HRBP Director - Manufacturing (Boston, MA)

Job Description

General Summary:

We are seeking a strategic and hands-on Director, HR Business Partner to support one or more sub-functions within the Biopharmaceutical Sciences & Manufacturing Organization (BSMO) during a pivotal phase of growth and innovation. In this role, you will be a visible HR leader within the sub-function, serving as a trusted advisor to senior leaders and their teams. You will shape the people and organization strategy, enable business outcomes, and foster a high-performance, agile culture across a regulated manufacturing and technical development environment.

This is a senior individual contributor role that leads through influence—orchestrating outcomes across a matrix, aligning cross-functional stakeholders, and leveraging specialist HR centers of excellence to deliver integrated solutions.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic HR & Business Partnership

• Serve as the primary HR partner to one or more senior leaders for assigned BSMO sub-function(s); translate business strategy into a prioritized, integrated people and organization plan.
• Influence executive decision-making through clear options, risk/benefit tradeoffs, and data-backed recommendations that connect talent levers to operational, quality, and cost outcomes.

Organization Design, Capability, & Operating Model

• Lead org design and evolution for growth, complexity, and scale (e.g., standing up new capabilities, optimizing spans/layers, clarifying interfaces and governance).
• Define and build critical capabilities, partnering with leaders to close skill gaps via targeted build/buy/borrow strategies.

Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) & Succession

• Own the sub-function’s multi-year workforce plan aligned to long-range strategy, capacity, and budget—headcount, skills, pipeline, and location strategy. Ensure the plan aligns to the broader enterprise level plans for BSMO and Vertex.
• Drive succession readiness for pivotal roles; develop diverse slates and growth plans that ensure continuity for GMP operations and technical/scientific leadership.

Talent, Performance, & Leadership Effectiveness

• Elevate leadership performance at the senior levels and with their teams: build management routines, coach through inflection points, and raise the performance bar with clarity and fairness.
• Partner with Talent Management to deploy targeted programs (e.g., high-potential acceleration, career pathways, technical leadership tracks).

Culture, Engagement, & Change Leadership

• Diagnose and shift culture in alignment with BSMO strategic culture roadmap and steward change for network expansions, tech transfers, or portfolio pivots.
• Design and execute change plans (case for change, stakeholder maps, comms, adoption metrics) across multi-site and cross-functional contexts.

People Analytics & Insights

• Leverage data to illuminate trends (e.g., attrition risk in critical skills, shift staffing dynamics, succession health).
• Convert insights into simple, compelling narratives that build alignment and prompt action; measure impact and iterate.

HR Operating Model & Governance

• Orchestrate with Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, People Experience, Talent Management, and Strategic Analytics to deliver integrated solutions at pace.
• Ensure flawless execution of core cycles (performance, calibration, compensation planning) with equity, transparency, and business relevance.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Experience developing and implementing HR strategies
• Expert-level experience developing strategic workforce plans, from conception to implementation
• Highly experienced in talent management, succession planning, and career growth and development
• Strong experience managing and/or leading culture and change management or organizational effectiveness initiatives
• Experience and expert understanding of management development, employee relations, data and analytics, diversity and inclusion

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in management, human resources, business, or related discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive HR experience, including HRBP leadership in a regulated manufacturing environment (biotech/pharma strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated impact partnering with senior-level clients in complex, matrixed organizations; proven ability to lead without direct authority.
• Expertise in organization design, strategic workforce planning, succession, and talent management, with experience in technical/manufacturing