General Manager

Barrington James; Lyon; Sur place; EUR 180 000 - 260 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Barrington James is supporting the recruitment of a General Manager for a senior leadership role at a French CDMO site. The successful candidate will take full ownership of the site’s strategic direction, operational performance and financial results, including quality, customer delivery and regulatory readiness.

The role requires extensive leadership across sterile manufacturing and fill-finish in a GMP environment, with a strong commercial mindset and proven ability to drive growth and

Qualifications

• Significant leadership experience within pharmaceutical manufacturing, CDMO or contract manufacturing.
• Proven experience leading a manufacturing site or substantial business unit.
• Strong knowledge of sterile pharmaceutical manufacturing and fill-finish.

Responsabilités

• Provide overall site leadership and strategic direction for the French CDMO site.
• Lead operations across sterile manufacturing, fill-finish, engineering, supply chain and technical operations.
• Ensure GMP compliance, regulatory readiness and patient safety across the site.
• Drive improvements in productivity, capacity, quality and cost efficiency.
• Manage P&L, budgets, CAPEX and operational performance while strengthening customer relationships.

Connaissances

Strategic leadership

P&L management

Stakeholder management

Operational excellence

Quality & GMP compliance

Commercial acumen

French language proficiency

Description du poste

Location: France

Industry: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing / CDMO

About the Company

Our client is an established pharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) in France, specialising in sterile manufacturing and fill-finish services for pharmaceutical and biotech clients.

The site supports customers across clinical and commercial programmes, providing high-quality sterile manufacturing capabilities within a highly regulated GMP environment.

As the business continues to develop its capabilities, customer portfolio and manufacturing footprint, we are seeking an experienced General Manager to take overall responsibility for the site and lead its next phase of growth.

The Opportunity

This is a senior leadership position with full responsibility for the operational, commercial and financial performance of the site.

Reporting into the wider Group leadership team, the General Manager will lead the site strategy, ensuring that manufacturing performance, quality, customer delivery, financial performance and organisational development are aligned with the company's long-term objectives.

The successful individual will operate as the senior leader and face of the site, working closely with customers, employees, Group leadership and external stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Site Leadership & Strategy

• Take overall responsibility for the performance and strategic direction of the French site.
• Develop and execute the site's business strategy in line with wider Group objectives.
• Lead a culture focused on quality, operational excellence, customer service and continuous improvement.
• Identify opportunities to expand manufacturing capabilities, capacity and customer relationships.
• Represent the site at Group level and with key external stakeholders.

Operations & Manufacturing

• Provide leadership across sterile manufacturing, fill-finish, engineering, supply chain and technical operations.
• Ensure manufacturing operations consistently deliver against quality, cost, schedule, capacity and customer requirements.
• Drive improvements in productivity, OEE, output, utilisation and operational efficiency.
• Oversee production planning, capacity management and operational resource allocation.
• Ensure the site is appropriately prepared for future growth, new products and increased customer demand.

Quality & Compliance

• Maintain the highest standards of GMP, regulatory compliance and patient safety.
• Work closely with QA and Regulatory teams to ensure site readiness for regulatory inspections and customer audits.
• Ensure robust management of deviations, CAPAs, change controls and quality performance.
• Promote a strong quality culture throughout the organisation.
• Hold full responsibility for the site's P&L and financial performance.
• Manage budgets, OPEX, CAPEX and investment programmes.
• Drive profitability while maintaining quality and customer service standards.
• Monitor key business metrics and implement corrective actions where required.
• Work with commercial and business development teams to strengthen customer relationships and identify new opportunities.
• Act as a senior point of contact for strategic customers and partners.
• Build strong relationships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients.
• Understand customer requirements and ensure the site consistently delivers against contractual commitments.
• Support business development activities, new business opportunities and major programme discussions.
• Represent the organisation at customer meetings and industry events where appropriate.

People & Organisation

• Lead, develop and motivate the site's leadership team.
• Establish clear objectives, accountability and performance expectations across the organisation.
• Develop organisational capability to support future growth.
• Promote a high-performance culture while maintaining strong employee engagement.
• Identify and develop future leadership talent across the site.

Key Performance Areas

The General Manager will have accountability across:

P&L | EBITDA | CAPEX | OPEX | OTIF | OEE | Manufacturing Output | Quality | Customer Satisfaction | Regulatory Compliance | Safety | Capacity | Employee Engagement

Ideal Background

We are looking for an experienced pharmaceutical leader with a strong understanding of sterile manufacturing and fill-finish operations.

The ideal candidate will have:

• Significant leadership experience within pharmaceutical manufacturing, CDMO or contract manufacturing.
• Proven experience leading a manufacturing site or substantial business unit.
• Strong knowledge of sterile pharmaceutical manufacturing and fill-finish.
• Experience operating within a highly regulated GMP environment.
• Demonstrable responsibility for P&L, budget, CAPEX and operational performance.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams across manufacturing, quality, engineering, supply chain and technical functions.
• A strong understanding of customer-facing CDMO environments and the complexity of pharmaceutical client programmes.
• Experience managing regulatory inspections and customer audits.
• Proven track record of delivering operational improvements, growth or site transformation.
• Strong commercial awareness and the ability to balance customer requirements with operational and financial objectives.
• Excellent leadership, communication and stakeholder-management skills.
• Fluent French and strong professional English.

Leadership Profile

Beyond technical and operational expertise, the successful candidate will be a visible, commercially minded and hands-on leader who can operate effectively between the shop floor, site leadership team, customers and Group executives.

We are particularly interested in individuals who have successfully led sites through growth, transformation, capacity expansion, operational improvement or organisational change.

This is an opportunity for an established pharmaceutical leader to take genuine ownership of a strategically important French CDMO site and play a central role in its continued development.