Sharon McDonald, MBA
Sharon McDonald, MBA, is a Production Management Supervisor with extensive experience in medical device manufacturing and operational leadership at Alcon. She has built her career within a highly regulated cleanroom manufacturing environment, supporting the production of critical medical devices used in emergency eye surgeries, including cataract and retinal procedures. In her current leadership role, she oversees multi-area production operations with accountability for safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance. She is recognized for maintaining operational discipline, strengthening team performance, and driving alignment between daily execution and organizational objectives.
In her work at Alcon, Sharon leads teams responsible for assembling highly specialized and customer-specific surgical kits used by ophthalmic surgeons around the world. These kits contain essential procedural components such as gowns, drapes, needles, syringes, towels, and other critical medical supplies required to safely and effectively complete surgical procedures. Working within a strict cleanroom environment, she ensures adherence to rigorous gowning protocols, including hair nets, shoe covers, and full protective attire, to maintain sterility and product integrity. She also supports coordination with sales and commercial teams to respond to evolving physician needs, including bulk orders tied to scheduled surgical volumes and customized procedural requirements.
With nearly a decade of progressive experience at Alcon, Sharon has worked across multiple departments and shift structures, gaining a comprehensive understanding of end-to-end manufacturing operations. Her experience includes roles in custom doctor builds, where she supported tailored surgical kit configurations, as well as resin molding operations, where raw materials are transformed into precision medical components using specialized machinery. She has also worked across multiple production shifts, giving her a broad operational perspective and strong adaptability in fast-paced environments. Sharon values continuous learning and cross-functional exposure, as it allows her to better understand how each stage of the process connects, ultimately strengthening efficiency, quality, and overall production performance.
• Unconscious Bias (2017)
• University of Houston-Downtown - BS, Interdisplinary Studies
• University of Houston-Downtown - MBA, Leadership
• Houston City College - AA, Pre- Business- Accounting
• African Ancestry Cultivating Excellence (ACE)
• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated
• Love Indeed Residence partnership
• Back-to-school underwear and hygiene drive
• Bedroom furniture distribution program
• Summer Lunch Program -
Apostolic Faith Church
• Distribution boxing to Seniors -
Houston Food Bank
• Volunteer -
United Way Committee for Alcon
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to that zeal of just wanting to expand and grow and learn something different, and not wanting to be complacent. I just feel like sometimes I get into this mode to where once I learn something, it's just kind of like, now I have to move on to something else, or I get a little bit bored. I've always been that way since I was a kid - once I learn it and I get the groove of it, okay, I feel like I mastered this, let's go on to the next part. I've realized that a lot of people are okay where they're at, but I have this thing where it's always like, what's next? What can I do now?
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I ever received was from a previous director when I was kind of unsure, when I first stepped into managing the role that I was in. I'd seen a lot of people before me, and I knew I had so much experience in it. He sat me down and was just like, you know what, what we're gonna focus on is, what do you want to do? Once he kind of got a feel of what I wanted, it was just like, okay, what we gonna do? We gonna work on getting you to where you want to go. It was just kind of meaningful to me because he acted as a mentor to get me to where I wanted to go, and just to hear me out and simply just be like, hey, let me help you get you to where you want to go. I feel like it's not a lot of mentors that we have in my industry, or sometimes people are in these positions that they don't want to give up, so they tend to not help you or want to tell you how to get to where you can go. But somebody just being like, hey, what do you want to do? Okay, this is what you want to do, let me show you how you get there, or even if this is not necessarily this industry, let me just guide you from what my experience has been, so we can get you to where you want to go.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Build your confidence. I definitely believe in building confidence. I just feel like sometimes people are so unsure or worried about what someone else may say or think. You know what your talent is, you know what your skills are. So walk in confidence, believe in yourself, and stand out on faith. Take that step, even if you're unsure, just take it. I feel like, especially in my industry, it's been a lot of men in top roles, and I want to say within the last couple years, we've been seeing a lot of women, and it's good to see that type of thing. I just feel like some women just feel like, hey, well, since you tend to see men, you think that, okay, this is more of a man's shop, and it's like, no. If you know you can do it, then try it. You may be the best at it. Just be confident and just stand out. If this is something you want to do, just speak up about it. Take that chance on it and step out.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge currently is just trying to make sure that we are paying attention to market demands. We've had material issues for the last year and a half, where we know what the market says we should be pushing out, but we're having issues with getting material from vendors. One vendor in particular had one of their machines down, and that one machine affected us so greatly. Every other day we were getting 10,000 pieces of a certain material, and it went down to maybe once a week we're getting like 4,000. We had to make quick decisions to go out and find new vendors and make sure the parts we're getting are good quality and can partner with what we already have. It got really tense - we were having to send people home sometimes because there was no work, which affected their pay. When the vendor finally got the machine fixed, the quality went low because they were trying to push out as much as they can. We were having fails - pieces missing, needles bent - and we had to put a lot of material on hold and send it back. It was affecting everyone within the company.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are having an innovative mindset and accountability. Accountability plays a very big role - a very much big role. I value innovation and being able to think in new ways, and I really value accountability in everything I do.