A Day in the Life of Jubilant HollisterStier’s Director of Technical Services

When Natalie Mullerleile joined Jubilant HollisterStier (JHS) after graduating with a biology degree from Gonzaga University, she began a 15-year journey that would take her from the foundations of sterile manufacturing to directing key initiatives and becoming a leader who helps other grow.

Natalie is the Director of Technical Services, where she oversees development, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of manufacturing processes on the company’s four manufacturing lines. As a Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO), Jubilant HollisterStier partners with global pharmaceutical companies to manufacture critical medicines. Her team is responsible for overseeing technical and engineering projects, solving new challenges, and working with clients to execute their vision.    

Throughout her career, Natalie discovered a passion for helping cultivate the next generation of biomanufacturing talent. In 2022, JHS supported her returned to Gonzaga University to take a nine-month certificate course in Foundational Leadership, which has been instrumental in further developing her managerial skillset to help support her team’s growth and career aspirations.

5-7 AM: Early Morning Start
As a mother to three girls ages 2, 6, and 17, Natalie usually wakes up between 5 and 7 AM to start her day. She enjoys helping get everyone ready for school as she connects virtually with her teams on urgent updates from overnight.

“Usually, first thing when I wake up, I’m checking in with our plant managers and understanding what’s going on at the site. We have four manufacturing lines that run 24-7, which is incredible, so we have people there working around the clock. I look to see if there’s anything that happened overnight that needs my immediate attention.”

9 AM: Arrival Onsite
After sending her daughters to school, Natalie arrives at the manufacturing site and heads to her office. She first checks in with leaders for status updates on ongoing projects and batches to see if there are any issues that she needs to address immediately. She then looks ahead to see what is planned at the site for the day, determining if she needs to coordinate extra resources or provide support for clients who are arriving onsite.

She can also be found assessing new components and equipment, walking around the manufacturing lines, and working closely with colleagues to facilitate the growing number of new products across the site. “All of the products we work on are medications that directly impact patients’ lives and span so many different areas of need. It’s incredible to know we are having such a big influence in that way.”

3 PM: Mentoring Moments
Natalie is passionate about working with people and enjoys collaborating with colleagues to solve problems and develop strategies that enable project success and ongoing commercial production. She looks forward to the moments she can connect with her direct reports and peers across the manufacturing site and give back to the company that’s given her so many opportunities.

“It is very motivating to be able to support the development of the individuals on my team. I find a lot of joy in working directly with folks, especially those that are new to the industry. I also enjoy mentoring them, helping them develop both their technical and their soft skills as far as navigating our organization and working with clients.”

6 PM: After Hours Enjoying the Outdoors
After leaving for the day, Natalie often spends time with her husband, daughters and two dogs taking in the fresh air at local outdoor spots such as Liberty Lake, Spokane River and the Dishman Mica trails.

“Spokane is a little bit sneaky in that there are all kinds of fun things going on that people often don’t know about. Whether it’s a farmers’ market, a pop-up concert or a nice restaurant, there’s a lot of things that you may think are only available in a bigger city that Spokane has as well. We also have the beautiful contrast of nature that is just outside our back door. It is so easy to get to the mountains, to the river, to one of our many, many lakes.”

Interested in exploring all that Eastern Washington has to offer? Check out open roles at Jubilant HollisterStier here.

Sponsored by Life Science Washington and Jubilant HollisterStier