Munira was presented an honorary certificate for women in STEM by the office of Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel
Munira Bhaijeewala of the Los Angeles Dawoodi Bohra community began her career as a quality supervisor at Allergan LLC., a manufacturer of drugs, devices, and biotech products. While holding down a full-time job, she continued going to school. She acquired a Master’s in Business administration from Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, to complement her existing Masters in Chemistry. From Allergan, she moved on to Amgen Inc., a Fortune 500 drug manufacturing company. As a Product Quality Operation Manager and Specialist, she tested numerous products to ensure that the correct specifications were met when a product was in the development phase. As the team leader, she led the cross-functional global network of managing good manufacturing services suppliers, including developing quality agreement processes and international standard operating procedures. Thus she ensured that the quality-check process is compliant with the FDA, ICH guidelines, and EU regulations.
Currently, as a Senior Quality Assurance Specialist at Kite Pharma, she works with cancer patients who have gone through chemotherapy and relapsed. She ensures that quality standards are met with her team before releasing the blood back to the patient after having engineered it to fight against specific cancers. At Kite Pharma, her job satisfaction is higher because she has a direct role in ensuring a patient’s longevity, and she feels a direct connection to the patient’s life. In addition, she feels a real sense of accomplishment that she is making a difference in a person’s life through her work, though it involves critical decision-making.
In January 2021, she was awarded the coveted “Values at Work” certificate and recognized internally for her work ethic and contribution to her team. Her advice for the young girls of the Los Angeles Dawoodi Bohra community is, “Don’t let challenges limit you! Set limits on your challenges.”