Vice President, CMC Development Technical Strategy

VP, CMC Development Technical Strategy

The VP, CMC Development Technical Strategy is a member of the CMC-D Leadership Team and is accountable for integrating scientific and technical perspectives across CMC Development to strengthen cross-functional technical strategy, decision quality, and technical risk and opportunity assessment.

This leader brings deep technical expertise, extensive industry experience, and mature judgment to complex decisions spanning products, platforms, technologies, and development stages. The role identifies connections, risks, and opportunities that may not be visible within a single program or function and helps CMC-D translate scientific innovation into robust, scalable, and executable strategies.

Working collaboratively with functional, portfolio, and operational leaders, the Vice President frames complex choices, challenges assumptions, and develops integrated recommendations for the Head of CMC Development and appropriate governance forums.

The role may lead a small team of experienced technical strategy leaders while operating primarily through expertise, collaboration, and influence.

Accountability Boundaries

This role provides connective technical leadership across CMC-D. It does not replace functional ownership or create a parallel approval structure.

PPD–Clinical, PPD–Registrational/Commercial, Analytical Development, and other CMC-D functions retain accountability for:

• Functional scientific and technical strategies
• People, budgets, resources, and priorities
• Experimental plans and development programs
• Process and analytical development
• Methods, characterization, control strategies, and technical deliverables
• Scale-up, technical transfer, manufacturing readiness, and implementation
• Product-specific milestones and execution

The Vice President engages where decisions span multiple functions, products, platforms, or development stages and require an integrated CMC-D perspective.

Here’s What You’ll Do

CMC-D leadership

• Serve as an active member of the CMC-D Leadership Team, sharing accountability for the organization’s mission, portfolio commitments, technical excellence, talent, culture, and performance.
• Contribute technical perspective to CMC-D strategy, portfolio priorities, capability investments, and resource decisions.
• Provide trusted counsel to the Head of CMC Development and senior leaders on significant technical opportunities, risks, and long-range choices.
• Promote scientific rigor, constructive challenge, curiosity, disciplined experimentation, and transparent, evidence-based decisions.
• Strengthen collaboration across CMC-D while preserving clear functional accountabilities and decision rights.

Integrated technical strategy

• Synthesize process, product, analytical, manufacturing, quantitative, quality, and operational perspectives into integrated recommendations.
• Identify scientific and technical implications that extend beyond an individual function, product, or program.
• Anticipate emerging scientific, manufacturing, and technology needs and evaluate their implications for CMC-D.
• Apply experienced technical judgment when precedent is limited, evidence is incomplete, or decisions have broad consequences.
• Frame complex choices with clear evidence, assumptions, uncertainties, risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations.
• Help leadership balance speed, learning, technical rigor, manufacturability, cost, supply resilience, and long-term value.

Portfolio and platform integration

• Collaborate with product, portfolio, and functional leaders on issues requiring an integrated, cross-CMC perspective.
• Connect learning and technical insights across products, platforms, modalities, and development stages.
• Identify opportunities to reuse capabilities and platform knowledge while recognizing when product-specific solutions are warranted.
• Facilitate resolution of complex technical questions that span organizational or scientific boundaries.
• Provide perspective on programs and modalities requiring novel or highly integrated development approaches.
• Help maintain continuity of technical intent across the development lifecycle without assuming ownership of functional execution.

Technology and capability strategy

• Assess emerging process, analytical, automation, digital, and manufacturing technologies for their potential value to CMC-D.
• Establish clear scientific rationales and value propositions for cross-functional technology opportunities.
• Define the evidence required to evaluate technical feasibility, scalability, integration needs, and potential business value.
• Advise on major build, partner, or buy choices from an integrated technical perspective.
• Identify cross-functional capability gaps and recommend coordinated investments or partnerships.
• Partner with the accountable functions as they develop, implement, and sustain new capabilities.

Technical decision quality

• Establish fit-for-purpose forums and approaches for evaluating significant cross-functional technical questions.
• Define appropriate evidence and decision criteria for major product, platform, and technology choices.
• Provide constructive review of technical assumptions, risks, and investment proposals.
• Convene the appropriate expertise to resolve complex issues and align differing technical perspectives.
• Ensure major recommendations clearly describe their rationale, evidence, uncertainties, dependencies, and downstream implications.
• Present integrated recommendations through established CMC-D and enterprise governance forums.

Scientific leadership and capability development

• Mentor senior scientists, engineers, product leaders, and technical leaders across CMC Development.
• Develop future technical strategists through coaching, critical review, and stretch opportunities.
• Strengthen technical communities, knowledge sharing, and institutional learning.
• Promote rigorous experimental strategy, quantitative decision-making, clear technical communication, and disciplined knowledge management.
• Ensure lessons from development, manufacturing, investigations, transfers, and lifecycle experience inform future decisions.
• Maintain appropriate external scientific engagement to bring relevant insights into CMC-D and represent Moderna when needed.

Here’s What You’ll Need (Basic Qualifications)

• Extensive experience leading technical development in the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry, typically gained over 20 or more years.
• Deep expertise in one or more CMC disciplines, with broad knowledge across process development, product development, analytical development, manufacturing, quality, and product lifecycle.
• Experience across multiple products, platforms, modalities, or stages of development.
• Demonstrated success translating novel science and technologies into practical development and manufacturing approaches.
• Strong understanding of phase-appropriate development, scale-up, process characterization, comparability, validation, technical transfer, and GMP manufacturing.
• Experience identifying and building technical capabilities needed to support emerging platforms or portfolio growth.
• Demonstrated ability to recognize patterns, identify critical evidence, and exercise sound judgment when information is incomplete.
• Experience addressing complex technical questions with significant product, portfolio, operational, or business implications.
• Ability to influence senior decisions through technical credibility, clear reasoning, collaboration, and trusted judgment.
• Strong understanding of how technical choices affect development speed, probability of success, cost of goods, supply resilience, and long-term product value.
• Ability to work effectively with senior functional leaders without displacing their accountability.
• Exceptional communication skills and the ability to make complex technical issues understandable to different audiences.
• Demonstrated commitment to mentoring and developing senior scientific and technical talent.

Education

• PhD in chemical engineering, biochemical engineering, chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, biochemistry, molecular biology, or a related discipline is preferred.

• An MS or BS/BA with substantial relevant experience and a sustained record of technical-development leadership may also be considered

• Our Working Model

• As we build our company, we have always believed that an in-person culture is critical to our success. This role is 100% onsite, reflecting the importance of being physically present to support the work, collaborate closely with colleagues, and contribute to our site-based operations.

• Working onsite enables real-time collaboration, strong team connections, direct me