Chief Technology Officer (Technical, Quality, R&D and Programme Management)
THIS IS A LIFE SCIENCE/PHARMACEUTICAL ROLE AND IS ONLY OPEN TO CANDIDATES WITH THIS BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE.
Location: Netherlands (preferred)
Travel: 40% (MENA + EU sites)
Package: C-Suite level + bonus
The Opportunity
My client is a fast growing, international pharmaceutical manufacturer that are appointing their first CTO to professionalise and scale Quality, R&D governance, and technical operations across Europe and the Middle East. This is truly exciting role to be part of a well established and growth focused company which operates at significant international scale, with over 350 marketed products and a pipeline of 500+ in development.
This is a true ‘build and own’ role. You will be responsible for unifying various parts of the business into a more streamlined function, establishing technical and Quality governance, linking R&D, tech transfer, manufacturing, and compliance into a single, regulator ready, inspection proof operating model capable of supporting EU expansion and future US entry. This is not just a tick box role, this is a creative opportunity to be part of the future shaping of this organisation.
This role will report directly to the CEO and operate as a core member of the executive team.
Your Core Mandate
You will own and integrate:
- Quality Assurance
- Quality Control & Microbiology
- QMS & Compliance Systems
- Validation & Inspection Readiness
- Technical Governance of R&D
- Project & Technology Oversight
What You Will Be Accountable For
1) Executive Quality & Compliance Leadership
- Establish independent, inspection ready Quality governance.
- Act as final authority on GMP, compliance, and product release.
- Lead major EU inspections (FDA in time) and regulatory responses.
2) R&D and Manufacturing Technical Governance
- Govern the interface between R&D, tech transfer, and manufacturing.
- Ensure development outputs translate into regulator ready products.
- Provide technical oversight across QA, QC and validation.
3) Systems & Digital Infrastructure
- Modernise the QMS and quality data environment.
- Drive automation, data integrity, and scalable compliance systems.
4) Organisation & Capability Build
- Design and build the European technical and Quality structure.
- Recruit and develop senior functional leaders.
- Establish clear operating models and escalation routes
Who This Role Is For
This role is for senior Quality leaders who have:
- Run complex, multi-site GMP environments
- Led major inspections personally
- Operated across cultures and regions
- Built systems, not just maintained them
- Challenged leadership when standards were at risk
Non-Negotiable Experience
You must bring:
- Significant senior experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing and development environments (10+ years).
- Leadership responsibility spanning Quality Assurance and Quality Control functions.
- Personal ownership of major regulatory inspections and remediation programmes.
- Strong working knowledge of EU GMP (exposure to FDA is beneficial)
- Proven experience operating across multiple sites and regions.
- Demonstrable professional exposure to MENA region manufacturing or partner environments.
Strong Advantage If You Also Have
- Experience with KSA / SFDA regulation
- Involvement in US FDA submissions or inspections
- R&D governance exposure
- Digital QMS transformation projects
- Background in branded generics or CDMO environments
- Arabic language capability (helpful, not essential)
This is a very exciting opportunity to be part an organisation that has room on their executive board for their first CTO to help unify parts of the business that need help for the next phase of growth. It is worth noting that whilst this opportunity is based in the Netherlands, this role will require, cultural awareness and intelligence of Middle Eastern and European environments as this company is based in the Middle East.
