Jaime Palma

About Jaime Palma

Strategic biomanufacturing leader with 15+ years of experience driving operational excellence, building high-performing teams, and advancing biotechnology innovation. Proven track record in scaling bioprocess operations, improving reliability and throughput, and championing continuous improvement across complex manufacturing environments. Driven by a deep commitment to improving the human condition - both at scale through the advancement of diagnostics and therapeutics, and individually through coaching, mentorship, and leadership development.

Experience

1. Director, Manufacturing

   Catalent

   Feb 2022 — Present · Madison, WI, US

   Direct a 150+ person operations organization, delivering 50+ successful protein and mRNA batches annually while increasing the proportion of commercial and PPQ runs and driving sustained year-over-year increases in reactor capacity and utilization to support long-term site growth-Spearheaded deployment of lean operating systems - daily management, structured gemba, and problem-solving - in partnership with Continuous Improvement and Manufacturing leadership, driving a 66% reduction in deviations and 18% productivity lift in six months, strengthening site reliability and inspection readiness-Enhanced onboarding and cross-training programs across the Catalent Biologics network, including co-development of a specialized onboarding curriculum that cut time-to-effectiveness by 50% and enabled rapid staffing growth without compromising batch success-Built advanced capacity models and analytics tools to support rapid decision-making in a volatile demand environment, optimizing team structure and competency alignment to achieve a 150% increase in engagement and 2x production capacity per employee-Oversaw multiple successful regulatory inspections, including FDA, HPRA, and PMDA audits conducted under both standard and Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) conditions; strengthened site systems, led cross-functional preparation, and ensured full compliance across GMP operations.

Education

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

  Bachelor of Science, Molecular Biology

  2005 — 2009

Skills

• Dna
• Cell Culture
• Manufacturing Scale-Up
• Dna Sequencing
• Laboratory
• Restriction Enzyme Digest and Restriction Mapping
• Sds-Page
• Fermentation Process Development
• Transfection
• Aseptic Technique
• Tissue Culture
• Rt-Pcr
• Plasmid Preparation and Cloning
• Genetic Testing
• Bacterial Culture
• Dna Extraction
• Western Blotting
• Proteomics
• Dna Analysis
• Rna Isolation
• Biomarkers
• Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
• Molecular Biology
• Fluorescence Microscopy
• Protein Analysis
• Fermentation
• Immunohistochemistry
• Qpcr
• Bioreactor
• Technical Writing