Senior Project Manager - Industrial Projects

VIQI Group; Antwerpen; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

VIQI Group seeks a seasoned Project Manager to provide independent oversight of pharmaceutical development and manufacturing initiatives for a major global client. You will coordinate with site leads and external CMOs, ensuring on‑time delivery, quality, and regulatory alignment across multiple geographies.

You’ll monitor complex transfer projects, challenge plans, escalate risks, and report to senior leadership while collaborating with teams across countries and time zones.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of project management experience in pharma or life sciences.
• Degree in science or engineering, ideally chemistry.
• Strong knowledge of API manufacturing and analytical methods.

Responsibilities

• Track and challenge external partners’ project plans.
• Monitor critical path and interdependencies across activities.
• Escalate deviations and propose action plans.
• Advise external partners on project organization and progress.
• Prepare and present updates to steering committees up to executive level.
• Coordinate work across geographies and time zones.

Skills

Project management

Pharma/Life sciences

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Science or engineering degree (chemistry preferred)

Job description

We are a consulting firm specialized in the healthcare industry. We support pharmaceutical companies and life sciences organizations on their industrial, technical and regulatory projects by providing them with recognized experts.

The context

Our client, a major global pharmaceutical company, relies on a network of contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) in Europe and Asia to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Within the External Manufacturing organization, a virtual management team coordinates all functions between the company and its partners.

Several major projects are underway:

• Technology transfers of chemical processes: analytical methods, chemistry, regulatory filings, approvals and stakeholder coordination
• Construction of new facilities at external partners, built to the client’s specifications, followed by process transfer and qualification

These projects are currently managed directly by the client’s site leads, whose workload no longer allows for sufficient oversight. The client is therefore looking to strengthen the team with a dedicated project manager to provide independent oversight, in addition to the external partner’s own project manager.

Your responsibilities :

Working closely with a site lead, you will be accountable for the successful delivery of the projects assigned to you:

• Track and challenge the external partners’ project plans
• Monitor the critical path and anticipate the impact of interdependencies between activities
• Escalate any deviation immediately and propose action plans
• Advise external partners on the organization and progress of their projects
• Prepare and present progress updates to steering committees, up to executive level (partners’ CEOs and CFOs)
• Work with teams spread across multiple geographies and time zones

Quality and cost monitoring are handled by other teams within the client organization and are outside the scope of this role.

Your profile :

• Around 10 years of project management experience in the pharmaceutical or life sciences industry
• Scientific or engineering degree, ideally in chemistry, with knowledge of API manufacturing (organic chemistry)
• Solid understanding of analytical methods, validation, equipment and systems
• Hands‑on experience with technology transfers and/or facility builds strongly preferred
• Confident presenting to senior leadership
• Proactive and forward‑thinking: you own the project as if it were your own
• Fluent English required; Dutch or French is a plus
• Large-scale international industrial projects at the heart of a leading healthcare company’s supply chain
• A long‑term assignment with real visibility
• A high‑impact role with direct access to decision‑makers
• The support of a consulting firm that knows your industry