Kelly Perry is Associate Director of Operational Excellence at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where she leads a team dedicated to maximizing manufacturing site throughput, resource utilization and optionality supporting the innovative development & agile commercialization of the Vertex pipeline. optimizing process development and manufacturing performance across modalities. She has more than 17 years of experience in manufacturing engineering and leadership, with a career built on advancing operational excellence, digital enablement, and sustainable process improvements.
Kelly has played a central role in major digital and operational transformations at Vertex, including leading the Internal Manufacturing Analytics & Quality (IMAQ) program that introduced real-time scheduling and AI-enabled knowledge platforms to internal manufacturing. She applies Theory of Constraints and Lean principles to align people, process, and technology in ways that reduce cycle times, improve reliability, and accelerate the availability of new therapies.
Her expertise spans oral solid dose, biologics, and emerging modalities such as cell and gene therapies, where she is focused on strengthening the connection between development, launch, and commercialization. Kelly is passionate about pragmatic AI adoption in process development and manufacturing—ensuring innovations are translated into practical, scalable solutions that improve throughput, yield, and speed to patients. She holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University.