Project Manager

Harris Lord Recruitment; City Of London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Harris Lord Recruitment is helping a consumer health manufacturing client in London to recruit a Senior Project Manager for a major manufacturing transformation programme. The role is predominantly on site, leading the strategy into delivery and overseeing partner selection, transfer, validation and go-live.

You will shape the programme, manage governance and budget, and report to senior stakeholders as the transformation progresses, ensuring regulatory and quality continuity.

Qualifications

• Proven ownership of a complex manufacturing or technology transfer programme in a regulated setting.
• Ability to build and interrogate business cases with cost implications.
• Engage with Quality, Regulatory and manufacturing specialists credibly.
• Strong stakeholder management and challenging plans when needed.
• Background in pharmaceuticals, consumer health, MedTech or FMCG is valued.

Responsibilities

• Own the programme roadmap, governance, budget and risk register.
• Identify, evaluate and select external manufacturing partners with due diligence.
• Lead technology transfer, trials, validation and regulatory continuity.
• Manage cutover, stabilisation and handover to ongoing operations.
• Report regularly to senior stakeholders on progress and dependencies.

Skills

Complex manufacturing project mgmt

Stakeholder management

Financial modelling / business cases

Regulated manufacturing knowledge

GMP / quality awareness

Education

PRINCE2 / PMP / APM certification

Tools

Project management software

Governance frameworks

Job description

Senior Project Manager: Manufacturing Transformation

Regulated Manufacturing / Technology Transfer / CMO and CDMO Transition

Location: London (four to five days on site while the programme is established)

Salary: £80,000 to £90,000, plus bonus

Contract: Permanent

About the role

Our client, an established and well regarded name in consumer health products manufacturing, is entering a significant period of operational transformation its manufacturing activity (internal production to external manufacturing partners) needs to be analysed and rationalised and the Project Manager will be central to making that happen.

This is not a project coordination or PMO role. The strategy is still developing, and the person appointed will help shape it into a practical, deliverable programme, then personally drive that programme through partner selection, technology transfer, validation, go live and stabilisation.

What you will own

• Assess the current manufacturing model and the options for the future, building business cases and commercial comparisons to support decision making
• Identify, evaluate and support selection of external manufacturing partners, including due diligence against GMP, quality and capability criteria
• Own the programme roadmap, governance, budget, risk register and dependencies, reporting to senior stakeholders on a regular cadence
• Lead technology transfer: process and specification transfer, trial and validation batches, packaging and regulatory continuity, and any dual running needed to protect supply
• Manage cutover, stabilisation and formal handover to the ongoing operational and quality owners once the transition is complete

What we need from you

• Proven ownership of a complex manufacturing, site transfer or technology transfer programme, from definition through to delivery, in a regulated manufacturing environment
• Enough technical understanding of manufacturing and quality systems to engage credibly with Quality, Regulatory and manufacturing specialists, with or without direct CMO or CDMO experience
• A formal project management qualification (for example APM, PRINCE2 or PMP), with evidence of applying it in practice rather than holding the certificate alone
• Genuine commercial and financial literacy: comfortable building or interrogating a business case, modelling scenarios and understanding cost implications, not handing the numbers over to Finance
• Strong stakeholder management and the confidence to challenge a plan or a senior stakeholder when you believe it is wrong, and to explain why
• Relevant sectors include pharmaceuticals, consumer health, medical devices and MedTech, healthcare products, FMCG, and food, supplements or nutraceuticals. What matters most is the complexity and regulatory demands of the environment you have worked in, rather than an exact sector match.

This role will not suit

• A background in general programme or project management, for example in IT, financial services, construction or infrastructure, is not a fit here, however strong the delivery track record, unless it also includes hands-on ownership of a manufacturing, site transfer or technology transfer programme in a regulated environment.
• Familiarity with project management software or governance frameworks on their own is not what this role is looking for.