Head of Operations & Asset Management, Pharma Solutions

Croda International•Plainsboro, NJ

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Pharma Solutions is a growing global business within Croda, supporting pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and veterinary-health customers through innovative excipients, vaccine adjuvants, peptide technology, lipid technologies, and formulation expertise. As demand continues to grow, the business requires a manufacturing and asset network capable of delivering reliable supply, operational excellence, and scalable growth. The Head of Operations & Asset Management will establish and lead the global manufacturing and asset strategy for Pharma Solutions, bringing together multiple sites, technologies, capabilities, and external partners into one coordinated operating model. This is a highly visible global leadership role focused on transforming a collection of manufacturing assets into a cohesive network capable of supporting future growth, accelerating technology transfer, improving operational performance, and strengthening customer confidence. Pharma Solutions is at a pivotal stage in its evolution. As a growing business within Croda, we are bringing together industry-leading capabilities across pharmaceutical excipients, vaccine adjuvants, innovative lipid delivery systems, and formulation expertise to create a more integrated and scalable global organization. With strong customer demand, ambitious growth plans, and continued investment across the business, this is an opportunity to help shape the future of Pharma Solutions. This role offers the opportunity to transform a collection of manufacturing assets into a globally integrated network capable of reliably supporting future growth.

Requirements

10+ years of leadership experience within pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical or CDMO manufacturing operations. Experience in GMP pharmaceutical manufacturing is highly advantageous.
Proven success leading multi-site manufacturing operations, technology transfer, scale-up, and operational-improvement initiatives.
Demonstrated ownership of technology transfer between development and commercial-scale manufacturing sites and experience establishing transfer governance, readiness reviews, process validation and scale-up frameworks.
Experience developing manufacturing network strategies, site-role architecture, and asset-utilization models.
Strong capital-project governance and business-case development experience.
Experience managing external manufacturing partners, CMO/CDMO networks, and make-versus-buy decisions.
Deep understanding of GMP operations, technology transfer, manufacturing readiness, operational excellence, and capacity planning.
Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or related engineering discipline; Advanced technical qualification desirable.

Nice To Haves

Build new processes, governance, and ways of working from the ground up.
Personally drive implementation and adoption across a complex global matrix.
Influence stakeholders across functions, sites and regions without relying on extensive direct authority.
Balance strategic thinking with practical execution and a willingness to personally solve problems.
Remain close to the details while helping shape the long-term direction of the business.
Provide hands-on leadership in technology transfer, manufacturing readiness, and asset-network decisions.
Success in this role will come from technical expertise, credibility, and execution rather than organizational size or extensive direct-reporting structures.
Strategic Perspective: Connect long-term business priorities with manufacturing, asset, and network strategies that enable sustainable growth.
Delivery: Execute complex operational initiatives while maintaining focus on measurable business outcomes and customer impact.
Working Together: Build alignment across Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Finance, Procurement, Commercial, Technical, and site leadership teams.
Curiosity: Challenge existing practices and identify opportunities to improve technology transfer, network performance, and operational effectiveness.
Adaptability: Navigate complex operational environments, transformation initiatives, and organizational change.
Authenticity: Build trust and credibility through transparent communication, strong decision-making, and consistent leadership.

Responsibilities

Establish a globally aligned manufacturing and site-role architecture across the Pharma Solutions network.
Define where products should be manufactured based on capability, quality, capacity, customer requirements, resilience, and economics.
Improve visibility into asset utilization, network capability, and future capacity requirements.
Establish operations as a strategic enabler of growth rather than a business constraint.
Build and implement a repeatable global technology transfer framework with clear governance, standards, readiness criteria, and performance measures.
Improve the speed, quality, and predictability of technology transfers across the network.
Ensure manufacturing readiness for growth opportunities, product launches, and strategic customer commitments.
Increase organizational confidence in scale-up execution, capacity planning, and product transfer success.
Improve right-first-time performance, reduce deviations, and strengthen predictable execution across GMP manufacturing operations.
Implement stronger operational discipline around capacity planning, prioritization, and resource allocation.
Drive disciplined, ROI-based decisions for capital investment, asset deployment, and network strategy.
Increase visibility into manufacturing economics, asset performance, and operational decision-making.
Strengthen business continuity, redundancy planning, and multi-site manufacturing resilience.
Define a clear make-versus-buy strategy and optimize the role of CMO/CDMO partners within the manufacturing network.
Ensure external manufacturing capabilities support flexibility, scalability, and security-of-supply objectives.