendors; establish clear performance expectations and ensure effective coordination during shutdowns and project execution. 
• Design and implement facility and equipment improvements that support corporate objectives, production targets, future capacity, and lifecycle needs. 

Compliance & Cross-Functional Partnership 

• Ensure Facilities & Engineering activities are performed in accordance with cGMP, applicable FDA and other regulatory requirements, company quality systems, and approved procedures.
• Represent Facilities & Engineering during regulatory inspections, customer audits, internal audits, and compliance reviews; own or support timely resolution of observations and commitments. 
• Partner closely with Manufacturing, Quality Assurance, Validation, Metrology, Scientific/Technical groups, and other support functions to coordinate work and resolve site issues. 
• Ensure accurate, complete, and timely maintenance and engineering documentation, including cGMP record review and controlled permits/forms as applicable. 
• Identify, address, and appropriately escalate site compliance, reliability, capacity, and infrastructure risks. 

Financial & Business Management 

• Develop and manage the departmental operating budget and headcount plan; provide input to broader site and organizational planning. 
• Develop business cases and recommendations for maintenance, reliability, infrastructure, and capital investments based on risk, compliance, capacity, lifecycle, and business impact. 
• Use department and site metrics to monitor performance, communicate progress, identify trends, and drive corrective actions. 

Basic Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical field. 
• A minimum of 12 years of progressively responsible facilities, engineering, maintenance, or related experience in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or other highly regulated manufacturing, including significant people-leadership responsibility. 
• Demonstrated knowledge of cGMP, FDA expectations, and engineering/maintenance practices in a regulated manufacturing environment. 
• Comprehensive knowledge of building infrastructure, critical utility systems, manufacturing equipment, maintenance and reliability programs, and facility lifecycle management. 
• Experience leading complex engineering or facilities projects, shutdowns, contractors, and cross-functional technical teams. 
• Experience with CMMS platforms and strong working knowledge of maintenance records, work-order prioritization, preventive maintenance, and spare-parts management. 
• Experience participating in regulatory inspections or quality audits and supporting compliant documentation and issue resolution. 
• Strong leadership, communication, problem-solving, prioritization, vendor-management, and stakeholder-management skills. 
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and related business systems. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Advanced degree in engineering, business, or a related discipline. 
• Experience in cell therapy, biologics, aseptic manufacturing, or other complex cGMP manufacturing environments. 
• Construction management, capital planning, commissioning/startup, or reliability-centered maintenance experience. 
• Professional certification or licensure relevant to engineering, facilities, maintenance, project management, or reliability.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

• Off-shift accessibility and participation in site response may be required based on business and operational needs. 

• Role requires regular presence in manufacturing, mechanical, utility, construction, and cleanroom areas and may require appropriate gowning and personal protective equipment. 

• Job may require physical activity, including walking, climbing stairs/ladders, and occasional lifting consistent with site requirements.

Why Vericel? 

• Cutting-Edge Science: Work with a leading regenerative medicine product that is transforming patient care.

• Career Growth: Be a part of a growing organization with opportunities to expand your impact

• Collaborative Culture: Work alongside a team of dedicated professionals who are passionate about improving lives.

The salary range Vericel reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for this position at the time of this posting is $206,000 - $230,000 annually.

The actual salary offered will be determined based on factors such as the candidate’s qualifications, experience, and skills. Bonus, incentive pay, equity and benefits may be provided in addition to the base compensation listed above.

In accordance with Massachusetts law, Vericel provides the pay range that it reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for a particular and specific employment position at the time of posting or offer. This range is subject to change based on business needs, market conditions, and individual qualifications. Employees and applicants may request the pay range for their position or for a position to which they are applying. Retaliation for making such a request is strictly prohibited.

EEO Statement

All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or protected veteran status and will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. Vericel Corporation is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Vericel Corporation is VEVRAA federal contractor and desires priority referrals of protected veterans for job openings at all locations within the state.