Novartis Posted July 1, 2026

Production Head

Baarle Nassau, Netherlands FULL_TIME
Notify me about similar jobs

Novartis is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

#LI-OnsiteLocation: Baarle-Nassau, NetherlandsRelocation Support: YesReady to shape the future of manufacturing at one of our key production sites? As Production Head, you will lead the Production Unit in Baarle-Nassau, bringing clear direction, strong operational discipline, and an empowering leadership approach to a dynamic manufacturing environment. You will have the opportunity to build high-performing teams, strengthen processes, and drive sustainable improvements across safety, quality, delivery, and performance. With your manufacturing expertise and pragmatic, action-oriented mindset, you will help create the stability and capabilities needed to reliably deliver high-quality medicines to patients.

Major accountabilities: Define and execute the Manufacturing Unit strategy, aligned with site and global manufacturing priorities.Lead manufacturing operations to deliver strong performance across safety, quality, service, cost, supply, and productivity.Optimize resources across people, equipment, facilities, capital investments, operating expenses, and workforce planning.Drive operational excellence, transformation, and change initiatives to strengthen efficiency, quality, productivity, and cost competitiveness.Ensure compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice, health and safety requirements, quality standards, and regulatory expectations.Build, coach, and develop high-performing teams through effective capability building, succession planning, and talent development.Foster a culture of safety, quality, accountability, continuous improvement, collaboration, empowerment, and open communication.Maintain inspection readiness, business continuity, and effective implementation of corrective and preventive actions and compliance commitments.Obligatory Requirements:Bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, engineering, chemistry, biology, or a related scientific or technical field.At least 10 years of pharmaceutical or life sciences experience within a Good Manufacturing Practice-regulated environment.At least five years of experience leading and executing manufacturing operations.Proven experience managing quality, compliance, safety, and operational performance within a regulated manufacturing environment.Strong leadership, communication, stakeholder management, change management, financial management, project management, negotiation, and influencing capabilities.Fluent English, with strong knowledge of regulatory requirements and expectations across relevant health authorities.Benefits & RewardsAt Novartis, we’re committed to reimagining medicine together - and rewarding the people who make it happen.Expected Annual Base Salary Range for role: €75,700 to €140,500The base salary offered is determined based on gender-neutral objectives, such as relevant skills, competencies and experience in accordance with the Novartis pay setting policy and upon joining Novartis will be reviewed periodically.In addition to your base salary, you may be eligible for a performance-based bonus depending on certain performance parameters.The rewards of being part of our team go far beyond base pay and incentives. We also offer a variety of competitive benefits in kind to help you thrive personally and professionally, such as insurance plans, retirement plans, wellbeing resources and global recognition programs. In addition, we provide flexible and hybrid working options, where possible, and minimum 14 weeks paid parental leave.Pay equity is a fundamental principle of our employment policy and reflects our commitment to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment that treats all employees with dignity and respect, as outlined in our Code of Ethics.Read our brochure to learn more about our global total rewards offering: https://www.novartis.com/sites/novartis_com/files/novartis-life-handbook.pdfNote: Benefits and compensation may vary by country and are subject to local legal requirements, including provisions of collective bargaining agreements where applicable. A full overview of your compensation package, including any relevant collective bargaining agreement details applicable to your role based on your employment location and Novartis employer entity, will be communicated separately to you during the application process.Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams representative of the patients and communities we serve.

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
Manufacturing & CMC
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Baarle Nassau, Netherlands
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Manufacturing & CMC role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 3374 comparable Manufacturing & CMC roles across 173 biopharma companies.

3374Comparable roles tracked
3074Currently active
173Companies hiring similar roles
61Countries represented

Salary context

793 of 3374 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function. This posting doesn't list a seniority level, so peers aren't narrowed by seniority either -- the range below may span more levels than usual.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Operator – Plant Utilities · Lilly $13/hr – $28/hr (≈ $26,998–$58,302/yr)
Highest disclosed · Head of Analytical Development · ModernaTX, Inc. $272,200/yr – $490,100/yr
Peer group range $42,650 – $381,150 (median $128,400)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 3374 comparable roles

United States1532
Germany216
India155
France145
Ireland130
China121

+ 55 more countries

Seniority mix

1484 of 3374 peers have a known seniority level

Senior403
Manager351
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc198
Associate142
Principal126
Director106
Associate Director104
Senior Director47
Executive/VP7

Therapeutic area mix

21 of 3374 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Vaccines & Infectious Disease13
Rare Disease3
Oncology2
Dermatology & Aesthetics1
Respiratory1
Immunology1

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

40%similar
BMS Netherlands Operations B.V. Leiden – NL, Netherlands Associate
Same function Same country
40%similar
Bristol Myers Squibb Leiden – NL, Netherlands
Same function Same country
40%similar
BMS Netherlands Operations B.V. Leiden – NL, Netherlands Associate
Same function Same country
40%similar
BMS Netherlands Operations B.V. Leiden – NL, Netherlands
Same function Same country
40%similar
Amgen Europe B.V. Breda, Netherlands Senior
Same function Same country
40%similar
Amgen Europe B.V. Breda, Netherlands
Same function Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

Or follow a whole field: get every new Manufacturing & CMC job in the Netherlands, and choose locations and companies.

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

40%
Associate III Manufacturing, Cell Therapy
BMS Netherlands Operations B.V. · Leiden – NL, Netherlands · Associate
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Maintenance Technician
BMS Netherlands Operations B.V. · Leiden – NL, Netherlands · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Senior Maintenance Technician Utilities
Amgen Europe B.V. · Breda, Netherlands · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Crop Production Coordinator (Bergschenhoek, Nederland, NL)
Bayer · Bergschenhoek, Netherlands · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.