Our client is a global leader in the biotech industry sector employing over 40,000 staff internationally with over 30 billion in revenue in 2023. This industry leader is investing heavily in its internal Biologics manufacturing operations. With the development of a state-of-the-art Drug Product Biotech and Device/Packaging manufacturing campus at their greenfield site in Germany, our client is seeking a Senior Director of Operations to lead their operations function. This next-generation Biotech manufacturing plant will be the organisation's most technically advanced Drug Product manufacturing operations once complete which constitutes 2.5bn USD investment by the organisation.

The Position

Be a collaborative, inclusive, energetic leader and support the broader lead team to:

• Build the organisation with the necessary capability, capacity and culture to operate this facility to the highest standards of safety, quality, and operational excellence: talent management, development, and retention within the organisation (and beyond).
• Defines the site engineering priorities & roadmap to develop and implement the systems and processes needed to run the site. This includes leveraging existing business knowledge where necessary, but also incorporating external experiences and learning and using Engineering first principles.
• Partner with the IT function to deliver a digital facility and operation, with the highest possible levels of digitalisation and automation.
• Support the project team to deliver the facility as the end user. Providing feedback and support on design decisions, commissioning strategies, startup plans, etc. Collaborate to ensure the right decisions are made to meet project deliverables and longer-term strategic goals for the site.
• Develop and adapt organisational structure to provide correct and capable resources and management to deliver the site to a full scale GMP manufacturing scale.
• Ensure the systems are in place and executed to establish the initial qualified and safe state for equipment, processes, utilities and facilities.
• Build technical relationships with the relevant corporate departments and sponsor strategic corporate initiatives at a site level.
• This role has direct interactions with regulatory agencies.
• Continue to define and support the site engineering priorities & roadmap; integrate the functional agenda with site priorities.
• Ensure the site complies with corporate standards and policies for the engineering function, including applicable environmental, safety, and quality requirements.
• Have external focus, and benchmark best practices across the network and externally.
• Ensure equipment, processes, utilities and facilities remain and operate in a qualified and safe state. Ensure that equipment maintenance and utilities operations are performed and documented to the highest standards of safety and quality.
• Manage the site investment processes for assets (planning, prioritisation, resourcing, project management, capital accounting and reporting). Own the development and delivery of the capital investment plan in accordance with the site objectives for new products, recapitalisation of assets, and facility modernisation.
• Ensure that a robust control system exists to manage the business, identify compliance issues and escalate issues appropriately.
• Develop the future management and technical leadership for the site and potential global assignments.
• Champion continuous improvement and Lean manufacturing principles.

The Person

• Minimum of a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline and a minimum of 10 years of experience in a leadership role managing operations within the bio/pharmaceutical industry.
• Must possess knowledge and understanding of cGMPs and how they apply to manufacturing operations.
• Must have a strong ability to form effective relationships at all levels. This candidate must be able to work closely with the Site Leadership team to ensure alignment with corporate objectives and internal decision-making processes and be able to connect and communicate effectively with all levels of the organisation on site.
• Should have a demonstrated track record of successfully developing, managing and executing projects from start to finish on time and within budget with high performance standards that ensure customer satisfaction.
• Should have experience developing and managing extremely talented, engaged and high performing teams with a focus on building strong team cultures to ensure a safe and successful work environment.
• Fluent in English and German.

To discover more about this opportunity, apply now or contact Shane Browne at HRM Search Partners on +353 1 6321865 for a confidential discussion.