Logistics Program Manager

More than one million people in the United States today are fighting blood cancer. While a traditional allogeneic stem cell transplant has been the best hope for many, the transplant itself can prove fatal or lead to serious conditions, such as graft vs. host disease. Orca Bio is a late-stage biotechnology company redefining the transplant process by developing next-generation cell therapies with the goal of providing significantly better survival rates with dramatically fewer risks. With our purified, high-precision investigational cell therapies we hope to not only replace patients' blood and immune systems with healthy ones, but also restore their lives.

Summary: The Logistics Program Manager is a tactical and strategic role responsible for coordinating the transport of donor cells and patient drug products across Orca’s sites and advancing initiatives to prepare Orca’s logistics infrastructure for Orca-T’s commercial launch. 

Strategic Projects:

• Evaluate Orca’s current logistics infrastructure against projected demand and business goals to identify opportunities for improvement and create a development roadmap.
• Drive execution of strategic projects, ensuring milestones are met and adjustments are made as needed.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align infrastructure improvements with operational needs and regulatory requirements.
• Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of implemented improvements and identify additional areas for optimization. 

In the first 6 months you will:

• Collaborate with the manufacturing operations team to validate and implement new shipping hardware across manufacturing facilities.
• Enhance the documentation around Orca’s internal medical courier program.
• Assist in the design and development of Orca’s custom logistics software application.

Daily Responsibilities

• Schedule medical couriers to retrieve donor materials and transport those materials to Orca manufacturing sites in Sacramento 
• Schedule medical couriers to retrieve temperature controlled drug products from Orca’s Sacramento manufacturing sites and deliver to recipient transplant center locations 
• Manage flight and travel itineraries and communicate with couriers, airlines, and travel providers 
• Monitor shipment statuses to address any issues and minimize impact to internal and external parties 
• Communicate expected changes urgently and professionally to all affected parties 
• Ensure documentation and preparations required for pickups and deliveries are in place 
• Ensure post-run close out documentation is delivered in a timely manner to the QA department 

Manage Orca’s medical courier program by:

• Issuing courier transport runs and assigning activities based on competency and training compliance
• Serving on-call during courier transports to respond to non-routine issues 
• Overseeing courier invoicing and performance monitoring
• Developing training materials and tracking courier training compliance 

Education & Experience Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required. B.S. in biology, life sciences, logistics or a related field is a plus
• 5+ years experience experience in logistics management, business process optimization, or other related fields
• Experience in logistics coordination, preferably in healthcare or biomedical field 
• Understanding of regulatory requirements and guidelines related to the transportation of biological materials is preferred 
• Proficiency in using logistics management software or systems
• Prior experience in handling cell samples or biological materials is a plus

Personal Qualities & Physical Demands

• Highly detail oriented with special attention to quality, compliance and safety 
• Ability to multitask and handle multiple responsibilities simultaneously; able to prioritize
• Demonstrates strong work ethic, curiosity to learn and contribute in a fast-paced collaborative environment 
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively 
• Ability to work in a collegial and collaborative manner, independently and part of a team 
• Ability to work in a fast-paced start-up environment while following SOPs 
• Highly tolerant and respectful of all team members 
• A sense of humor is always appreciated 
• Strong problem-solving skills with desire to improve upon established processes 
• Ability to work off shift hours, as needed, to support issues and tracking of transportation needs, transport of cells may occur early in the morning or late in the evening. 

Who we are

We are driven by a passion for science and compassion for patients. We act with urgency to ensure our treatments are one day accessible to all who need them.

We live by our core values of passion, courage, and integrity. Excellence in our work means the chance to unlock a better quality of life for our patients, and with that comes tremendous responsibility.

We innovate on a path that hasn’t been paved. We embrace an entrepreneurial spirit and take calculated risks to achieve our mission. We aren’t afraid to ask “why not” and challenge the status quo.

We maintain a start-up culture of camaraderie and leadership by example, regardless of title.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and recognize that celebrating our differences creates stronger, lasting solutions that better serve our team, our patients and their healthcare providers.

To learn more: https://orcabio.com/join-our-team/

**all official communication will be from @orcabio.com; please beware of scams**

Notice to staffing firms

Orca Bio does not accept resumes from staffing agencies with which we do not have a written agreement and specific engagement for a particular opening. Our employment activities, inquiries and offers are managed through our HR/Talent team, and all candidates are presented through this channel only. We do not accept unsolicited resumes, and we rarely outsource recruitment.