Director Quality Assurance Operations

Merck Merck · Pharma · North Brabant, Netherlands

Director of Quality Assurance Operations at Merck's Animal Health division in Boxmeer, Netherlands. Responsible for translating global quality priorities into operational strategy, ensuring compliant supply of vaccines and pharmaceuticals. Focuses on strengthening batch release, improving decision-making through KPIs, driving continuous improvement, and developing the QA organization. Requires strong leadership, stakeholder management, and understanding of GMP and regulatory requirements.

What you'd actually do

  1. Lead and develop the Quality Assurance Operations team (5 direct reports, ~100 employees).
  2. Translate Quality organization strategy into QA Operations plans.
  3. Design, plan, and implement the operational QA strategy in line with global, regional, and site quality goals
  4. Manage QA Operations budget and required reporting.
  5. Shape, implement, and continuously improve strategic plans for QA Operations.

Skills

Required

  • Proven track record of managing and developing large organizations and leading other managers in a complex and relevant organization.
  • Strong leadership capabilities, with the ability to inspire, develop, and align diverse teams across regions and functions.
  • Demonstrated success in stakeholder management, building trusted partnerships and influencing effectively across organizational levels.
  • Solid understanding of GMP, quality systems, and relevant manufacturing regulations.
  • Experience working with health authorities and managing audits and inspections.

Nice to have

  • Academic degree in a relevant field (Pharmacy, Medical Biology, (Bio)Chemistry, (Bio)Process Technology, or related scientific fields) combined with at least 7-10 years of relevant experience in an international pharmaceutical company.
  • Excellent command of the English language, oral and written.

What the JD emphasized

  • GMP
  • regulatory requirements
  • quality systems
  • health authorities
  • audits and inspections