Senior Manufacturing Supervisor CoE – Process Engineering DSP

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Job Function:

Supply Chain Engineering

Job Sub Function:

Process Engineering

Job Category:

People Leader

All Job Posting Locations:

Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands

Job Description:

We offer an initial 12-month contract with the intention to convert to a permanent contract.

Position Summary

The Senior Manufacturing Supervisor – Process Engineering DSP leads the DSP Process Engineering team within the Center of Expertise.

 

The role is responsible for building and maintaining strong process engineering capability to ensure safe, compliant, robust and continuously improving downstream manufacturing processes. The supervisor leads a team of Process Engineers who provide technical support to routine manufacturing, investigate process-related issues, drive process improvements and maintain strong process understanding throughout the product lifecycle.

 

Working closely with Manufacturing, Quality, MSAT, Equipment Engineering, Automation, NPI and other technical functions, the supervisor ensures that scientific and engineering knowledge is translated into practical solutions that improve process performance, product quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

 

Specific Responsibilities – Process Engineering

• Lead, coach and develop the DSP Process Engineering team, creating clear priorities, ownership and accountability.
• Ensure strong technical ownership and process understanding across DSP manufacturing processes.
• Provide direction and prioritization for routine manufacturing support, investigations, change controls, process improvements and technical projects.
• Ensure timely and effective technical support to Manufacturing, particularly for process deviations, unexpected trends and complex operational issues.
• Drive structured problem solving and robust root-cause analysis for process-related deviations, non-conformances and recurring manufacturing issues.
• Ensure technical investigations move beyond identifying what happened to establishing why it happened and how recurrence can be prevented.
• Use process data, trends and scientific knowledge to proactively identify emerging risks and improvement opportunities.
• Drive continuous improvement of process robustness, capability, consistency and manufacturing efficiency.
• Support assessment and implementation of process changes through appropriate GMP change-control processes.
• Ensure appropriate technical input into deviations, CAPAs, risk assessments and other quality-system activities.
• Support maintenance of the validated state and continued process verification activities in collaboration with MSAT and Quality.
• Strengthen understanding of CPPs, CQAs, process controls and their relationship to manufacturing performance and product quality.
• Ensure Process Engineers maintain strong shop-floor presence through Gemba and close collaboration with Manufacturing.
• Translate complex process data and technical findings into clear recommendations and actions for Manufacturing and leadership.
• Partner closely with Equipment Engineering and Automation where process performance depends on equipment or control-system capability.
• Collaborate with NPI and MSAT to ensure knowledge from new-product introductions and process changes is effectively transferred into routine manufacturing.
• Promote standardization, knowledge sharing and consistent engineering approaches across products and processes.
• Build technical capability within Manufacturing by coaching and sharing process knowledge with operational teams.
• Foster a culture where Process Engineers are proactive technical owners rather than reactive problem solvers.

 

Additional Responsibilities

• Assess current and future process-engineering capability needs and develop the technical competencies of the team.
• Establish priorities across operational support, compliance commitments, process improvements and longer-term technical initiatives.
• Identify recurring manufacturing challenges and develop improvement roadmaps to address systemic process issues.
• Propose and lead projects that improve process robustness, quality, reliability, capacity or manufacturing efficiency.
• Support development of business cases and secure resources for technical improvement initiatives.
• Drive adoption of data analytics and digital tools to improve process monitoring, troubleshooting and decision-making.
• Benchmark and introduce relevant scientific, engineering and operational best practices.

 

Minimum Qualifications

• Relevant Bachelor’s and/or Master's degree in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Process Engineering or another relevant scientific/engineering discipline with at least 9 and/or 7 years of relevant experience respectively.
• Experience within pharmaceutical, biotechnology or another highly regulated manufacturing environment.
• Experience in process engineering, manufacturing sciences, manufacturing support or a comparable technical role.
• Demonstrated experience solving complex technical or manufacturing problems.
• Understanding of GMP manufacturing and pharmaceutical quality systems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead people, projects or multidisciplinary technical teams.
• English language proficiency at B2 level or above.
• Strong communication, collaboration and stakeholder-management skills.

