Are you Curida's new Operations Director?

Curida is a Norwegian, GMP-certified pharmaceutical company experiencing strong growth, now seeking a new Operations Director. With three production sites in Norway, the company delivers contract manufacturing of liquid pharmaceuticals, biologics and related products to more than 80 countries. Curida is in an ambitious growth phase with increasing revenue and a clear ambition to double production volumes at its Elverum facility. If you want to shape the future of an entire manufacturing organisation – with strategic weight, commercial relevance and direct impact on Curida’s profitability and growth – this is the role for you.

Responsibilities
As Operations Director at Curida, you will have overall responsibility for operational activities at the company’s factory in Elverum, including production, quality, maintenance, supply chain, HSE, service level, costs and development activities. The role involves leading an organisation of approximately 115–120 employees with full P&L responsibility, and a central position in the company’s management team. You will ensure stable, efficient and regulatory-robust operations, while developing the factory’s capacity to handle increased volumes, new customers, technology transfers and more complex development and validation runs. You will play a key role in building a more scalable, structured and data-driven operation, and drive a clear improvement agenda focused on productivity, capacity utilisation, product cost and COGS. The role also has a clear commercial dimension, where you will act as an active, solution-oriented partner for the CEO and Business Development in customer dialogues, tender processes and evaluation of new opportunities.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Lead and develop operational activities at the Elverum factory, with responsibility for HSE, quality, service level, costs and execution of development activities.

• Ensure stable, efficient and regulatory-robust operations in line with GMP and applicable quality requirements.

• Plan and build the necessary capacity, competence and resources to support growth, new customers, technology transfers and development projects.

• Establish clear performance management with relevant KPIs, management cadence and systematic follow-up of operations, costs, delivery precision and profitability.

• Drive operational improvement with particular focus on efficiency, productivity, capacity utilisation, product cost and reduction of COGS.

• Build a more scalable organisation capable of handling increased volumes, more customer projects and more complex validation runs without a proportional increase in headcount.

• Lead change processes and develop managers, employees and ways of working in an organisation that needs greater improvement maturity, clearer accountability and reduced absenteeism.

• Ensure effective collaboration between production, quality, maintenance, supply chain, project and commercial functions.

• Support the CEO and Business Development in customer dialogues, tender processes, evaluation of new opportunities, capacity, technical feasibility, quality, timelines and operational risk.

• Contribute actively to Curida’s management team, strategy development and annual budgeting, and represent Curida’s operational delivery capability to customers, the board, owners and other key stakeholders.

What we are looking for

We are looking for a strategic and operational leader with solid experience from complex manufacturing environments, who can drive transformation, strengthen profitability and develop a more efficient and scalable operation.

Background

• You have experience leading operational activities in a manufacturing environment, preferably from pharma, CDMO/CMO or other regulated industries such as food, cosmetics, chemicals or technical consumer goods

• You have documented results from productivity improvement, professionalisation of operations and implementation of structured performance management, production governance and clear management cadence. Experience with Lean, TPM or Six Sigma is an advantage.

• You have experience leading change processes in organisations with low operational maturity

• Experience from CDMO, contract manufacturing or similar complex delivery models is an advantage

• A higher degree in pharmacy, chemistry, engineering, production, supply chain or a comparable technical/scientific field is preferred. A master’s degree is desirable, but strong and relevant leadership experience from complex and regulated manufacturing can compensate

• Proficiency in English is required – the management team is international, with representatives from several countries and a total of 17 nationalities at Curida. Norwegian/Scandinavian language skills are an advantage, but not a requirement

Personal qualities

• You combine strategic insight with strong operational execution

• You are a clear and unifying leader who creates direction and accountability

• You are able to challenge established structures and drive improvement

• You have strong business acumen and the ability to see the bigger picture

• You build relationships characterised by trust and collaboration across the organisation
  

Opportunities
As Operations Director at Curida, you will take a central role in leading the transformation of a complex manufacturing organisation, with direct impact on the company’s operational and financial development. The role offers exposure to an international and highly regulated market, as well as the opportunity to build structure, culture and improvement capability in an organisation with significant potential. You will be part of the management team and contribute actively to the company’s strategic development.

The place of work is Curida’s factory in Elverum. Some travel should be expected, approximately 5–10%. On-site presence at the factory is expected a minimum of four out of five working days per week.

Contact
For further information, please contact our advisors at BackerSkeie: Bjørnar Skas, tlf. 478 81 268, Trine Silje Nygård, tel. +47 952 68 733 or Fredrik Andrè Myhre, tel. +47 994 78 365 for a confidential conversation. Applications with CV should be submitted via “Career” at www.backerskeie.no as soon as possible and no later than June 3rd. Applications are assessed on a rolling basis.

Curida AS is a Norwegian pharmaceutical company established in 2015, with its headquarters and main production facility in Elverum. The company operates as a CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization), offering development and contract manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, biological products and related solutions. Curida has roots in more than 50 years of pharmaceutical production in Norway, and today operates sites in Elverum, Fornebu and Ås. The company has around 200 employees and an international client base consisting of leading pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. Backed by solid investors and clear growth ambitions, Curida is well positioned for continued development in a competitive European market.