Senior Director Facilities & Engineering

Senior Director, Facilities & Engineering

📍 Uppsala, Sweden | Senior Leadership Opportunity

Overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Director, Facilities & Engineering to establish and lead a new function within a growing biotechnology organisation focused on the development and manufacture of innovative vaccine technologies.

This is a key leadership position with responsibility for facilities, engineering, maintenance, technical infrastructure, EHS and sustainability. The successful candidate will play a central role in supporting the site's strategic development, ensuring operational reliability and maintaining the highest standards of quality, safety and regulatory compliance.

Reporting directly to the Managing Director, you will join the site leadership team, overseeing a multidisciplinary function and working closely with Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain and Validation.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership & Team Development: Establish and lead the Facilities & Engineering function, with responsibility for engineering, maintenance, facilities, supply systems, EHS, sustainability and office management.
• Facilities & Engineering: Ensure the reliability, compliance and operational readiness of site infrastructure, including cleanrooms, HVAC, utilities, process equipment and building systems.
• Capital Projects: Lead investment projects from planning and budgeting through design, implementation and commissioning, ensuring appropriate risk assessments, change control and cGMP compliance.
• Asset & Maintenance Management: Develop maintenance strategies, oversee asset lifecycle management, establish KPIs and budgets, and manage external suppliers and contractors.
• Sustainability & Energy: Drive the site's energy efficiency and environmental sustainability agenda, including environmental permits, performance targets, monitoring and ESG reporting.
• EHS & Compliance: Promote a strong safety culture and ensure compliance with environmental, health and safety requirements across the site.
• Regulatory Readiness: Maintain inspection and audit readiness, acting as a subject matter expert for facilities and engineering systems during regulatory inspections and audits.
• Strategic Development: Maintain the Site Master Plan and contribute to site-wide strategy, operational performance and business objectives as part of the leadership team.

Requirements

• MSc or degree in Engineering, ideally in Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical Engineering or a related discipline. A higher degree is advantageous.
• Significant experience in facilities, engineering or technical operations within pharmaceutical, biotechnology or another highly regulated manufacturing environment.
• Proven people management and leadership experience, including developing teams and establishing effective operational structures.
• Experience managing capital investment projects, technical infrastructure, utilities and cGMP-compliant facilities.
• Experience in energy management, environmental compliance and sustainability within an industrial or regulated environment.
• Strong knowledge of cGMP, FDA/EMA regulatory expectations and relevant engineering standards, such as ISPE and ASME BPE.
• Experience supporting regulatory inspections and audits.
• Familiarity with Building Management Systems (BMS) and Computerised Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) is advantageous.
• Fluency in Swedish and English, both written and spoken.

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