 

Preferred Qualifications

• Biopharmaceutical downstream processing, including chromatography, filtration, UF/DF/TFF, viral clearance, buffer preparation or bulk/formulation operations.

• Process characterization and process validation.
• Continued Process Verification and process trending.
• Deviations, CAPAs, change controls and technical investigations.
• Structured root-cause analysis and risk-management methodologies.
• Statistical process analysis, data analytics and process monitoring.
• MES, DeltaV or other digital manufacturing/process-control systems.
• Lean, Six Sigma or Operational Excellence.
• Technology transfer or New Product Introduction.
• Previous formal people-leadership experience.

 

What Makes You Successful

We’re looking for someone who:

• Enjoys developing technical people and building a strong engineering team.
• Has genuine curiosity about why a process behaves the way it does.
• Combines scientific thinking with pragmatic manufacturing decision-making.
• Can turn process data into insight and insight into action.
• Challenges recurring problems rather than accepting them as part of manufacturing.
• Is comfortable making risk-based decisions when all information is not yet available.
• Builds strong relationships with Manufacturing and spends time where the process actually happens.
• Can communicate complex technical topics clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Creates ownership within the team rather than personally becoming the owner of every problem.
• Balances immediate manufacturing needs with longer-term process robustness.
• Creates an environment where engineers challenge, learn, collaborate and continuously improve.

 

What You’ll Lead

You will lead the DSP Process Engineering team, responsible for the technical stewardship and continuous improvement of downstream manufacturing processes.

 

The team operates at the intersection of Manufacturing, Quality, MSAT, Equipment Engineering, Automation and NPI, providing technical leadership from day-to-day manufacturing support and investigations through longer-term process improvements.

 

What the Role Offers

This role provides the opportunity to:

• Lead and develop a team of highly skilled Process Engineers.
• Become a key technical leader within a complex biologics manufacturing organization.
• Influence the performance and robustness of commercial downstream manufacturing processes.
• Work with sophisticated biologics processes and manufacturing technologies.
• Solve challenging technical problems with direct impact on manufacturing and patients.
• Use process data and digital technologies to improve manufacturing decision-making.
• Lead improvements from shop-floor observation through scientific analysis to implementation.
• Collaborate with experts across Manufacturing, Quality, MSAT, NPI, Engineering and Digital.
• Combine people leadership, scientific expertise and operational impact in one role.
• Build experience that can support future development into broader technical, manufacturing or organizational leadership positions.

 

 

Required Skills:

 

 

Preferred Skills:

Agile Decision Making, Developing Others, Efficiency Analysis, Emerging Technologies, Inclusive Leadership, Leadership, Lean Supply Chain Management, Problem Solving, Process Control, Process Engineering, Process Improvements, Product Costing, Product Improvements, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Application, Situational Awareness, Supply Planning, Team Management, Technical Research, Technical Support, Vendor Selection

  

 

The anticipated base pay range for this position is:

€64.000,00 - €103.040,00

 

 

Benefits:

In addition to base pay, we offer the following benefits*: an annual bonus with set target (% of pay) depending on pay grade / location, where the actual amount is based on the employees’ and companies’ performance of the previous calendar year, or sales commissions. Moreover, we offer vacation days, parental leave for a minimum of 12 weeks, bereavement leave, caregiver leave, volunteer leave, well-being reimbursement, programs for financial, physical and mental health. We also offer service anniversary and recognition awards, and subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees - and in some location’s eligible dependents - can participate in several insurance plans. For more information, visit Employee benefits | Supporting well-being & career growth | Johnson & Johnson Careers.

 

*This is for informative purposes only. Amounts and actual benefits may vary by location and are subject to change.