Panther: Better Health Is Skin Deep

Panther is unlocking the tremendous biological power of our skin, delivering efficacious, shelf-stable treatments directly to customers. Panther's precisely engineered smart microarray patches (SmartPatches) address a wide range of needs in Skin Health (cosmetics, medical aesthetics) and are designed to treat conditions in Systemic Health (infectious diseases, allergies, cancer, autoimmune diseases, metabolic disorders). Billions of people around the world lack access to effective treatment, and we will change this.

SmartPatches enable effective, tech-enabled customer experiences, and our AI platform provides valuable insights for improved patient outcomes and the development of even better treatments. SmartPatches are affordable to manufacture and distribute, and easy to apply, resulting in greater access and market expansion. Panther is developing clinically validated products, the first of which launches in 2027.

The Opportunity

Panther Life Sciences is building a new category of consumer-centric health and beauty products powered by our SmartPatch platform. As we move from development into commercialization, manufacturing becomes the critical unlock for scale, quality, and customer trust.

We are seeking a Director of Manufacturing Operations to own this transition end-to-end. This role is responsible for translating innovative R&D into reliable, high-quality, and scalable commercial production across both cosmetic and medical device products. You will lead the build-out of Panther's manufacturing strategy, serving as the bridge between internal development teams and external CMO partners.

You will define how manufacturing operates at Panther, from selecting and standing up partners, to leading technology transfer, to building the systems that allow us to scale from thousands to millions of units. This is not a maintenance role. You will be building the manufacturing function from scratch. Your work will directly impact product availability, customer experience, and the company's ability to grow.

You will work closely with the leadership team and cross-functional team members in formulation, device development, and quality to establish a manufacturing engine that supports both near-term commercial goals and long-term platform expansion. This is for someone who wants to build, scale, and set the standard for manufacturing in a category-defining company with a great team and a platform that is already generating clinical results. If you want to build something that matters, we want to hear from you.

Some travel will required approximately 10% -30%

This role is ideally based in Pittsburgh, with New York as an alternative location."

Responsibilities

CDMO & Manufacturing Operations

Serve as the primary relationship owner and day-to-day point of contact for CMO partners

Lead technology transfer from R&D to clinical and commercial manufacturing

Oversee late-stage clinical and commercial production across product lines

Drive manufacturing performance metrics including yield, throughput, and product quality

Support CMO selection and onboarding, including process validation and scale-up

Build and manage supply chain, logistics, fulfillment, and inventory operations

Own material sourcing and supplier relationships

Identify critical dependencies and build supplier redundancy to mitigate risk

Scaling, Systems & Financial Planning

Build the manufacturing line from the ground up with a path from ~10K to ~1M units per month

Drive automation, process optimization, and line redesign as production scales

Own manufacturing cost modeling and financial planning (FP&A) for operations

Develop sourcing strategy and budget frameworks in partnership with finance and leadership

Establish systems and processes to support future team growth and internal manufacturing capabilities

Quality, Compliance & Cross-Functional Leadership

Ensure manufacturing quality, regulatory compliance, and adherence to QMS

Partner cross-functionally with leadership, formulation, device, and quality teams