More than one million people in the United States today are fighting blood cancer. While a traditional allogeneic stem cell transplant has been the best hope for many, the transplant itself can prove fatal or lead to serious conditions, such as graft vs. host disease. Orca Bio is a commercial-stage biotechnology company redefining the transplant process by developing next-generation cell therapies with the goal of providing significantly better survival rates with dramatically fewer risks. With our purified, high-precision cell therapies we hope to not only replace patients' blood and immune systems with healthy ones, but also restore their lives.
We have built a state-of-the-art, 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Sacramento, CA (7910 Metro Air Pkwy) to ensure the consistent and reliable delivery of our high-precision cell therapy products. This site is essential to advancing our clinical pipeline and supporting future commercial availability of our life-saving therapies.
Position Summary:
The Specialist, EHS is responsible for supporting the development, implementation, and maintenance of environmental, occupational health, and workplace safety programs and policies to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal regulations and multiple sites.
Location: Sacramento, CA (on-site). This role is primarily based at our "Sac02" commercial manufacturing facility on Metro Air Parkway (3–4 days per week), with regular time at our nearby "Sac01" site on Business Drive (1–2 days per week). Occasional travel to our Bay Area (Menlo Park) headquarters may be required (1–2 days per month).
Physical Demands & Work Conditions
- Production Associates: Must have visual acuity of 20/20 (corrected or uncorrected) and normal color vision to safely perform critical tasks such as visual inspection of materials, equipment, and labeling, including distinguishing color-coded components in a GMP environment.
- Must meet cleanroom gowning requirements, including wearing full gowning (face coverings, gloves, hoods, goggles) for up to 3 consecutive hours at a time, minimal movement in the cleanroom, and working with or around human blood, blood-derived materials, cells, other biological materials, and alcohol-based sprays. Use of cosmetics (makeup, painted nails), jewelry, or facial piercings is not permitted in the cleanroom, and any skin conditions that cause shedding must be disclosed.
- Must be comfortable regularly participating in video-based meetings.
Key Responsibilities
- Ensure compliance with Cal/OSHA, EPA, DTSC, CDPH and other applicable regulatory standards
- Conduct safety audits, inspections, and risk assessments to identify and mitigate safety, health, and environmental risks. Coordinate implementation of identified corrective actions or improvements.
- Lead safety committees and represent EHS interests in cross-functional meetings and project teams.
- Develop, coordinate, and deliver EHS training programs for employees (HazCom, LOTO, PPE, emergency response, etc.)
- Investigate near-misses, incidents, and injuries, and recommend and track corrective actions. Manage associated documentation and reporting requirements.
- Develop, maintain and update EHS policies, procedures, and documentation
- Manage environmental programs including waste management, air emissions, and wastewater compliance
- Manage the proper handling, storage, disposal, documentation, and regulatory compliance of biohazardous and hazardous wastes
- Track and report safety metrics and environmental data
- Support emergency preparedness and response planning
- Collaborate with leadership to drive continuous improvement in safety performance
- Maintain EHS documentation, including SDSs, permits, and reporting.
- Lead or support emergency response plans, drills, and preparedness activities.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, Occupational Health & Safety, Industrial Hygiene, or related field preferred.
- 5 years of EHS experience in a GMP environment, preferably in a cell therapy, biotechnology or pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.
- Working knowledge of Cal/OSHA, EPA, DTSC, CDPH and other relevant regulations
- Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
- Excellent project and time management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
- Strong analytical, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills, and ability to make sound decisions
- Certifications such as OSHA, HAZWOPER, CSP or CHMM are a plus.
- This position requires on-site presence and typically involves regular office hours but may require on-call availability and after-hours presence for planned or unplanned work, or emergency response.
- Gowning will be required for cleanroom access.
The anticipated annual salary range (listed above) for this job is based on prior experience in the role/industry, education, location, internal equity, and other job-related factors as permitted by law. For remote-based positions, this range may vary based on your local market. Full-time employment positions will also be eligible to receive pre-IPO equity and annual bonus, in addition to competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits, PTO, 401(k) plan, life and accidental death and disability coverage, and parental leave benefits. Other perks include subsidized daily lunches and snacks at our on-site locations.
Who we are
We are driven by a passion for science and compassion for patients. We act with urgency to ensure our treatments are one day accessible to all who need them.
We live by our core values of passion, courage, and integrity. Excellence in our work means the chance to unlock a better quality of life for our patients, and with that comes tremendous responsibility.
We innovate on a path that hasn’t been paved. We embrace an entrepreneurial spirit and take calculated risks to achieve our mission. We aren’t afraid to ask “why not” and challenge the status quo.
We maintain a start-up culture of camaraderie and leadership by example, regardless of title.
We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and recognize that celebrating our differences creates stronger, lasting solutions that better serve our team, our patients and their healthcare providers.
Notice to staffing firms
Orca Bio does not accept resumes from staffing agencies with which we do not have a written agreement and specific engagement for a particular opening. Our employment activities, inquiries and offers are managed through our HR/Talent team, and all candidates are presented through this channel only. We do not accept unsolicited resumes, and we rarely outsource recruitment.
