Senior Director - Manufacturing Operations
About this opportunity
At Lilly, the work is demanding because patients are waiting. We unite caring with discovery to help make life better for people around the world, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the globe take on complex challenges to discover and deliver life-changing medicines, strengthen how health is understood and managed, and support the communities we serve. This is hard, urgent, selfless work, but it’s work worth doing. If you’re driven by purpose and ready to bring your best to work that truly matters for patients, we invite you to join us.
About the Katwijk Site
Eli Lilly is investing €2.6 billion in a new innovative manufacturing facility in Katwijk, Netherlands. This facility will play a meaningful role in producing oral medicines for cardiometabolic health, neuroscience, oncology, and immunology, incorporating next-generation manufacturing technologies, including dock-to-dock automation, paperless manufacturing, and process analytical technology, while achieving carbon neutrality and zero waste to landfills.
This is an opportunity to help shape a new site, grow a team, and make a real impact on patients globally.
In this role, you will lead, develop, and support manufacturing operations, working closely with cross-functional partners to build a high-performing, collaborative, and inclusive environment.
Key Responsibilities:
Operational Leadership
Develop the recruitment, training, and start-up strategy for manufacturing operations, supporting consistency across Site and Corporate objectives.
Develop vision and operational excellence across process and flow teams according to Manufacturing Standards as defined by Eli Lilly.
Supervise and ensure compliance with production plan, headcount, expenses, capital projects, and plant objectives.
Foster teamwork and ensure personnel have adequate resources.
Drive initiatives that improve efficiency, quality, and productivity across manufacturing processes.
Cross-functional teamwork – Work closely with other departments (e.g. Engineering, Science, Quality, Safety, etc) to ensure detailed operations and communication.
Develop and implement plans to ensure a reliable and resilient manufacturing process and supply.
Quality & Compliance
Ensure compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and Quality Corporate Policies.
Be responsible for validation protocols, change management, and deviation investigations.
Ensure product complaints are investigated with detailed action plans.
Maintain the qualification of the department, premises, and equipment.
Ensure production records are accurately evaluated and authorized.
People Management
Evaluate personnel and ensure professional development.
Coordinate performance plans for direct reports and ensure a consistent approach within the area of responsibility.
Ensure individualized training plans are assigned and completed.
Coordinate human resources planning and objectives.
You will foster a collaborative, inclusive culture where people can contribute and grow
Approve attendance records for direct reports.
Environmental Health & Safety
Integrate EH&S requirements into business planning processes.
Establish metrics monitoring for inspections, training, incidents.
Model outstanding safety culture through actions and decisions.
Conduct regular management audits of areas.
Ensure compliance with environmental standards and waste management.
Required Qualifications
Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering or Science.
Experience: Minimum 10 years in production, engineering, technical services, or supply chain (At least 10 years in the pharmaceutical or chemical synthesis industry with a strong focus in manufacturing operations; 5 of those years should be in management positions)
Language: Ideally bilingual (English/Dutch preferred).
Technical Knowledge: Understanding of computerized systems, GMP documentation, and EH&S regulations. Experience in different pharmaceutical manufacturing platforms (e.g. oral solid dosage, chemical synthesis, API manufacturing, etc).
Additional Requirements
Available to work rotating shifts.
Available to travel domestically and internationally.
Strong leadership and team coordination capabilities.
Critical Requirements:
Must be willing to relocate to a commutable distance to Katwijk, Netherlands (site-based role).
Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions. If you require accommodation to submit a resume for a position at Lilly, please complete the accommodation request form ( https://careers.lilly.com/us/en/workplace-accommodation ) for further assistance. Please note this is for individuals to request an accommodation as part of the application process and any other correspondence will not receive a response.
Lilly does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.
#WeAreLilly
Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active Manufacturing & CMC role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 124 comparable Senior Director Manufacturing & CMC roles across 36 biopharma companies.
Salary context
69 of 124 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)
Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 124 comparable roles
+ 9 more countries
Seniority mix
124 of 124 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
1 of 124 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
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.
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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.
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.