Until January 2025, Chris led the Global Technical Operations department (Tech Ops), which includes Global Manufacturing, Global Quality, Process Development, and the Global Supply Chain for Kite Pharma.
Prior to leading Tech Ops, Chris led the Global Manufacturing Leadership Team (GMLT), which includes the Site Operational Leaders and cross-functional partners from Quality, MSAT, IT, HR, and Finance. Chris was responsible for viral vector, clinical, and commercial cell therapy operations, developing manufacturing strategy, executing site operations, ensuring cGMP compliance, establishing new manufacturing facilities, building teams, and developing people. Additionally, Chris was responsible for culture development at the sites, driving an inclusive culture of safety, quality, and production excellence.
Chris is a global business leader with over 30 years of biotech and pharmaceutical operations experience across various functions within Technical Operations. Chris joined Kite in 2018 as Site Head of Cell Therapy Operations in Frederick, MD. Prior to that, Chris was with AstraZeneca, where he was VP & Site Head of Operations for their monoclonal antibody site. Previously, Chris spent 10 years at Novartis in positions of increasing responsibility, including VP & Site Head of Vaccines Operations and VP & Global Head of Technical Operations Strategy. In this role, Chris was responsible for product lifecycle management, long-range production planning, and manufacturing network strategy for a network operating in eight countries. Prior to his time at Novartis, Chris held various manufacturing and engineering leadership roles at Amgen.
Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Eastern Michigan University and a master’s degree in business from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.