Plant Manager

Leiden Bio Science Park; Nijmegen; On-site; EUR 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Vacation days & parental leave

Well-being reimbursement

Health insurance plans

Service awards

Job summary

Leiden Bio Science Park seeks a Plant Manager to lead the Nijmegen site, ensuring safe, compliant and reliable operations. You will steer manufacturing, supply chain and site functions, delivering on forecasts and inventory goals while building a scalable organization.

You will chair the Site Leadership Team, own the strategic plan and budget, and drive continuous improvement, cost control and strong safety culture across the site.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, science, operations, supply chain or another relevant discipline.
• Proven experience as the accountable leader of a manufacturing site or complex operation.
• Lean or Six Sigma certification is recommended; strong problem-solving mindset.

Responsibilities

• Lead site safety, quality, service, cost, and people metrics.
• Own the site budget, operating plan and capital investments.
• Drive capacity expansion, technology transfer and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensure regulatory compliance and audit readiness; manage CAPAs and nonconformances.
• Build a high-performing Site Leadership Team and manage cross-functional execution.

Skills

Regulated manufacturing leadership

People leadership

Lean or Six Sigma

English fluency

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering/science/operations/supply chain

Job description

Lead the Nijmegen plant safely and compliantly while building the organization, operating system and manufacturing capabilities required for reliable supply, successful scale-up and sustainable growth.

The Plant Manager is a people leader with end-to-end accountability for the safe, compliant and reliable operation of the Nijmegen site, including manufacturing, supply chain and supporting site functions, ensuring continuous, cost-effective supply against forecasts and inventory goals.

The role sets the site vision and strategy, translates business priorities into an executable multi-year plan, and leads the cross-functional Site Leadership Team in a matrix environment to deliver results across safety, quality, service, cost, people and growth.

Own the site strategic plan, annual business plan, operating priorities, governance and performance rhythm.

Lead the Site Leadership Team, clarify decision rights and ensure effective cross-functional execution and escalation.

Ensure full compliance with applicable laws, regulations, quality-system requirements, company policies and Health, Safety and Environmental standards.

Build and sustain a culture in which product quality, patient safety, data integrity and employee safety are non-negotiable.

Maintain continuous inspection and audit readiness, with strong oversight of CAPAs, nonconformances, validation, training and remediation commitments.

Own overall site performance across safety, quality, delivery, cost, inventory, productivity and people metrics.

Ensure reliable production and release through robust planning, tiered accountability, risk management and disciplined problem solving.

Drive manufacturing excellence, process repeatability, right-first-time execution, yield improvement and sustainable cost performance.

Lead site readiness for capacity expansion and future volume growth, ensuring facilities, equipment, systems, processes and organization mature together.

Own the site budget and financial performance, including operating expense, capital investment, productivity and headcount plans.

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, science, operations, supply chain or another relevant discipline; an advanced degree is preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in regulated manufacturing, preferably medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology or life sciences, including at least 3 years in senior operations leadership roles.
• Proven experience as the accountable leader of a manufacturing site, operations business unit or complex multi-functional operation, with full profit-and-loss, budget, quality and people responsibility and leadership of managers and senior leaders.
• Strong tenure and career stability, with a history of seeing major programs and organizational changes through to completion.
• Proven record of leading through scale-up, transformation, capacity expansion, technology transfer or significant compliance improvement, with successful and sustained outcomes.
• Demonstrated, measurable performance outcomes, such as an inspection and audit record without critical findings, reliable supply, improved yield and productivity, delivery of cost and capital commitments, and stronger organizational capability.
• Experience interacting with health authorities, notified bodies, inspectors or external auditors is strongly preferred.
• Extensive knowledge of ISO 13485, ISO 14971, EU MDR, FDA 21CFR Part820 and MDSAP regulations and standards, including experience with quality-system audits by major regulatory bodies.
• Lean or Six Sigma certification is recommended; proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite and company quality and training systems.
• Fluent written and spoken English. Dutch language capability is an advantage but not essential.

• An annual bonus with set target (% of pay) depending on pay grade / location, where the actual amount is based on the employees' and companies' performance of the previous calendar year, or sales commissions.
• Vacation days, parental leave for a minimum of 12 weeks, bereavement leave, caregiver leave, volunteer leave, well-being reimbursement.
• Programs for financial, physical and mental health.
• Service anniversary and recognition awards.
• Subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees - and in some location's eligible dependents - can participate in several insurance plans.
• The annual base pay includes an 8% holiday allowance.

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, science, operations, supply chain or another relevant discipline; an advanced degree is preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in regulated manufacturing, preferably medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology or life sciences, including at least 3 years in senior operations leadership roles.
• Proven experience as the accountable leader of a manufacturing site, operations business unit or complex multi-functional operation, with full profit-and-loss, budget, quality and people responsibility and leadership of managers and senior leaders.
• Fluent written and spoken English.