Director Manufacturing, EU/APAC

Director, EU/APAC Manufacturing

The Director, EU/APAC Manufacturing is accountable for the strategic and operational performance of multiple manufacturing sites across Marseille (France), Aachen (Germany), Suzhou (China), and Bangalore (India). This leader ensures consistent delivery against safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people objectives while deploying Danaher Business System (DBS) to translate global strategy into disciplined execution at the site and value‑stream level. The role partners closely with Global Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, and Commercial leaders to support growth, improve customer experience, and build a scalable, resilient manufacturing network. This position reports to the Vice President Global Operations & Supply Chain and is part of the Global Operations leadership team.

In This Role

• Own the EU/APAC manufacturing performance across all sites, delivering results across Safety, Quality, Delivery, Inventory, Productivity, and Cost (SQDIP).
• Ensure manufacturing capacity, labor, and capability are aligned with business growth plans and customer demand.
• Drive disciplined execution through DBS, including Daily Management, Visual Management, Standard Work, Dynamic KANBAN, IMAG, Heijunka Scheduling, structured problem solving, and Kaizen; build a sustainable culture of continuous improvement and data‑driven decision‑making across all sites.
• Build, coach, and develop high‑performing plant and regional leadership teams; lead succession planning and talent pipelines for critical manufacturing roles. Foster an inclusive, safe, and engaged culture with strong ownership and accountability.
• Partner with Engineering, R&D, Product Management, Quality, and Commercial teams on new product introductions, transfers, and lifecycle management. Ensure manufacturing input into design‑for‑manufacturability, cost reduction, and innovation initiatives.
• Coordinate with Global Quality requirements to operate aligned with FDA, ISO13485, and Customer Audits to achieve total customer satisfaction. Lead the operations team to ensure a culture of Quality continuous improvement and strong execution discipline.
• Own the regional manufacturing supply response within the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process. Partner with Commercial and Supply Chain teams to translate demand signals into executable production, staffing, and inventory plans. Identify and mitigate supply risk, improve service levels, and optimize inventory performance.

Essential Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 12 years’ experience in manufacturing (aerospace, medical devices, life sciences, biotechnology, or similar) and at least 8 years in Operations and/or Supply Chain leadership roles. MBA preferred. Minimum 3 years leading multicultural teams across Asia and Europe.
• Extensive manufacturing leadership experience within complex, multi‑site, global operations, preferably in regulated or high‑reliability environments.
• Experience building high‑performing teams and managing a plant or manufacturing site, leading value streams in a high mix, low volume environment.
• Expertise with management and continuous improvement tools such as Lean Manufacturing; ability to think strategically and formulate options.
• Proven analytical skills, ability to model and present business cases.
• Strong global business knowledge and cross‑cultural influence.
• Affinity to go to Gemba and lead by example; ability to influence decision making without authority, facilitate diverse groups, and bring teams to agreement.
• High tolerance for ambiguity and success working in a highly matrixed organization.
• Excellent relational and listening skills; ability to interact at all levels and present complex insights clearly.

Preferred Requirements

• Experience in life sciences, diagnostics, medical devices, or high‑mix/low‑volume manufacturing.
• Exposure to automation, digital manufacturing, MES/OEE systems, or Industry 4.0 initiatives.
• Formal training or certification in DBS, Lean, Six Sigma, or similar.
• Aspirations to grow into an L1 VP Operations role.

Travel and Physical/Environment Requirements

• Ability to travel up to 40% domestic and international.

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, a Danaher operating company, offers a broad array of competitive benefits. For more detail, visit Danaher Benefits Info.