'

: - ( - )

Experience: 18+ yrs

Location: Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Job Type: Full time

We are looking for an experienced and commercially astute Chief Operating Officer (COO) – Pharma to lead and scale operations across a multi-site pharmaceutical manufacturing setting. The role will have end-to-end responsibility for operational excellence, manufacturing performance, quality, supply chain, cost management, and execution across multiple plants and clusters.

The ideal candidate will bring extensive experience in API manufacturing, multi-site operations, plant leadership, and cluster-level management. The role requires a strong understanding of pharmaceutical manufacturing, regulatory expectations, operational transformation, and business performance.

Requirements

Key Responsibilities

- Lead end-to-end pharmaceutical manufacturing operations across multiple API manufacturing sites and clusters.
- Develop and execute the overall operations strategy in alignment with business growth and profitability objectives.
- Drive operational excellence across manufacturing, quality, engineering, maintenance, EHS, supply chain, and plant support functions.
- Establish consistent operating standards, performance metrics, governance mechanisms, and best practices across multiple sites.
- Improve plant productivity, capacity utilisation, yield, throughput, cost efficiency, and overall equipment effectiveness.
- Ensure manufacturing operations comply with applicable GMP, regulatory, quality, safety, and environmental requirements.
- Partner with Quality and Regulatory teams to maintain inspection readiness and strengthen quality systems.




- Lead initiatives focused on cost optimisation, process improvement, productivity enhancement, and operational transformation.
- Review manufacturing capacity, demand, production planning, inventory, and supply-chain performance across sites.
- Identify operational bottlenecks, risks, and improvement opportunities and ensure timely corrective actions.
- Lead capital expenditure planning for plant expansion, modernisation, technology upgrades, and capacity enhancement.
- Oversee operational integration and performance management across different plants within the assigned cluster.
- Develop and mentor Plant Heads and senior operations leaders while building a strong succession pipeline.
- Establish regular operational reviews covering production, quality, safety, cost, delivery, productivity, and financial performance.
- Support recent product introductions, technology transfers, manufacturing scale-up, and capacity expansion initiatives.
- Collaborate with senior leadership on strategic investments, acquisitions, site development, and long-term operational planning.
- Drive a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, operational discipline, and performance excellence.

What Makes You a Great Fit





- 18+ years of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing, operations, plant leadership, or a closely related field.
- Extensive experience in API manufacturing and pharmaceutical production environments.
- Proven experience managing multiple manufacturing sites, plants, or operational clusters.
- Strong understanding of pharmaceutical GMP, quality systems, regulatory compliance, EHS, and manufacturing controls.
- Demonstrated ability to manage large-scale manufacturing operations with responsibility for productivity, cost, quality, and delivery.
- Strong experience in operational excellence, lean manufacturing, process optimisation, and continuous improvement.
- Experience managing Plant Heads, senior functional leaders, and cross-functional operational teams.
- Strong financial and commercial understanding, including budgets, CAPEX, operational costs, and profitability drivers.
- Experience leading plant expansions, capacity enhancement, technology transfers, or major operational transformation programs.
- Strong strategic thinking combined with the ability to drive execution at plant and shop-floor levels.
- Excellent stakeholder-management, leadership, communication, and decision-making skills.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with a data-driven approach to operational management.
- Ability to manage complex multi-site and cluster operations in a quick-paced pharmaceutical environment.
- A degree in Pharmacy, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline is preferred; advanced management qualifications would be an advantage.

📌 COO - Pharma (Hyderabad)
🏢 Weekday AI
📍 Hyderabad