Associate Director - GE Life Cycle Engineering

Location: Visp

A Career at Lonza

What you’ll get

• An agile career and a dynamic work culture
• An inclusive and ethical workplace
• Compensation programs that recognize high performance
• In addition to a competitive salary, you can expect numerous lifestyle, family, and leisure benefits.
• Relocation support for eligible candidate

We are looking for a driven Associate Director, GE Life Cycle Engineering to join us in Visp.

In this role you will develop and lead the global condition monitoring and predictive maintenance program by defining technical standards, assuring consistent diagnostic quality across sites and qualified providers, and establishing a closed-loop process from detection to verified resolution.

What you’ll do

1. Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance Strategy

• Define the global roadmap, deployment priorities and maturity assessments.
• Select risk-based monitoring approaches by asset criticality and failure mode, aligned with the maintenance strategy owner.

2. Diagnostic Technologies and Standards

• Own standards for vibration, infrared, oil analysis, lubrication reliability and complementary technologies.
• Standardize monitoring frequencies, acceptance criteria, severity codes and diagnostic reporting.

3. Reliability and Failure Elimination

• Lead diagnostic investigations and support root cause analysis and recurring-failure elimination.
• Recommend maintenance improvements and verify repair effectiveness with site teams.

4. AI, Smart Maintenance and Reliability Knowledge

• Pilot AI-enabled solutions combining SAP and asset monitoring data to anticipate failures and improve maintenance strategies.
• Partner with IT/OT to assure data quality, integration and technical performance before scaling.
• Own business requirements and technical content for a shared reliability knowledge platform, enabling reuse of approved strategies and lessons.

5. Alert-to-Action and Ownership

• Define workflows from diagnosis to documented resolution, including risk-based response times, escalation and repair verification.
• Own technical standards and assurance while preserving site execution and existing maintenance, calibration and paperless work-order ownership.

6. Deployment and Operational Readiness

• Lead cross-site deployment, gap closure and vendor coordination.
• Define monitoring, baseline and asset-data requirements for new assets and project handover.

7. Performance and Compliance

• Track monitoring coverage, diagnostic accuracy, timely resolution and verified reliability benefits.
• Maintain traceable records and coordinate applicable change control, data integrity and validation with Quality and IT/OT.

8. Capability Development and Collaboration

• Qualify diagnostic providers and develop site competencies through training, coaching and proficiency reviews.
• Share lessons, promote proven practices and escalate unresolved critical findings.

• Undefined

What we are looking for:

• Bachelor or Master degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Reliability Engineering, Asset or Data Analytic or related field
• Advanced qualification in a primary condition monitoring discipline, or demonstrably equivalent diagnostic
• competence; proven ability to assure a multi-technology program
• Certification in Vibration Category III (Category IV desirable); thermography Level II/III; lubrication/oil analysis MLA/MLT; ultrasound Level II; CMRP or equivalent, preferred
• Strong hands-on diagnostic expertise in at least one condition monitoring discipline, with working knowledge across vibration analysis, infrared thermography, oil analysis and lubrication reliability.
• Ability to apply asset criticality, failure-mode analysis and reliability methods to select appropriate monitoring technologies and maintenance strategies.
• Ability to define requirements for combining SAP maintenance history and asset monitoring data, assess data quality and interpret asset-performance trends.
• Ability to identify, evaluate and pilot AI-enabled maintenance solutions with IT/OT and digital specialists, translating outputs into technically justified maintenance recommendations.
• Ability to assess diagnostic and predictive performance, challenge false alerts and vendor claims, and demonstrate verified operational and business benefits.
• Ability to establish consistent diagnostic standards, assess analyst and vendor competence, and assure quality across sites.
• Ability to translate diagnostic findings into prioritized actions, risk-based response windows and verified resolution within established maintenance workflows.
• Understanding of GMP change control, data integrity and validation interfaces.
• Strong global program leadership, technical coaching and influence without direct authority, respecting site execution and existing process ownership.
• English fluent
• Willingness to travel (20% to 40%)

About Lonza

At Lonza, our people are our greatest strength. With 30+ sites across five continents, our globally connected teams work together every day to manufacture the medicines of tomorrow. Our core values of Collaboration, Accountability, Excellence, Passion and Integrity reflect who we are and how we work together. Everyone’s ideas, big or small, have the potential to improve millions of lives, and that’s the kind of work we want you to be part of.

Innovation thrives when people from all backgrounds bring their unique perspectives to the table. At Lonza, we value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. If you’re ready to help turn our customers’ breakthrough ideas into viable therapies, we look forward to welcoming you on board.

Ready to shape the future of life sciences? Apply now.