Vertex Fall Co-op 2026, Operational Excellence, Vertex Manufacturing Center (VMC)

Role Summary

The Vertex Operational Excellence VMC Co-Op is a 6-month experiential training program for students pursuing undergraduate or advanced degrees in Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering, Operations Research, or related fields. The role is based at Vertex's manufacturing site in Boston, MA, and involves hands-on work to improve performance across development and manufacturing, with a focus on end-to-end value-stream mapping, governance strengthening, and data-driven continuous improvement. The co-op emphasizes structured problem solving and building simple digital tools to support scientists and manufacturing personnel.

Responsibilities

• Support value stream mapping by gathering process data and building current-state and future-state maps for commercial and clinical products with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Translate mapping findings into prioritized constraints or waste themes to inform continuous improvement projects and governance discussions.
• Develop and refresh performance dashboards that strengthen operational governance with an aligned view of performance and improvement opportunities.
• Translate “Voice of the Scientist” input into useful knowledge hub features that help scientists and manufacturing personnel do their jobs better.
• Build a user-friendly information hub using a graph database platform; collaborate with platform developers to resolve technical issues and optimize usage.
• Support initiatives to embed Value Stream Management into project prioritization and governance by mapping commercial and clinical value streams and connecting performance metrics.

Qualifications

• Required: Currently pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering, Operations Research, or a related engineering/science discipline.
• Preferred: Junior, senior, or graduate student status.

Skills

• Lean/Six Sigma/Operational Excellence, including process mapping and value-stream mapping.
• Ability to build clear visuals and structured outputs (maps, readouts, roadmaps).
• Familiarity with data visualization and reporting tools (Power BI, Tableau).
• Experience working with data (Excel, SQL, Python/R) to clean, organize, and summarize information for stakeholders.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to work effectively in a team-oriented environment.
• Willingness to learn new tools and methodologies; curiosity and problem-solving mindset.

Education

• Currently pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering, Operations Research, or related engineering/science discipline.
• Preferred: Junior, senior, or graduate student status.

Additional Requirements

• Capacity to work full-time onsite in Boston, MA.
• Legal authorization to work in the United States; Vertex does not sponsor internships for this role.
• You must be enrolled in an advanced degree program if graduating before December 2026.
• You must be available to work full-time, 40 hours per week from July – December 2026.
• Program Details: Full-time, on-site; Program Dates: July–December 2026.