Director, Cell & Gene Therapy Research Technology (Boston)

About this role

Job Description General Summary:

This role leads a team responsible for the architecture, delivery, security, support, and continuous evolution of enterprise laboratory technology platforms across LC1/2, Vertex's Cell & Gene Therapy (CGT) site. It is also the single accountable Research Site Partner for LC1/2: the primary DTE relationship holder for the site leadership, and the front door through which site requirements are captured, shaped, and routed into the correct cross-functional platform backlog.

Operating within highly regulated GxP and SOX environments, this role remains accountable for operational excellence, financial stewardship, and risk management across a complex laboratory technology landscape, including ownership of the site's annual operating budget. In parallel, the role carries accountability for local technology adoption, change management, and cross-site prioritization advocacy — ensuring LC1/2's voice shapes the shared platform roadmap without the site building or maintaining local one-off solutions.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Technology & Operations Leadership • Build and sustain strong, trust-based relationships with senior business, quality, and DTE leaders, acting as a strategic partner with sustained impact on enterprise laboratory goals. • Lead, develop, and retain a highly effective Lab Engineering Support organization, leveraging internal resources and external partners through a managed service provider model. • Ensure stable, secure, and compliant laboratory technology operations across both IT and OT environments, aligned to cyber security, ITSM, ITIL, and DTE system lifecycle standards. • Serve as the primary point of accountability for laboratory technology operating within GxP- and SOX-regulated environments, partnering with DTE Compliance, Cyber Security, Internal Audit, and Quality Assurance. • Own and manage the site's operating budget, ensuring disciplined financial planning, forecasting, vendor management, and value realization across services and platforms. • Oversee a portfolio of programs, projects, platform releases, and enhancements delivered at the site, ensuring quality, timeliness, and alignment with business outcomes. • Lead technology-driven modernization of the laboratory environment — intelligent automation, agentic workflows, passive data capture, IoT-enabled instruments, and connected lab environments — translating innovation into pragmatic, compliant roadmaps. • Attract, develop, and retain top talent; carry full people-management accountability for assigned staff.

Site Partnership • Serve as the single accountable owner for technology adoption, change, and the DTE relationship at LC1/2 — the primary partner to the site leadership. • Engage directly with Cell & Gene Therapy leadership, translating CGT modality context into technology requirements without relying on an intermediary domain translator. CGT-specific regulatory and quality compliance is owned by the platform/quality teams, not this role. • Act as the site's product owner: capture requirements and user stories directly from scientists and shape raw, ambiguous input into clear, prioritized demand. • Be the single front door for LC1/2 — route shaped requirements to the correct platform owner (within Laboratory Solutions or peer DTE platform organizations) rather than site stakeholders engaging each platform team directly. • Drive local adoption and change management for new platform capabilities; carry roadmap and delivery updates back to site scientists and leadership on a regular cadence. • Represent the site's voice in cross-site, cross-functional prioritization forums, ensuring the shared platform roadmap reflects the site's highest-value needs. • Maintain a transparent, current view of the site's demand status and backlog position that site stakeholders can see and understand.

Knowledge and Skills: • Strong senior-level business engagement and stakeholder partnership capabilities. • Working fluency in CGT modality concepts sufficient to be seen as credible by research leadership and scientists, not just by technology stakeholders. • Deep understanding of enterprise technology operations, cyber security, ITSM, and system lifecycle practices. • Proven people leadership experience building and sustaining high-performing teams. • Program, portfolio, demand, and financial management expertise. • Excellent analytical, problem-solving, communication, and executive-level presentation skills. • Ability to balance operational stability with innovation in regulated environments. • Comfort operating in a matrixed accountability model — shaping and routing demand where the build/architecture decision rests with a peer platform owner, not this role. • Preferred, not required: experience with Benchling and fit-for-purpose analytics/visualization software — a strong addition to the candidate profile but not mandatory.

Education and Experience: • Bachelor's degree in technology discipline or equivalent • 10+ years of relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. • 3+ years of experience in the Cell & Gene Therapy space — general modality fluency is sufficient; deep hands-on process/manufacturing experience is not required. • Demonstrated leadership managing enterprise-scale technology platforms and support organizations. • Proven experience operating within GxP- and SOX-regulated environments. • Experience leading complex programs, portfolios, and vendor ecosystems with financial accountability. • Experience operating as a product owner, business relationship manager, or similar demand-shaping role — translating ambiguous stakeholder input into structured, prioritized backlog items.

#LI-EE1  #LI-Hybrid

Pay Range: $198,000 - $297,000 Disclosure Statement: The range provided is based on what we believe is a reasonable estimate for the base salary pay range for this job at the time of posting. This role is eligible for an annual bonus and a

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