Location: Basel, Switzerland (100% Onsite)
Contract Duration: 12 Months (Extension Highly Likely)
Start Date: ASAP
Latest Start Date:
Workload: 100%
Department: External Manufacturing Operational Excellence
Position Overview
We are seeking an experienced Business Process Expert (BPE) to serve as the critical link between global business process standards and local site execution within a highly regulated pharmaceutical manufacturing environment.
This is a senior-level role requiring extensive experience in pharmaceutical supply chain, manufacturing operations, ERP-enabled process transformation, and master data governance. The successful candidate will act as a key change agent, driving process harmonization, SAP S/4HANA adoption, and operational excellence initiatives while ensuring alignment with global business processes and governance standards.
Candidates must demonstrate deep expertise across end-to-end supply chain and manufacturing processes, possess strong business acumen, and be capable of influencing stakeholders across multiple functions and organizational levels.
This role is not suitable for candidates with purely technical SAP backgrounds, project management backgrounds without process ownership experience, or individuals lacking pharmaceutical industry experience.
Key Responsibilities
Process Design, Governance & Harmonization
- Drive the implementation and adoption of global business processes at site level.
- Act as the local process authority and ensure alignment with global operating models.
- Challenge existing processes and drive standardization, simplification, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Partner with Global Business Capability Owners (BCOs), Data Content Owners (DCOs), Master Data Specialists (MDSs), SMEs, and Super Users.
- Translate site-specific requirements into scalable global process solutions.
- Lead cross-functional discussions to resolve operational bottlenecks and process inefficiencies.
- Ensure local business requirements are balanced against global template standards.
- Promote an end-to-end process mindset across the organization.
SAP S/4HANA & Master Data Excellence
- Serve as the site subject matter expert for SAP S/4HANA-enabled business processes.
- Ensure process execution remains compliant with global design principles.
- Drive master data quality, governance, and lifecycle management activities.
- Support business stakeholders in troubleshooting process and system-related issues.
- Analyze transactional and master data to identify process improvement opportunities.
- Ensure effective integration between ERP processes and associated systems.
Change Management & Continuous Improvement
- Act as a visible change leader throughout process transformation initiatives.
- Manage and prioritize process enhancement requests through established governance frameworks.
- Facilitate Idea-to-Request (I2R) processes and present business requirements to global governance bodies.
- Drive user adoption and ensure sustainable process compliance.
Training, Documentation & Business Readiness
- Lead the review, revision, and retirement of local SOPs.
- Support the development and maintenance of Global Standard Processes (GSPs), SOPs, Work Instructions, and Playbooks.
- Deliver onboarding and process training for new employees and key users.
- Coordinate knowledge transfer and communication activities during process transitions and deployments.
ASPIRE Sustainment & Deployment Activities
- Support Fit-Gap Assessments and solution evaluations.
- Participate in User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
- Support Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) planning and execution.
- Contribute to global template sustainment and prioritization of business improvement initiatives.
- Ensure site requirements are effectively represented within the global backlog process.
Mandatory Requirements
Candidates must meet all of the following criteria.
Industry Experience
- Minimum 8 years of experience within:
- Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
- Biotech Manufacturing
- Supply Chain Operations
- Technical Operations
- Contract Manufacturing
Functional Expertise
- Proven expertise in end-to-end supply chain and manufacturing processes.
- Extensive experience driving business process improvements in complex global organizations.
- Demonstrated ability to operate as a business process owner, process excellence lead, or business process expert.
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