Doing the right thing for patients: How Eva is helping build a new innovative medicine facility from the ground up

When you’re building a state-of-the-art biomanufacturing facility where employees will be developing medicines to help patients around the world live healthier lives, you need to hire the right team to create a strong, engaging culture from day one.  

That is Eva Rivera’s focus in her new role as the Operations Director for the Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine facility in North Carolina. She joined J&J 16 years ago as an intern and quickly came to love the caring, inclusive culture she found here.  

 

 

“What has made J&J such a big part of my life is seeing how the company cares about the employees, and how Our Credo drives our values,” Eva said. “It’s a blessing to be part of a company where doing the right thing for patients drives business decisions.” 

When she was in college in Puerto Rico, Eva knew J&J was where she wanted to work, due to its reputation for taking care of its employees. She was able to grow her career and explore new roles throughout the company while also feeling supported to prioritize her family and raise her daughter. But it was during an emergency in Puerto Rico where Eva experienced what it means to work for a company that puts its employees first.  

 

"We felt protected by the company and felt secure knowing J&J was going to make sure the employees in Puerto Rico were taken care of,” she said. “It was a unique experience and confirmed that we were working for the right company.” 

 

Throughout her career at J&J, she has worked in Operations, Technical Operations and Value Chain Management, giving her the comprehensive hands-on experience to help bring the vision for the North Carolina facility to life. She believes one of the best reasons to consider a career at J&J is the encouragement and support for employees to take on new roles and find new ways to make an impact as interests and passions change over time.  

The Wilson, NC facility will be one of the biggest biotherapeutic manufacturing sites for J&J in the United States, focusing on developing medicines to treat cancer, immune-mediated and neurological diseases. The new facility has a sister site in Cork, Ireland, which has given the North Carolina team a unique opportunity to learn from its established team about the challenges they have experienced and the processes they put in place for its success. 

The new North Carolina team spent several months in an immersion training program in Cork, where they gained new skills and experienced firsthand how the J&J culture makes everyone feel valued and connected to J&J’s mission. 

“The team will bring those lessons back to North Carolina,” Eva said. “But more importantly, they saw that a strong culture is just as critical to success as comprehensive training and proven processes. The friends and connections they made in Cork will have a lasting impact on our careers, and now we have a strong team in place ready to go.”  

The North Carolina site is still in the construction and design phase, and for Eva, that means being actively involved in every detail, from design to equipment selection to determining the skills that will be needed on her growing team. Once fully operational, this state-of-the-art, digitally enabled facility will directly employ over 500 specialized employees and contractors, including process technicians, laboratory analysts, engineers and microbiologists. 

“Our goal is to have this new facility be the best place to work in North Carolina,” Eva said. “We want it to be a place where everyone operates as a team to deliver what patients need, and where everyone enjoys showing up to work every day.”