Senior Manufacturing Supervisor CoE – Equipment Engineering DSP

Get 360Pharma; Leiden; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Get 360Pharma in Leiden seeks a Senior Manufacturing Supervisor – Equipment Engineering DSP to lead the Equipment Engineering team within the Downstream Processing Center of Expertise. You will drive ownership of equipment lifecycle, safety, compliance and reliability while collaborating with Quality, Process Engineering, Maintenance and Manufacturing to deliver robust technical solutions.

You will develop capabilities, coach engineers, manage CAPEX initiatives and ensure changes are executed

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical Engineering or comparable
• 9 and/or 7 years of relevant experience in regulated manufacturing environments
• Experience with manufacturing/process equipment and technical problem solving
• Demonstrated ability to lead people, projects or multidisciplinary technical teams
• Understanding of GMP and equipment qualification/lifecycle principles
• English language proficiency at B2 level or above
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the DSP Equipment Engineering team, establishing clear priorities and accountability
• Own equipment lifecycle management for DSP manufacturing equipment
• Ensure equipment safety, compliance, reliability, availability and fit for use
• Provide direction for equipment-related investigations, improvements and projects
• Drive root-cause analysis and resolution of recurring equipment issues
• Collaborate with Manufacturing, Maintenance, Quality and Validation to improve reliability and lifecycle management
• Support equipment qualification, requalification and validated-state activities with Quality and Validation
• Lead equipment changes through GMP change control processes and linked CAPEX initiatives

Skills

People leadership

Stakeholder management

Project leadership

Problem solving

Communication

Data-driven decisions

Education

Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in Engineering or equivalent

Job description

Position Summary

The Senior Manufacturing Supervisor – Equipment Engineering DSP leads a team of Equipment Engineers within the Downstream Processing Center of Expertise. The role is responsible for building and maintaining strong equipment engineering capability to support safe, compliant and reliable manufacturing operations. The supervisor provides people and technical leadership across the equipment lifecycle, ensuring that equipment remains fit for purpose and that technical issues, improvements, projects and lifecycle risks are effectively managed. Working closely with Manufacturing, Maintenance, Process Engineering, Quality, Automation, Reliability, Validation and other Engineering functions, the supervisor ensures that equipment-related priorities are translated into effective technical solutions while developing a highly capable and engaged engineering team.

Specific responsibilities – Equipment Engineering

• Lead, coach and develop the DSP Equipment Engineering team, creating clear priorities, ownership and accountability.
• Ensure strong technical ownership of DSP manufacturing equipment throughout its lifecycle.
• Ensure equipment is safe, compliant, reliable, available and fit for intended use to support manufacturing needs.
• Provide direction and prioritization for equipment-related operational support, technical investigations, improvements and projects.
• Drive effective resolution of recurring and complex equipment issues through structured problem solving and strong root-cause analysis.
• Partner with Manufacturing and Maintenance to improve equipment reliability, availability and maintainability and reduce recurring failures and unplanned downtime.
• Ensure appropriate equipment lifecycle management, including identification of obsolescence, end-of-life risks and replacement or upgrade needs.
• Support equipment qualification, requalification and validated-state activities in collaboration with Quality and Validation.
• Ensure equipment changes are appropriately assessed and executed through applicable change-control and GMP processes.
• Lead and support equipment improvements, modifications and CAPEX initiatives from identification of business need through implementation and handover.
• Ensure technical requirements and user needs are appropriately defined for new or modified equipment.
• Strengthen equipment knowledge, standards and documentation and ensure effective knowledge transfer within the engineering team.
• Use equipment performance data, trends and KPIs to identify risks and proactively drive improvements.
• Perform Gemba walks and maintain a strong connection between engineering activities and actual shop-floor needs.
• Represent DSP Equipment Engineering in cross-functional projects and technical forums.
• Build strong collaboration across Equipment Engineering, Process Engineering, Manufacturing, Maintenance, Quality, Automation and other site/global engineering functions.
• Promote standardization and sharing of engineering best practices across equipment and manufacturing areas.
• Foster a culture in which engineers go beyond solving today’s issue and actively improve the long‑term robustness and reliability of the manufacturing asset base.

Additional Responsibilities

• Assess current and future engineering capability needs and develop the technical competencies of the Equipment Engineering team.
• Develop and maintain a longer-term equipment improvement and lifecycle roadmap based on manufacturing needs, reliability performance, compliance risk and asset condition.
• Identify and develop business cases for equipment improvements, upgrades and replacements.
• Support prioritization of CAPEX and engineering resources based on risk and business value.Benchmark and introduce engineering best practices, technologies and innovative solutions where they provide meaningful operational value.

What You’ll Lead

You will lead the DSP Equipment Engineering team, responsible for supporting and continuously improving the equipment and technical systems that enable reliable downstream manufacturing. The team works at the intersection of Manufacturing, Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Automation and Process Engineering, giving the supervisor both significant operational exposure and the opportunity to influence the longer-term technical direction of DSP.

Minimum Qualifications

• Relevant Bachelor’s and/or Master's degree in Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical Engineering or a comparable technical discipline with at least 9 and/or 7 years of relevant experience, respectively.
• Experience within pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food, chemical or another highly regulated manufacturing environment.
• Experience working with manufacturing/process equipment and technical problem solving.
• Demonstrated ability to lead people, projects or multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Understanding of GMP and equipment qualification/lifecycle principles.
• English language proficiency at B2 level or above.
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with biopharmaceutical downstream processing equipment, such as chromatography systems, filtration/TFF systems, process vessels, centrifugation, buffer preparation or other product-contact equipment.
• Experience with equipment lifecycle management, reliability engineering or asset management.
• Experience with qualification/validation and GMP change control.
• Experience with technical investigations and structured root-cause problem solving.
• Experience developing or executing CAPEX projects.
• Knowledge of automation and manufacturing systems and their interfaces with process equipment.
• Lean, Six Sigma or Operational Excellence experience.
• Previous formal people-leadership experience.

What Makes You Successful

• Enjoys developing engineers and creating an environment where technical experts can perform at their best.
• Can distinguish an urgent operational issue from an important long-term engineering risk.
• Combines technical depth with pragmatic decision-making.
• Is comfortable challenging existing solutions and asking whether recurring problems are truly solved.
• Builds strong relationships between Engineering and Manufacturing.
• Uses data and engineering judgement to make decisions.
• Can translate complex technical issues into clear recommendations for different stakeholders.
• Creates ownership rather than becoming the owner of every technical problem.
• Balances short-term manufacturing support with long-term equipment reliability and lifecycle needs.
• Remains calm and provides direction when manufacturing or technical situations become challenging.

Preferred Skills

• Agile Decision Making
• Developing Others
• Efficiency Analysis
• Emerging Technologies
• Inclusive Leadership
• Leadership
• Lean Supply Chain Management
• Problem Solving
• Process Control
• Process Engineering
• Process Improvements
• Product Costing
• Product Improvements
• Science
• Technology
• Engineering
• and Math (STEM) Application
• Situational Awareness
• Supply Planning
• Team Management
• Technical Research
• Technical Support
• Vendor Selection