STEM OPT Jobs in Kentucky
Kentucky's manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare sectors actively hire F-1 STEM OPT graduates, with Louisville, Lexington, and the Northern Kentucky corridor offering the densest concentration of E-Verify-enrolled employers. Automotive, supply chain technology, and biomedical research roles dominate sponsorship activity across the state.
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INTRODUCTION
Piramal Pharma Solutions is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), offering end-to-end development and manufacturing solutions across the drug life cycle. We serve our clients through a globally integrated network of facilities in North America, Europe and Asia. This enables us to offer a comprehensive range of services including Drug Discovery Solutions, Process & Pharmaceutical Development services, Clinical Trial Supplies, Commercial supply of APIs and Finished dosage forms. We also offer specialized services like development and manufacture of Highly Potent APIs and Antibody Drug Conjugation. Our capability as an integrated service provider & experience with various technologies enables us to serve Innovator and Generic companies worldwide.
JOB TITLE
PROJECT MANAGER
JOB OVERVIEW
Reporting to the Director of Project Management, the Project Manager is the primary and critical interface with clients regarding both existing and potential development projects and has cross-functional responsibility for facilitating and managing completion of all required elements of the project strategy.
REPORTING STRUCTURE
This position reports to the Director of Project Management.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Serve as the main point of contact for internal and external clients throughout the manufacturing process
- Lead role in determining specific client requirements
- Ensure that client expectations are managed and met
- Negotiate acceptance of scope changes with client
- Manage project scope, critical path, timeline and budget of multiple complex projects simultaneously
- Manage communications such as conference calls and meetings with clients to ensure a positive relationship
- Maintain detailed meeting minutes for internal and external use and send out as appropriate
- Establish practical, achievable, realistic timelines/goals with internal and external project teams
- Identify scope creep and create scope change document with input from appropriate functional groups including business development
- Responsible for identifying potential problems in meeting commitments
- Resolve potential shortfalls in meeting commitments first by working internally with Piramal Pharma Solutions team so commitment can be made, or if it not feasible, contacting the client as soon as possible to renegotiate a new commitment that they can accept
- Develop project risk management plan
- Coordinate with Finance to obtain project financials to hold project close-out meeting
- Establish and report on essential project metrics (such as variance) and elevate issues/risks to senior and executive management
- Manage revenue forecast for projects
- Participate in revenue notification process and complete invoice notifications as required
- Manage and communicate client needs and expectations to project team
- Work with Piramal Pharma Solutions employees to ensure that commitments made to clients are realistic and achievable
- Coordinate with business development and/or client to ensure appropriate information and materials are provided to facilitate kick-off of project
- Effectively schedule, facilitate and manage team meetings and ensure that proper communication regarding the project is appropriately elevated and distributed
- Influence/motivate team members to enact project plans and achieve goals
- Mentor team members and encourage positive team atmosphere
- Lead projects in alignment with Piramal Pharma Solutions - Lexington/Policies and FDA guidelines
- Assist in department standardization
- Provide training to project team members as needed
QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's Degree in applicable scientific field required, advanced degree preferred
- One to three years of Project Management experience desired
- Minimum two (2) years of previous pharmaceutical industry experience desired, contract manufacturing or contract research organization experience strongly preferred
- Good working knowledge of cGMP Guidelines and FDA regulations as well as an ability to understand company policies, SOPs, and Safety/OSHA policies
- Proficient in use of common office software including SmartSheet (or equivalent alternate PM software), Excel, Word, and Power Point
- Can demonstrate understanding of project management practices; including project initiating, planning, execution, monitoring/controlling, and closeout
- Requires excellent written and verbal communication skills. Must be proactive and able to engage effectively with multiple stakeholders
- Proven ability to meet deadlines and handle stressful situations effectively
- Detail oriented
LOCATION:
Location: Lexington
Tips for Finding STEM OPT Jobs in Kentucky
Confirm your role qualifies under STEM OPT
Cross-reference your job title against the official STEM-designated degree list before accepting an offer. Use O*NET to verify the occupation code aligns with your degree field, since Kentucky employers in logistics and manufacturing sometimes post hybrid roles that blur eligibility lines.
Target E-Verify-enrolled Kentucky employers early
STEM OPT extension requires your employer to be enrolled in E-Verify before your 60-day application window opens. Filter your search to confirmed E-Verify participants, particularly in Louisville's advanced manufacturing corridor and Northern Kentucky's supply chain hubs, to avoid last-minute eligibility issues.
Use Migrate Mate to find verified sponsorship employers
Search Migrate Mate to identify Kentucky employers with documented F-1 STEM OPT filing history. This filters out companies that say they sponsor but haven't filed for STEM OPT students, saving you weeks of outreach to employers who can't actually complete the process.
Submit your STEM OPT application 90 days before OPT expires
File your I-765 STEM OPT extension application with USCIS no later than 90 days before your current OPT end date. Kentucky university DSOs often have internal deadlines two to three weeks earlier, so confirm your school's I-983 submission cutoff before planning your job start date.
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Get Access To All JobsF-1 STEM OPT Jobs in Kentucky: Frequently Asked Questions
Which industries in Kentucky sponsor the most F-1 STEM OPT visas?
Advanced manufacturing, logistics technology, and healthcare systems are the dominant F-1 STEM OPT sponsoring industries in Kentucky. Toyota's Georgetown operations and suppliers across the Bluegrass region hire engineering and data roles regularly. Louisville's hospital networks and UPS's logistics technology division in the Louisville metro also generate consistent STEM OPT sponsorship activity for qualifying graduates.
Which cities in Kentucky have the most F-1 STEM OPT sponsorship jobs?
Louisville has the highest concentration of F-1 STEM OPT employers, driven by its logistics, healthcare, and financial technology sectors. Lexington follows with biomedical research, agricultural technology, and university-affiliated roles. The Northern Kentucky corridor, adjacent to Cincinnati, adds manufacturing and information technology employers who recruit across both metro areas and are enrolled in E-Verify.
What types of roles typically qualify for F-1 STEM OPT sponsorship in Kentucky?
Qualifying roles must directly relate to your STEM-designated degree field. In Kentucky, common qualifying positions include manufacturing process engineers, supply chain data analysts, biomedical research associates, software developers, environmental scientists, and logistics systems analysts. Roles where the STEM connection is indirect, such as general operations management, typically do not qualify even when posted by STEM-heavy Kentucky employers.
How do I find F-1 STEM OPT jobs in Kentucky?
Migrate Mate lets you filter Kentucky job listings by employers with verified F-1 STEM OPT filing history, so you focus outreach on companies that have completed the E-Verify enrollment and I-983 process before. University career centers at the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville also maintain employer relationships with local sponsors, which can shorten your search timeline significantly.
Are there any Kentucky-specific considerations for F-1 STEM OPT sponsorship?
Kentucky does not impose state-level work authorization requirements beyond federal STEM OPT rules, but many Kentucky employers outside Louisville and Lexington are smaller manufacturers unfamiliar with the I-983 training plan requirement. Budget extra time to educate HR teams at mid-size employers in secondary markets like Bowling Green or Owensboro, where STEM OPT sponsorship experience is less common than in the major metros.