Senior, Project Leader at Baxter… · Cartago

Senior, Project Leader Location: Cartago, Cartago This is where your work makes a difference. At Baxter, we believe every person—regardless of who they are or where they are from—deserves a chance to live a healthy life. It was our founding belief in 1931 and continues to be our guiding principle. We are redefining healthcare delivery to make a greater impact today, tomorrow, and beyond. Our Baxter colleagues are united by our Mission to Save and Sustain Lives. Together, our community is driven by a culture of courage, trust, and collaboration. Every individual is empowered to take ownership and make a meaningful impact. We strive for efficient and effective operations, and we hold each other accountable for delivering exceptional results. Here, you will find more than just a job—you will find purpose and pride. Your role at Baxter: You as the Technical Lead – TCO Engineering is a core member of the TCO (Technical Cost Out) team and is accountable for delivering material and component cost reduction, supply resilience, and margin improvement through technical analysis, specification optimization, exploring different sourcing options, and multi-functional execution. The role partners closely with Procurement, R&D, Quality, Operations, and Suppliers to identify, validate, and implement cost optimization opportunities while maintaining product performance, regulatory compliance, and supply continuity. This role sits within the TCO team within the ISC organization with strong dotted-line engagement to Procurement, R&D, and Operations. The role is execution-focused and operates within established governance forums. What you will be doing: TCO Opportunity Identification & Analysis: Identify and evaluate opportunities to reduce total costs in materials, components, and processes at ITP sites. Concentrate on insourcing, alternative procurement methods, and process and product value engineering. Ensure alignment to site and partner with Manufacturing Strategy to align to invented future state. Perform structured should-cost, clean-sheet, and teardown analyses. Support category strategies with fact-based cost drivers and benchmarks. Facilitate multi-functional Continuous Improvement, Kaizen and Cost Optimization events to generate and prioritize ideas. Technical Execution & Validation: Lead a multi-functional technical team through the planning and execution of projects using various engineering and scientific techniques, procedures and criteria. This includes constructing detailed, accurate schedules, driving and working with a core team, and guiding technical support groups. Lead or support technical change execution including specification and material substitution. Coordinate sample builds, trials, and testing. Support change control processes, validation, and implementation (e.g., cut-in planning). multi-functional & Supplier Collaboration: Partner with Procurement, Quality, R&D, Operations, Strategy, and Finance among others. Engage suppliers on process capability, readiness, and cost clarity. Support dual qualification, risk mitigation, and capacity assessments. Performance Tracking & Governance: Lead and track initiatives end-to-end from opportunity assessment, reason development, full execution and hand over of project and savings to operations. Maintain documentation of assumptions, risks, and approvals. Advance quality, service, regulatory, cost or timeline risks. Document and leverage standards as part of the internal TCO center continuous improvement methodology. What will you bring? Required: 5-8+ years experience with Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Materials, Plastics, Chemicals, Packaging, or Manufacturing engineering, science, or related field. Shown experience delivering multi-million dollar value engineering savings. Shown experience leading multi-functional projects end-to-end using structured project management methods. Validated understanding of GMP, change control, deviation/CAPA concepts, and validation/qualification principles. Strong analytical capability. Strong interpersonal skills and multi-functional influence skills. Travel required. Preferred: Experience in alternative procurement and supplier qualification (APQP/PPAP) in regulated manufacturing, with end‑to‑end technical and procurement leadership delivering cost savings. Experience translating technical changes into measurable business value, insourcing transitions and tech transfer activities. Experience in value engineering and compose for manufacturability. Experience with cost modelling, should-costing or clean-sheet methodologies. Lean / Six Sigma certification. Key Performance Indicators Validated cost savings delivered vs target. Right first-time execution with no quality and service impact. Efficiency in terms of initiatives moved from idea to implementation and time to implement Timely realization and cut-in performance and overall Return on Investment performance. Equal Employment Opportunity Baxter is an equal opportunity employer. Baxter evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, disability/handicap status or any other legally protected characteristic. Reasonable Accommodations Baxter is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities globally. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or interview process, please click on the link here and let us know the nature of your request along with your contact information. 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