Director, Maintenance & Facilities

About Forge  

Our mission at Forge Biologics, is to enable access to life changing gene therapies and help bring them from idea into reality. We partner with innovators in the gene therapy community: scientists, physicians, biotech/pharma companies, and patient groups. We bring expertise in gene therapy manufacturing and therapeutics development to the table, helping to champion teams that are navigating the long road from the lab bench to the bedside. Our goal is simple but vital to patients living with disease, and we take it seriously. With a patient-first approach, we are forging new models for working together to better accelerate these transformative medicines to reach those who need them the most.   

Forge is based in Columbus, Ohio, in a 200,000 square foot facility known affectionately by team members as, the Hearth. The Hearth, is a custom-designed cGMP facility dedicated to AAV manufacturing and hosts scalable, end-to-end manufacturing services. 

About The Role:   

Forge Biologics is seeking a Director of Facilities & Maintenance to lead and develop a high-performing team responsible for maintaining GMP and non-GMP equipment, utilities, and facilities in a regulated CDMO environment. This role oversees approximately 15-20 technical professionals across mechanical, electrical, calibration, controls, CMMS management, and facility planning disciplines. The Director will drive maintenance compliance, implement best practices for predictive and planned maintenance, and foster a culture of operational excellence and continuous improvement. This role offers the opportunity to lead a critical function within a dynamic CDMO, ensuring reliability, compliance, and efficiency in support of life-changing gene therapies.

What You’ll Do: 

• • Leads, mentors and coaches the Maintenance & Facilities department, building a high-performance culture.
  • Creates and manages departmental KPIs that align with site and corporate objectives.
  • Promotes a world-class maintenance culture.
  • Oversee the CMMS system, ensuring compliant and timely maintenance of assets.
  • Develops robust training programs for the operation and maintenance of critical utility systems.
  • Promotes a continuous improvement mindset and fosters collaboration with Manufacturing, Operations, Development, and Quality teams.
  • Plans and manages the R&M (Repair and Maintenance) budget, ensuring cost-effective and efficient maintenance practices.
  • Implements best practices for predictive and preventive maintenance, in collaboration with Plant and Reliability Engineering.
  • Provides strategy on the overall site equipment and facility reliability program.
  • Drives improvements in facility and equipment reliability, integrating methodologies such as Total Productive Maintenance (TPM).
  • Maintains the site spare parts program and manages inventory for critical assets.
  • Provides strategic input on CapEx projects and reliability improvements for GMP facility infrastructure and equipment.
  • Collaborates with Plant and Reliability Engineering and provides input on improvements to critical and key assets.
  • Evaluates opportunities to streamline facility shutdowns and builds processes for effective shutdown management.
  • Ensures adherence to safe work permitting and Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) procedures during maintenance activities.
  • Fosters a culture of quick turnaround response time in troubleshooting and repair of critical assets.
  • Identifies opportunities to perform troubleshooting or maintenance work in-house.
  • Monitors the health of critical GMP manufacturing and utility assets and communicates opportunities to leadership.
  • Promotes the use of risk assessment methodologies (PHA, FMEA) to identify and implement appropriate engineering and procedural controls for compliant use of GMP equipment and utility systems.
  • Manages and evaluates vendor/contractor performance to ensure high-quality service and support.
  • Works with the Manager of Plant & Reliability Engineering by building a strategic vision for the site on overall asset reliability for critical GMP facility infrastructure and equipment.
  • Aligns with Plant & Reliability Engineering on health score cards for critical and key assets.
  • Maintains center of excellence and competencies on the BAS and identifies areas for continuous improvement.