HRBP Director - Manufacturing (Boston, MA)

Job Description

General Summary:

We are seeking a strategic and hands-on Director, HR Business Partner to support one or more sub-functions within the Biopharmaceutical Sciences & Manufacturing Organization (BSMO) during a pivotal phase of growth and innovation. In this role, you will be a visible HR leader within the sub-function, serving as a trusted advisor to senior leaders and their teams. You will shape the people and organization strategy, enable business outcomes, and foster a high-performance, agile culture across a regulated manufacturing and technical development environment.

This is a senior individual contributor role that leads through influence—orchestrating outcomes across a matrix, aligning cross-functional stakeholders, and leveraging specialist HR centers of excellence to deliver integrated solutions.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic HR & Business Partnership

• Serve as the primary HR partner to one or more senior leaders for assigned BSMO sub-function(s); translate business strategy into a prioritized, integrated people and organization plan.
• Influence executive decision-making through clear options, risk/benefit tradeoffs, and data-backed recommendations that connect talent levers to operational, quality, and cost outcomes.

Organization Design, Capability, & Operating Model

• Lead org design and evolution for growth, complexity, and scale (e.g., standing up new capabilities, optimizing spans/layers, clarifying interfaces and governance).
• Define and build critical capabilities, partnering with leaders to close skill gaps via targeted build/buy/borrow strategies.

Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) & Succession

• Own the sub-function’s multi-year workforce plan aligned to long-range strategy, capacity, and budget—headcount, skills, pipeline, and location strategy. Ensure the plan aligns to the broader enterprise level plans for BSMO and Vertex.
• Drive succession readiness for pivotal roles; develop diverse slates and growth plans that ensure continuity for GMP operations and technical/scientific leadership.

Talent, Performance, & Leadership Effectiveness

• Elevate leadership performance at the senior levels and with their teams: build management routines, coach through inflection points, and raise the performance bar with clarity and fairness.
• Partner with Talent Management to deploy targeted programs (e.g., high-potential acceleration, career pathways, technical leadership tracks).

Culture, Engagement, & Change Leadership

• Diagnose and shift culture in alignment with BSMO strategic culture roadmap and steward change for network expansions, tech transfers, or portfolio pivots.
• Design and execute change plans (case for change, stakeholder maps, comms, adoption metrics) across multi-site and cross-functional contexts.

People Analytics & Insights

• Leverage data to illuminate trends (e.g., attrition risk in critical skills, shift staffing dynamics, succession health).
• Convert insights into simple, compelling narratives that build alignment and prompt action; measure impact and iterate.

HR Operating Model & Governance

• Orchestrate with Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, People Experience, Talent Management, and Strategic Analytics to deliver integrated solutions at pace.
• Ensure flawless execution of core cycles (performance, calibration, compensation planning) with equity, transparency, and business relevance.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Experience developing and implementing HR strategies
• Expert-level experience developing strategic workforce plans, from conception to implementation
• Highly experienced in talent management, succession planning, and career growth and development
• Strong experience managing and/or leading culture and change management or organizational effectiveness initiatives
• Experience and expert understanding of management development, employee relations, data and analytics, diversity and inclusion

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in management, human resources, business, or related discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive HR experience, including HRBP leadership in a regulated manufacturing environment (biotech/pharma strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated impact partnering with senior-level clients in complex, matrixed organizations; proven ability to lead without direct authority.
• Expertise in organization design, strategic workforce planning, succession, and talent management, with experience in technical/manufacturing populations preferred.
• Fluency with people data and financial/budget trade-offs; able to link talent decisions to operational, quality, safety, and cost outcomes.
• Depth in change leadership and organizational effectiveness with measurable results in high-stakes, time-bound transformations.
• Experience across GMP manufacturing and technical development (e.g., MS&T, process development, QA/QC, supply/tech transfer) and partnering with site and network leaders.
• Track record building capabilities at scale (e.g., new modalities, network expansion, digital/automation in labs/plants).
• Exposure to global or multi-site contexts; comfort operating across time zones and cross-functional leadership teams.

#LI-EE1 #LI-Hybrid

Pay Range:

$185,600 - $278,400

Disclosure Statement:

Flex Designation:

Hybrid-Eligible Or On-Site Eligible

Flex Eligibility Status:

In this Hybrid-Eligible role, you can choose to be designated as:
1. Hybrid : work remotely up to two days per week; or select
2. On-Site : work five days per week on-site with ad hoc flexibility.

Note: The Flex status for this position is subject to Vertex’s Policy on Flex @ Vertex Program and may be changed at any time.

#LI-Hybrid

Company Information

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation.

Vertex is committed to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination for all employees and qualified applicants without regard to a person's race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, or any characteristic protected under applicable law. Vertex is an E-Verify Employer in the United States. Vertex will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities, in accordance with applicable law.

Any applicant requiring an accommodation in connection with the hiring process and/or to perform the essential functions of the position for which the applicant has applied should make a request to the recruiter or hiring manager, or contact Talent Acquisition at ApplicationAssistance@vrtx.com