Facilities Manager / Senior Facilities Manager

Company Overview

At Mission Barns, we’re building a cell culture process to ultimately make healthier, tastier, and cheaper animal fat in a more sustainable way without needing to rear and slaughter animals. Over the last 8 years, we’ve set scalable foundations for our first product, our cultivated pork fat, by:

1. Building a novel adherent cell culture bioreactor, poised to be the largest cell-yielding adherent bioreactor in the world, with potential applications in CGT and broader biopharma.
2. Achieving the first regulatory clearance in the world for any cultivated fat product, via FDA and USDA clearance in March 2025.
3. Developing a porcine cell culture system with novel, cost-scalable, and food-grade process reagents and porcine adipogenic cell lines that can proliferate enough to meet global pork fat demand.

The role

You will oversee our Berkeley R&D lab and lead our transition to a new ~25,000 sq ft facility. The new site will house the world's largest adherent cell culture bioreactor alongside our growing R&D and product development teams. Working with our Director of Bioprocess Engineering (BPE), you'll own the buildout from design through commissioning, then run the facility day-to-day.

Responsibilities

• Drive the buildout of Mission Barns’ next facility: work with our R&D and product development teams to set scope and priorities, and manage architects, contractors, and specialty vendors to deliver them
• Lead commissioning and startup of building systems, utilities, and process equipment with BPE, against defined acceptance criteria
• Plan and execute the transition of operations from our Berkeley lab, including the safe transfer of critical materials and equipment
• Own and mature our facility risk management program (asset criticality, FMECAs, risk register, and root cause investigations), applying it to the new facility so critical systems are proven before we depend on them
• Own critical monitoring and alarm systems, from commissioning through day-to-day response, including after-hours on-call coverage
• Own EHS programs, training, and regulatory compliance, including the permits the new facility will require
• Oversee day-to-day facility operations, including building systems, utilities and gases, and the preventive maintenance, calibration, and inspection program
• Manage the facilities team, budget, vendors, and service contracts, growing the team as operations expand

You may be a good fit if you have these qualifications:

• 5+ years of facilities management experience in biotech, pharma, food manufacturing, or a comparable laboratory or manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated experience delivering a lab buildout, relocation, or major renovation, including managing contractors, schedules, and budgets
• Technical fluency with laboratory building systems and utilities, and the curiosity to understand our bioprocess and what it needs from the facility
• Experience running a preventive maintenance program in a CMMS
• A proactive approach to risk: you anticipate how systems can fail and put controls in place before they do
• Demonstrated use of AI to accelerate and improve the quality of facilities work, with the judgment to verify what it produces
• A self-starter with a bias for action who thrives in a fast-paced, hands-on startup environment
• Willingness to obtain required certifications, such as DOT hazmat shipping and hazardous waste manifest signing
• Excellent organizational and communication skills, and a collaborative approach to working with technical teams

Preferred qualifications:

• Ownership of a biotech or bioprocess facility buildout from design through startup
• Familiarity with food-grade (USDA/FDA) or GMP facility requirements
• Certifications such as CFM, CMRP, PMP, or OSHA 30
• Technical fluency with bioprocess equipment and utilities, such as bioreactors, CIP/SIP, plant and clean steam, clean dry air, process gases, purified water, and waste treatment systems
• Experience with structured risk management tools such as FMEA/FMECA, asset criticality assessment, risk registers and bow-tie analysis, root cause analysis, and commissioning and qualification
• Hands-on ownership of EHS programs and regulatory compliance in California, including permitting process facilities (pressure vessels, air emissions, wastewater discharge)
• Experience managing tenant improvement projects on behalf of a tenant

Compensation and benefits

This role is open at two levels, depending on experience.

Salary

• Facilities Manager: $135,000 - $170,000
• Senior Facilities Manager: $155,000 - $190,000

Benefits

Significant equity compensation package; medical, dental, and vision coverage; flexible holiday and vacation time policy, 401k, commuter benefits, all kinds of snacks and drinks, ample opportunity for career advancement, and a few other perks.

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Mission Barns is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io.