COO - Pharma

Weekday AI (YC W21); Hyderabad; On-site; INR 8,000,000 - 20,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Weekday AI, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, seeks an experienced Chief Operating Officer to lead and scale operations across multiple API manufacturing sites. The role carries end-to-end responsibility for operational excellence, manufacturing performance, quality, supply chain, cost management, and execution across plants and clusters.

The ideal candidate will have extensive API manufacturing and pharma production experience, multi-site leadership, and a strong grasp of GMP, regulatory

Qualifications

• 18+ years of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing, operations, plant leadership, or a closely related field.
• Extensive experience in API manufacturing and pharmaceutical production environments.
• Proven experience managing multiple manufacturing sites, plants, or operational clusters.
• Strong understanding of pharmaceutical GMP, quality systems, regulatory compliance, EHS, and manufacturing controls.
• Demonstrated ability to manage large-scale manufacturing operations with responsibility for productivity, cost, quality, and delivery.
• Strong experience in operational excellence, lean manufacturing, process optimisation, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end pharmaceutical manufacturing operations across multiple API manufacturing sites and clusters.
• Develop and execute the overall operations strategy in alignment with business growth and profitability objectives.
• Drive operational excellence across manufacturing, quality, engineering, maintenance, EHS, supply chain, and plant support functions.
• Establish consistent operating standards, performance metrics, governance mechanisms, and best practices across multiple sites.
• Improve plant productivity, capacity utilisation, yield, throughput, cost efficiency, and overall equipment effectiveness.
• Ensure manufacturing operations comply with applicable GMP, regulatory, quality, safety, and environmental requirements.
• Partner with Quality and Regulatory teams to maintain inspection readiness and strengthen quality systems.
• Lead initiatives focused on cost optimisation, process improvement, productivity enhancement, and operational transformation.
• Review manufacturing capacity, demand, production planning, inventory, and supply-chain performance across sites.
• Identify operational bottlenecks, risks, and improvement opportunities and ensure timely corrective actions.
• Lead capital expenditure planning for plant expansion, modernisation, technology upgrades, and capacity enhancement.
• Oversee operational integration and performance management across different plants within the assigned cluster.
• Develop and mentor Plant Heads and senior operations leaders while building a strong succession pipeline.
• Establish regular operational reviews covering production, quality, safety, cost, delivery, productivity, and financial performance.
• Support new product introductions, technology transfers, manufacturing scale-up, and capacity expansion initiatives.
• Collaborate with senior leadership on strategic investments, acquisitions, site development, and long-term operational planning.
• Drive a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, operational discipline, and performance excellence.

Skills

Pharma manufacturing

Operations leadership

Multi-site ops

GMP compliance

Lean manufacturing

Process optimization

Cost optimization

Stakeholder management

Data-driven decisions

Financial acumen

Education

Pharmacy degree

Chemical Engineering degree

Mechanical Engineering degree

Job description

Job Description:

This role is for one of the Weekdays clients

Salary range: ₹8000000 - ₹20000000 (ie INR 80-200 LP A)

Experience: 18+ yrs

Location: Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Job Type: Full-time

We are looking for an experienced and commercially astute Chief Operating Officer (COO) – Pharmato lead and scale operations across a multi-site pharmaceutical manufacturing environment. The role will have end-to-end responsibility for operational excellence, manufacturing performance, quality, supply chain, cost management, and execution across multiple plants and clusters.

The ideal candidate will bring extensive experience inAPI manufacturing, multi-site operations, plant leadership, and cluster-level management. The role requires a strong understanding of pharmaceutical manufacturing, regulatory expectations, operational transformation, and business performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end pharmaceutical manufacturing operations across multipleAPI manufacturing sites and clusters.
• Develop and execute the overall operations strategy in alignment with business growth and profitability objectives.
• Drive operational excellence across manufacturing, quality, engineering, maintenance, EHS, supply chain, and plant support functions.
• Establish consistent operating standards, performance metrics, governance mechanisms, and best practices across multiple sites.
• Improve plant productivity, capacity utilisation, yield, throughput, cost efficiency, and overall equipment effectiveness.
• Ensure manufacturing operations comply with applicableGMP, regulatory, quality, safety, and environmental requirements.
• Partner with Quality and Regulatory teams to maintain inspection readiness and strengthen quality systems.
• Lead initiatives focused on cost optimisation, process improvement, productivity enhancement, and operational transformation.
• Review manufacturing capacity, demand, production planning, inventory, and supply-chain performance across sites.
• Identify operational bottlenecks, risks, and improvement opportunities and ensure timely corrective actions.
• Lead capital expenditure planning for plant expansion, modernisation, technology upgrades, and capacity enhancement.
• Oversee operational integration and performance management across different plants within the assigned cluster.
• Develop and mentor Plant Heads and senior operations leaders while building a strong succession pipeline.
• Establish regular operational reviews covering production, quality, safety, cost, delivery, productivity, and financial performance.
• Support new product introductions, technology transfers, manufacturing scale-up, and capacity expansion initiatives.
• Collaborate with senior leadership on strategic investments, acquisitions, site development, and long-term operational planning.
• Drive a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, operational discipline, and performance excellence.

What Makes You a Great Fit

• 18+ years of experiencein pharmaceutical manufacturing, operations, plant leadership, or a closely related field.
• Extensive experience inAPI manufacturingand pharmaceutical production environments.
• Proven experience managingmultiple manufacturing sites, plants, or operational clusters.
• Strong understanding of pharmaceutical GMP, quality systems, regulatory compliance, EHS, and manufacturing controls.
• Demonstrated ability to manage large-scale manufacturing operations with responsibility for productivity, cost, quality, and delivery.
• Strong experience in operational excellence, lean manufacturing, process optimisation, and continuous improvement.
• Experience managing Plant Heads, senior functional leaders, and cross-functional operational teams.
• Strong financial and commercial understanding, including budgets, CAPEX, operational costs, and profitability drivers.
• Experience leading plant expansions, capacity enhancement, technology transfers, or major operational transformation programs.
• Strong strategic thinking combined with the ability to drive execution at plant and shop-floor levels.
• Excellent stakeholder-management, leadership, communication, and decision-making skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with a data-driven approach to operational management.
• Ability to manage complexmulti-site and cluster operationsin a fast-paced pharmaceutical environment.
• A degree inPharmacy, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related disciplineis preferred; advanced management qualifications would be an advantage.

Requirements: