Head of Manufacturing Technology Excellence

Opella is the self-care challenger with the purest and third-largest portfolio in the Over-The-Counter (OTC) & Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements (VMS) market globally.  

Our mission is to bring health in people’s hands by making self-care as simple as it should be. For half a billion consumers worldwide – and counting.

At the core of this mission is our 100 loved brands, our 11,000-strong global team, our 13 best-in-class manufacturing sites and 4 specialized science and innovation development centers. Headquartered in France, Opella is the proud maker of many of the world’s most loved brands, including Allegra, Buscopan, Doliprane, Dulcolax, Enterogermina, Essentiale and Mucosolvan.

As a globally certified B Corp company, we are active players in the journey towards healthier people and planet.

Find out more about our mission at www.opella.com.

About the job:

The Head of Manufacturing & Technology Excellence is a core executive role within Manufacturing & Supply (M&S), playing a decisive role in the delivery of the M&S 2029 ambition and Value Creation Plan (VCP).

This role is a structural pillar of the Manufacturing & Supply Leadership Team (MSLT) and acts as a key integrator between strategy, transformation, and execution across the global manufacturing network and Global M&S Functions. It ensures that M&S strategic ambitions are converted into measurable, scalable, and sustainable performance outcomes, fully anchored in sites and full M&S organization execution reality.

As a primary interface with the Transformation Office, this role ensures end to end alignment between transformation priorities, operational performance levers, and value creation objectives, while securing robustness, credibility, and pace of the M&S 29 roadmap. The role connects Transformation Office (TO), Value Creation Plan (VCP), operations, digital, engineering, and performance capabilities into one coherent system.

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Main responsibilities:

Establish and sustain Manufacturing & Supply Performance Foundations

In partnership with sites, regions, and functions, the role establishes a robust, integrated, and sustainable performance management system across the network.

• Define and ensure connectivity of performance-related processes and systems:

o Strategy Cascade to regions and sites

o Site priorities and Performance Plans

o 3P processes

• Define and standardize performance KPIs and associated methodologies at site, value stream, and network level

• Ensure performance governance consistency and comparability across the network

• Provide executive leadership and coaching to ensure Regional and Site Performance initiatives deliver clearly defined and quantified outcomes

• Identify and activate structural performance levers across Manufacturing & Supply

• Provide deep problem solving expertise on complex cross functional business issues

• Lead and support large scale operational and business transformation initiatives to secure sustainable results

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Build and sustain a high level of OPS capability across the network

• Define, deploy, and continuously improve OPS standards

• Lead OPS capability building, coaching, and maturity progression across sites

• Conduct OPS onboarding and structured learning journeys

• Establish foundational site and value stream Value Stream Maps

• Lead or support APU / line / site transformations

• Identify, structure, and deploy cross site best practices

• Coach Site Leadership Teams and functional leaders to lead performance sustainably

• Maintain a strong external perspective through interaction with industry bodies and benchmarks

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Own and drive Maintenance & Asset Performance Excellence (fully integrated with OPS)

• Define and deploy Maintenance and Asset Performance strategies (TPM, reliability engineering, lifecycle management)

• Drive alignment between Maintenance, Production, Engineering, and Quality

• Integrate asset performance metrics (OEE, MTBF, MTTR, availability) into site and value stream performance systems

• Build reliability engineering and maintenance excellence capabilities across the network

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Lead and coordinate Operational Technologies acceleration

• Lead and/or support transformational initiatives and change management linked to Digital M&S

• Coordinate deployment of Digital M&S systems (ERP, MES, shopfloor digital, analytics)

• Drive the M&S 4.0 roadmap execution and site digital readiness

• Ensure adoption, integration, and business value realization of digital solutions in daily operations

• Provide executive oversight on OT related initiatives

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Provide global coordination and strategic oversight of CAPEX & Engineering programs

• Own and govern the global CAPEX portfolio (~€130M) in alignment with M&S strategy and transformation priorities

• Ensure strong governance on project prioritization, execution, ROI, and risk management

• Provide executive engineering leadership on large scale, complex, and strategic projects

• Foster cross functional alignment (Engineering, Operations, Quality, Digital, Finance)

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Key Relationships

• Manufacturing & Supply Leadership Team (MSLT)

• Opella Executive Committee

• Opella Board

• Transformation Office

• Site Heads and Site Leadership Teams

• Regional Heads and Leadership Teams

• Finance Partners

• Digital, Engineering, Quality and Supply Chain leadership

• External partners and industry bodies

Ensures effective, transparent, and structured communication with all stakeholders and continuously checks communication effectiveness.

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About You

Ideal Experience

• University degree in Engineering, Life Sciences, or related discipline

• 20+ years of experience in pharmaceutical, biotech, FMCG or FMCH environments

• Proven experience in senior operational leadership roles at site and/or network level, with full accountability for operational performance and P&L

• Demonstrated track record in leading large scale performance and productivity transformations at regional or global manufacturing network level

• Strong understanding of M&S financials: P&L, BOI, Gross Margin, COGS, cash flow

• Deep expertise in OPS and operational excellence systems

• Proven ability to define, structure, and deliver transformation initiatives end to end

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Required Qualifications & Capabilities

• Strategic, systems level view of performance management

• Ability to connect strategy, assets, people, digital, and processes into one coherent performance model

• Strong capability in maintenance and asset performance excellence

• Strategic understanding of digital as a performance accelerator

• Ability to lead organizations through complexity and resistance

• Strong transversal leadership across cultures, regions, and functions

• Advanced problem solving and decision making in high stakes environments

• Influential leadership regardless of hierarchy

• Fluent English

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Preferred Qualifications

Advanced OPS Expertise

• Recognized OPS expert with deep operational credibility

• Experience leading OPS academies, coaching Site Leadership Teams, and driving maturity shifts

• Ability to assess OPS maturity and identify structural capability gaps

Technical & Operational Proficiency

• Manufacturing & plant operations

• Industrial engineering and asset performance

• Exposure to digital manufacturing systems

Why us?

At Opella, you will enjoy doing challenging, purposeful work, empowered to develop consumer brands with passion and creativity. This is your chance to grow new skills and be part of a bold, collaborative, and inclusive culture where people can thrive and be at their best every day.

We Are Challengers. We are dedicated to making self-care as simple as it should be. That starts with our culture. We are challengers by nature, and this is how we do things:

• All In Together: We keep each other honest and have each other's backs.

• Courageous: We break boundaries and take thoughtful risks with creativity.

• Outcome-Obsessed: We are personally accountable, driving sustainable impact and results with integrity.

• Radically Simple: We strive to make things simple for us and simple for consumers, as it should be.

Join us on our mission. Health. In your hands. www.opella.com/en/careers