Site Engineering Director - Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

HRM Search Partners; Dublin; On-site; EUR 160,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

HRM Search Partners is seeking an Engineering Director for a leading pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Dublin. This role provides strategic and operational leadership of the site Engineering function, guiding CAPEX governance, maintenance and reliability initiatives, and driving the organisation’s growth and productivity.

As a key member of the Site Leadership Team, you will set the engineering strategy, oversee project delivery, and build a high-performing team across project

Qualifications

• Degree-level qualification in Engineering or a related technical discipline.
• Significant senior engineering leadership experience in pharmaceutical, biologics or another highly regulated manufacturing environment.
• Experience at Site Leadership Team / Director level, or readiness to progress to a site-level Engineering Director position.

Responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership and strategic direction for the Engineering function within a complex Pharma manufacturing environment.
• Operate as a key member of the Site Leadership Team, contributing to broader site strategy, performance and decision-making.
• Develop and own the site's engineering strategy and roadmap, ensuring alignment with operational and business priorities.
• Lead CAPEX planning, budgeting and engineering governance, establishing clear priorities and ensuring effective allocation of investment.
• Lead the planning and delivery of engineering, capital and supporting site projects required to improve operational performance and enable increased production.
• Establish a disciplined project delivery framework, ensuring projects are delivered safely, compliantly, on time and against agreed objectives.
• Develop and implement a progressive maintenance and reliability strategy, incorporating Total Productive Maintenance, Predictive Maintenance and Lean principles.
• Drive improvements in equipment reliability, engineering effectiveness, right-first-time performance and overall manufacturing capability.
• Lead and develop a multi-disciplinary Engineering organisation spanning areas including Project Engineering, Maintenance and Cleaning Validation.
• Build organisational capability through effective leadership, coaching, performance management and succession planning.
• Foster a high-performance engineering culture characterised by accountability, pace, collaboration, continuous improvement and delivery.
• Work closely with Operations, Quality, Technical Services and other site functions to identify and resolve engineering challenges and support manufacturing priorities.
• Ensure engineering activities are delivered in accordance with applicable regulatory, quality, safety and compliance requirements.
• Support manufacturing scale-up and significant operational change while maximising the capability of the existing site infrastructure.
• Maintain strong technical visibility across the operation, combining senior-level leadership with a willingness to engage directly with processes, equipment and engineering challenges.

Skills

Leadership

Regulated manufacturing

CAPEX governance

Education

Degree in Engineering

Job description

A leading pharmaceutical manufacturing organisation is seeking to appoint an Engineering Director to provide strategic and operational leadership for a complex Pharma manufacturing facility in Dublin. As a key member of the Site Leadership Team, the Engineering Director will have overall responsibility for the site Engineering function and will play a central role in supporting a significant phase of operational growth and increased production. This is a broad leadership position requiring an experienced engineering leader who can combine strategic thinking with strong execution, bringing greater structure, pace and accountability while remaining close to the manufacturing operation. The successful candidate will shape the site's engineering strategy, strengthen CAPEX and project governance, advance maintenance and reliability capability, and develop a high-performing engineering organisation capable of supporting the site's future growth.

Responsibilities:

• Provide overall leadership and strategic direction for the Engineering function within a complex Pharma manufacturing environment.
• Operate as a key member of the Site Leadership Team, contributing to broader site strategy, performance and decision-making.
• Develop and own the site's engineering strategy and roadmap, ensuring alignment with operational and business priorities.
• Lead CAPEX planning, budgeting and engineering governance, establishing clear priorities and ensuring effective allocation of investment.
• Lead the planning and delivery of engineering, capital and supporting site projects required to improve operational performance and enable increased production.
• Establish a disciplined project delivery framework, ensuring projects are delivered safely, compliantly, on time and against agreed objectives.
• Develop and implement a progressive maintenance and reliability strategy, incorporating Total Productive Maintenance, Predictive Maintenance and Lean principles.
• Drive improvements in equipment reliability, engineering effectiveness, right-first-time performance and overall manufacturing capability.
• Lead and develop a multi-disciplinary Engineering organisation spanning areas including Project Engineering, Maintenance and Cleaning Validation.
• Build organisational capability through effective leadership, coaching, performance management and succession planning.
• Foster a high-performance engineering culture characterised by accountability, pace, collaboration, continuous improvement and delivery.
• Work closely with Operations, Quality, Technical Services and other site functions to identify and resolve engineering challenges and support manufacturing priorities.
• Ensure engineering activities are delivered in accordance with applicable regulatory, quality, safety and compliance requirements.
• Support manufacturing scale-up and significant operational change while maximising the capability of the existing site infrastructure.
• Maintain strong technical visibility across the operation, combining senior-level leadership with a willingness to engage directly with processes, equipment and engineering challenges.

The Person:

• Degree-level qualification in Engineering or a related technical discipline.
• Significant senior engineering leadership experience within pharmaceutical, biologics or another highly regulated manufacturing environment such as Medical Devices.
• Experience operating at Site Leadership Team / Director level, or demonstrable readiness to progress into a site-level Engineering Director position.
• Proven experience leading a sizeable, multi-disciplinary Engineering function, ideally encompassing project engineering, maintenance, reliability and associated technical or validation activities.
• Strong track record in CAPEX strategy, investment planning, departmental budgeting and engineering governance.
• Demonstrable experience successfully prioritising and delivering significant engineering and capital projects.
• Experience developing or materially improving maintenance and reliability programmes, including exposure to Total Productive Maintenance, Predictive Maintenance and Lean methodologies.
• Experience supporting manufacturing scale-up, increased production or significant operational change, ideally within existing site or capacity constraints.
• Strong understanding of engineering requirements within a regulated manufacturing environment, with the technical credibility to understand complex manufacturing processes.
• Demonstrable record of improving engineering performance, operational reliability and continuous improvement.