Manager, Global Quality Management System (QMS)

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.
The Manager, Global QMS will oversee key elements of Orca Bio’s global Quality Management System, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and alignment across all sites. This role will be responsible for the global Quality Management Review (QMR) process, internal audit program, supplier management program, and inspection readiness activities. In addition, the manager will provide dotted-line oversight and guidance to site QMR administrators to ensure consistent application of quality systems across the organization.

Essential Duties & Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the global Quality Management Review (QMR) process, ensuring timely data collection, analysis, and reporting to senior leadership.
• Oversee the global internal audit program, including planning, execution, reporting, and tracking of corrective/preventive actions.
• Own the supplier qualification and management program, including risk assessments, supplier audits, and ongoing monitoring to ensure compliance with GxP requirements.
• Drive global inspection management activities, ensuring cross-functional and site readiness for FDA, EMA, and other health authority inspections.
• Provide oversight and guidance to site QMR administrators ensuring consistent quality system implementation across all Orca Bio sites.
• Establish and monitor global QMS key performance indicators (KPIs), oversee trending of quality metrics, and ensure data-driven insights are used to improve quality systems and performance.
• Partner with IT and business process owners to identify and implement QMS system enhancements, including defining requirements, driving prioritization and ensuring changes are validated and compliant.
• Review, approve, and provide quality oversight for validation documentation (e.g., equipment qualification, computer system validation, process validation) for global enterprise systems (e.g. MasterControl, ERP systems, Trackwise, etc.) ensuring alignment with regulatory and internal requirements.
• Collaborate with cross-functional and site leadership teams to drive continuous improvement initiatives, ensuring the QMS evolves in line with business needs and regulatory expectations.
• Represent the Quality organization in interactions with external auditors, suppliers, and regulatory agencies as required.

Minimum Experience, Education, Certifications, Licenses

• Bachelor’s degree in a scientific or engineering discipline required; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum 5+ years of relevant Quality Assurance or Quality Systems experience in a GxP-regulated environment, with at least 2-3 years in a leadership role.
• Strong knowledge of global quality regulations and standards (FDA, EMA, ICH, ISO 9001, 21 CFR Parts 210/211/820, EU GMP).
• Proven experience leading Quality Management Review, internal audit programs, supplier management processes, and validation oversight.
• Demonstrated success in establishing and trending quality performance metrics and KPIs.
• Experience supporting and/or administering electronic QMS systems and partnering with IT for system enhancements.
• Experience working in a multi-site or global quality organization strongly preferred.
• Excellent organizational, analytical, and communication skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate across functional and site boundaries.

The anticipated annual salary range for this job is based on prior experience in the role/industry, education, location, internal equity, and other job-related factors as permitted by law. For remote-based positions, this range may vary based on your local market. You will also be eligible to receive pre-IPO equity, in addition to medical, dental, and vision benefits, flexible PTO, 401(k) plan, life and accidental death and disability coverage, and parental leave benefits. Other perks include free daily lunches and snacks at our on-site locations.
Who we are
We are driven by a passion for science and compassion for patients. We act with urgency to ensure our treatmen