The Opportunity
El Sea LLC, an owner's representative and project management firm, is seeking an experienced Sterile Construction Project Manager to run construction management and cost controls on a sterile fit out project for a pharmaceutical manufacturing client. The engagement is a year in the Delaware area. Requires candidate to be on site full time. The project team runs lean: the successful candidate must bring the experience to hit the ground running with no ramp-up period.
Requirements
- Three to five years of project experience on projects with filling and process equipment; OSD packaging experience preferred
- On-site presence during active construction, equipment installation, utility tie-ins, testing, turnover, and startup
Process & Mechanical Systems Expertise
- Process piping by division: Div 40 process interconnections, Div 22 plumbing and clean utilities, Div 23 HVAC and clean steam, Div 33 site utilities, Div 11 equipment, Div 13 cleanrooms and containment
- ASME B31.3 for process piping and ASME BPE for product contact
- Weld documentation: WPS, PQR, welder continuity, weld logs and weld maps, borescope records, MTRs and material traceability
- System testing and acceptance: pressure and leak testing, slope and drainability, passivation, flush and clean
- Clean utilities: WFI, clean steam, process gases, CIP and SIP distribution
- High containment: OEB banding, isolator and RABS interfaces, containment verification
- Building and process controls: BMS, EMS, process controls, alarms, interlocks, room pressure monitoring, temperature and humidity control, and integration with equipment vendors
- Filling, inspection, packaging, and material-handling equipment installation: equipment setting, utility connections, vendor coordination, FAT/SAT follow-up, and readiness for commissioning
- OSD packaging requirements: dust control, product segregation, personnel and material flows, line clearance, packaging equipment interfaces, and serialization/aggregation infrastructure
Regulatory & Documentation
- cGMP construction requirements per 21 CFR 210/211 and FDA sterile drug product guidance
- Good Documentation Practices: contemporaneous, attributable, legible, no backfilling, no pencil, proper error correction
- ALCOA+ applied to field records
- Construction turnover into CQV: system boundaries, System Turnover Packages, and how a field documentation gap becomes a qualification delay
- Change and deviation control during construction
Cleanroom & Occupied Facility Protocols
- Cleanroom construction protocols: gowning, material airlocks, tool control, temporary containment, ISO classification and hand-off of classified space
- Sequencing and cleanroom-safe finishes, penetration sealing, ceiling grid integrity
- Occupied facility work: permit to work, LOTO, hot work, dust and noise control, utility tie-in and shutdown planning, segregation from GMP operations
- Contamination control planning for construction adjacent to sterile, classified, or operational areas: pressure relationships, temporary air handling, cleaning and release of work areas, and cross-contamination prevention
- Coordination of room certification, HEPA integrity testing, air balancing, pressure-cascade verification, recovery testing, and environmental-monitoring readiness
Commercial Oversight
- Develop and maintain the construction schedule, including contractor sequencing, equipment deliveries, utility availability, commissioning, CQV turnover, and operational-readiness milestones
- Coordinate the general contractor, trade contractors, design team, equipment vendors, CQV, Quality, Operations, EHS, IT/automation, and facility stakeholders
- Validate pay applications against work actually installed, not the schedule of values
- Review progress photos and in-progress work against specs, drawings, and approved shop drawings
- Manage shop drawings, RFIs, submittals, procurement tracking, change order evaluations, schedule impacts, and contractor recovery plans with technical judgment
- Identify and escalate quality, cost, schedule, safety, and turnover risks before they affect commissioning or qualification