Project Manager - CAPEX (14-month Fixed term contract)

Douglas Pharmaceuticals Ltd; Auckland; On-site; NZD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Award-winning culture

Career growth

Extra leave after six years

Parental perks

Life and income protection insurance

THRIVE wellbeing program

Exclusive discounts

Job summary

Douglas Pharmaceuticals Ltd seeks a Project Manager - CAPEX to lead and coordinate the delivery of CAPEX projects across manufacturing and R&D sites in New Zealand. You will oversee equipment procurement, installation, commissioning, and facility upgrades, ensuring on-time, in-scope delivery aligned with strategic objectives.

The role requires a tertiary degree, proven CAPEX management in regulated environments, and strong stakeholder engagement.

Qualifications

• A relevant tertiary degree, preferred engineering.
• Proven experience managing CAPEX projects in a regulated industrial environment (Pharmaceutical [preferred], biotech, FMCG, or nutraceuticals).
• Strong understanding of engineering, facility design, and equipment qualification processes.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
• A proactive, solutions-focused mindset with a passion for continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Leading cross-functional teams through the planning, execution, and close-out of CAPEX projects
• Managing vendor relationships, procurement processes, and contractor performance
• Ensuring compliance with GMP, health & safety, and regulatory requirements
• Collaborating with engineering, operations, validation, quality, and finance teams to ensure seamless project integration
• Reporting on project progress, risks, and benefits to senior leadership

Skills

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Solutions-focused

Education

Bachelors degree or higher

Job description

Project Manager - CAPEX (14-month Fixed term contract)

Why this role matters

Our Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) Programme is a key enabler of our long-term growth and operational excellence. From upgrading manufacturing equipment to expanding facilities and implementing new technologies, CAPEX projects are critical to ensuring our infrastructure supports the evolving needs of our pharmaceutical and nutraceutical operations.

We are now seeking an experiencedProject Manager to lead and coordinate the delivery of CAPEX projects across our manufacturing and R&D sites. These projects span equipment procurement, installation, and commissioning; facility upgrades, compliance-driven modifications; utilities upgrades and new capability builds.

In this cover a 14-month maternity leave contract, you will be responsible for end-to-end project execution, applying best-practice project management methodologies to develop and manage detailed project plans, budgets, risk registers, vendors and stakeholder communications. You’ll ensure projects are delivered on time, within scope, and aligned with strategic business objectives.

What you’ll do

• Leading cross-functional teams through the planning, execution, and close-out of CAPEX projects
• Managing vendor relationships, procurement processes, and contractor performance
• Ensuring compliance with GMP, health & safety, and regulatory requirements
• Collaborating with engineering, operations, validation, quality, and finance teams to ensure seamless project integration
• Reporting on project progress, risks, and benefits to senior leadership

What you’ll bring

• A relevant tertiary degree, preferred engineering.
• Proven experience managing CAPEX projects in a regulated industrial environment (Pharmaceutical [preferred], biotech, FMCG, or nutraceuticals)
• Strong understanding of engineering, facility design, and equipment qualification processes
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills
• A proactive, solutions-focused mindset with a passion for continuous improvement

This is a high-impact role where your leadership will directly contribute to our ability to innovate, scale, and deliver high-quality products to market.

• Award-winning culture- Join a team that's genuinely a great place to work (and we've got the awards to prove it).
• Career growth- We're big on developing our people and promoting from within.
• Extra leave- After six years with us, you'll get five weeks of annual leave.
• Parental perks- Get 16 weeks of top-up payments during your parental leave.
• Security matters- We've got you covered with life and income protection insurance.
• Feel good with THRIVE- Our wellbeing program helps you be your best, inside and out.
• Exclusive discounts- Enjoy special deals on big-name brands like Clinicians, BraveFace, Avene, Ego, and more.

About Us

Douglas is one of New Zealand's greatest pharmaceutical success stories with an ever-expanding footprint into global markets. We're working to develop, trial, manufacture, test, pack and distribute the very best medicines, nutraceuticals and products to over 40 countries.

At Douglas there are 500 of us - including top scientists, researchers, manufacturers, regulators and engineers, and together we're on a mission to make high quality, effective, accessible and sustainable products for people who need it. We're here to do our life's best work.

We're helping people with conditions like depression, schizophrenia, breast cancer, heart failure, dermatology conditions, as well as people who need antibiotics and medicines to support their immune system.

Come join us on this mission to improve lives!

Next Steps

If you’re invited to complete a video interview as the next stage of your application, we’d love you to embrace it. Video interviews allow more people the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities to the hiring manager in a new and innovative way, giving you a better chance of securing your ideal role. Relax, be yourself and don’t worry, we all feel a bit awkward in front of the camera.

Please note:

• As part of the pre-employment process, you will need to pass a drug test, Ministry Of Justice criminal check and medical assessment.
• This role does not support a visa application. To qualify you will need full working rights to work in New Zealand.