Relevant academic background in engineering, finance, business administration, life sciences, or a related discipline.
Experience in investment portfolio management or strategic CAPEX planning within biopharmaceutical manufacturing or consulting.
Strong understanding of biopharmaceutical manufacturing and capital investments, with evaluation skills for technical feasibility and financial returns.
Proven ability to lead complex investment initiatives through structured governance and cross-functional coordination.
Ability to integrate diverse inputs and translate complex information into clear executive recommendations.
Experience influencing senior stakeholders in a matrix organization and driving alignment across functions.
Strong analytical and communication skills, with a structured approach to managing risks and competing priorities.
Responsibilities
Lead governance of the Specialized Modalities CAPEX portfolio, including major projects needing Executive Committee approval.
Drive annual and long-range CAPEX planning, consolidating investment demand into a prioritized pipeline.
Develop capital allocation recommendations balancing strategic priorities, expected value, and risk.
Lead the investment governance process from intake through approval, ensuring proposals are decision-ready.
Integrate commercial, operational, and financial inputs into coherent business cases, challenging assumptions constructively.
Partner with Finance and Global Value Assurance on financial evaluations and scenario analyses.
Support sites in early investment development, translating business needs into viable proposals.
Monitor portfolio performance against business cases, escalating deviations and risks as needed.
Strengthen portfolio management through standardized tools and data-driven analytics.
Benefits
Opportunity to shape investment decisions in a leading biopharmaceutical company.
Collaborative work environment with cross-functional teams.
Exposure to high-level strategic planning and governance processes.
Potential for professional growth in a dynamic industry.
Work in a location with a strong biopharmaceutical presence, either in Switzerland or the US.
Full Job Description
As Director / Senior Director, Strategic CAPEX & Investment Portfolio Management, you will shape investment decisions across Lonza's Specialized Modalities platform. You will lead investment governance, capital planning and portfolio prioritization, helping translate business needs into strategically aligned, financially robust investment proposals.
Working closely with sites, Operations, Commercial Development, Engineering, Finance and Global Value Assurance, you will guide investments from initial opportunity assessment through approval and mobilization. You will also maintain portfolio-level oversight through delivery and value realization, ensuring insights inform future capital allocation decisions.
The role is to be based in one of the locations: Basel or Visp in Switzerland, Houston or Portsmouth in the US
Key responsibilities:
Lead governance of the Specialized Modalities CAPEX portfolio, including growth investments and major projects requiring Executive Committee approval.
Drive annual and long-range CAPEX planning, consolidating investment demand across sites and modalities into a transparent, prioritized investment pipeline.
Develop capital allocation recommendations for senior leadership, balancing strategic priorities, expected value, risk, affordability, capacity requirements and portfolio interdependencies.
Lead the platform investment governance process from intake through approval, coordinating stage-gate reviews and ensuring proposals are complete and ready for decision.
Integrate commercial, operational, engineering, financial, people and risk inputs into coherent business cases, constructively challenging assumptions with the responsible functions.
Partner with Finance and Global Value Assurance on financial evaluation and scenario analysis, ensuring consistency and comparability across investment proposals.
Support sites during early investment development, translating business needs into clear requirements, viable options and approval-ready proposals.
Ensure continuity across the end-to-end investment lifecycle, establishing clear accountabilities and coordinating structured handovers to E2E Leads and execution teams.
Monitor portfolio performance against approved business cases, supporting value reviews and escalating material deviations, risks and decisions requiring leadership attention.
Strengthen portfolio management through standardized tools, data-driven analytics, cross-project learning and continuous improvement of portfolio reporting, forecasting and decision support. Familiarity with AI-enabled approaches is an advantage.
Key requirements:
Relevant academic background in engineering, finance, business administration, life sciences or a related discipline.
Experience in investment portfolio management, strategic CAPEX planning, investment governance or capital project strategy within biopharmaceutical manufacturing, or relevant experience from a leading strategy consulting firm advising clients on capital strategy, manufacturing networks, operations or major investments.
Strong understanding of biopharmaceutical manufacturing and capital investments, with the ability to evaluate technical feasibility, business cases, financial returns and execution considerations. Direct engineering experience is an advantage.
Demonstrated ability to lead complex investment initiatives through structured governance and approval processes, coordinating cross-functional stakeholders and ensuring high-quality, decision-ready proposals.
Ability to integrate cross-functional inputs, challenge assumptions constructively and translate complex information into clear executive recommendations.
Experience working across sites and functions, influencing senior stakeholders and driving alignment within a matrix organization.
Strong analytical and communication skills, with a structured approach to managing risks, dependencies and competing investment priorities.
Experience applying digital tools to portfolio reporting, scenario analysis or decision support. Familiarity with AI-enabled approaches is an advantage.
About Lonza America Inc
Lonza America Inc is a subsidiary of Lonza Group, a Swiss multinational company that provides products and services to the pharmaceutical, biotech, and specialty ingredients markets. Lonza America Inc is responsible for the North American market and offers a range of products and services, including custom manufacturing, research and development, and quality control testing. The company has a strong focus on sustainability and has implemented various initiatives to reduce its environmental impact. Lonza America Inc was founded in 1897 and has since grown to become a leading provider of products and services in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
