Senior Operations Team Manager

Catalent, Inc. is a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) whose mission is to develop, manufacture, and supply products that help people live better and healthier lives. Catalent is dedicated to delivering unparalleled service to pharma, biotech, and consumer health customers, supporting product development, launch, and full life-cycle supply. With time-tested experience in development sciences, delivery technologies, and multi-modality manufacturing, Catalent supports the acceleration of development programs and the launch of more than a hundred new products every year. Powered by thousands of scientists and technicians and the latest technology platforms at more than 40 global sites, Catalent supplies billions of doses of life-enhancing and life-saving treatments for patients annually.

Our Swindon site specialises in Zydis® fast-dissolve technology — setting the gold standard in patient convenience and adherence. Join us and be part of a passionate team transforming medicines for millions worldwide.

Catalent is seeking an experienced Senior Operations Team Manager (SOTM) to lead a shift of multi-skilled production teams, ensuring we manufacture quality products safely, compliantly and cost-effectively. You will be the driving force behind operational excellence, coaching and inspiring operators and Operation Team Manager’s to exceed targets and foster a continuous-improvement culture.

This position is a 12 hour shift pattern.  2 days, followed by 2 nights, then 4 days off.

The Role:

Lead & Deliver

Shift Accountability: Own the end-to-end performance of your shift, from dispense & mixing through to form-fill-freeze, drying, inspection, sealing and secondary packaging.

KPI Ownership: Meet or exceed SQDCP (Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, People) targets, leveraging data to challenge inefficiencies and eliminate process loss.

Continuous Improvement: Champion 5S and lean initiatives, embedding a culture of “always audit ready” and relentless pursuit of performance excellence.

Safety & Quality

Patient First: Adopt a patient centric focus on all that you strive for and foster this approach with your team.

Safety Leadership: Model and enforce zero-tolerance safety behaviours, driving your team to set and surpass site safety benchmarks.

Compliance Culture: Be the ambassador for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), reducing deviations and empowering your team to uphold the highest quality standards.

People Development

Coaching & Mentoring: Conduct regular 1-2-1s, briefings and team meetings; support career progression and, where needed, implement performance improvement plans.

Team Management: Oversee attendance, leave, overtime and disciplinary processes, ensuring your team is motivated, supported and fully engaged.

Cost & Efficiency

Waste Reduction: Identify and eliminate variation in processes, leading targeted waste-reduction projects.

Commercial Awareness: Build business cases grounded in facts and data, making informed decisions with the voice of the customer at the heart.

The Candidate:

Essential

Proven track record of leading and developing multi-disciplinary teams in a pharmaceutical manufacturing environment.

Able to adopt a holistic view of the wider organisation and partner with cross-functional teams—including Quality Assurance, Engineering, Supply Chain and Commercial—to deliver end-to-end operational excellence.

Strong knowledge of GMP, change control processes and advanced performance-management tools (e.g., Six Sigma).

Desirable

Aspirations to develop and progress.

Demonstrable success in 5S, lean manufacturing or continuous-improvement methodologies.

Personal Attributes

Resilient Change Agent: You thrive in a fast-paced, challenging environment and “stay the course” to deliver results.

“Can-Do” Attitude: Your passion is infectious, and you’ll get things done.

Analytical Thinker: You dissect problems, prioritise effectively and select the best-fit solution every time.

Clear Communicator: You build rapport at all levels, fostering an open atmosphere for root-cause analysis and collaboration.

Why you should join Catalent:

Competitive Salary: Reflecting your experience and skills.

Bonus & Benefits: Including annual performance bonus, pension scheme, BUPA private medical insurance and generous holiday entitlement.

Career Development: Access to training, mentoring and cross-functional opportunities within Catalent’s global network.

Health & Wellbeing: Employee assistance programme, on-site facilities and active safety culture.

We have been made aware of potential inaccurate job advertisements on third-party websites.  Please consider Catalent’s Career Site as the trusted and accurate source of information for any jobs available with Catalent.

Catalent offers rewarding opportunities to further your career!  Join the global drug development and delivery leader and help us bring over 7,000 life-saving and life-enhancing products to patients around the world. Catalent is an exciting and growing international company where employees work directly with pharma, biopharma and consumer health companies of all sizes to advance new medicines from early development to clinical trials and to the market. Catalent produces more than 70 billion doses per year, and each one will be used by someone who is counting on us. Join us in making a difference. 

personal initiative. dynamic pace. meaningful work.

Visit Catalent Careers to explore career opportunities.

Catalent is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate based on any characteristic protected by local law.

If you require reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process due to a disability, you may submit your request by sending an email, and confirming your request for an accommodation and include the job number, title and location to DisabilityAccommodations@catalent.com. This option is reserved for individuals who require accommodation due to a disability. Information received will be processed by a U.S. Catalent employee and then routed to a local recruiter who will provide assistance to ensure appropriate consideration in the application or hiring process.

Notice to Agency and Search Firm Representatives: Catalent Pharma Solutions (Catalent) is not accepting unsolicited resumes from agencies and/or search firms for this job posting. Resumes submitted to any Catalent employee by a third party agency and/or search firm without a valid written & signed search agreement, will become the sole property of Catalent. No fee will be paid if a candidate is hired for this position as a result of an unsolicited agency or search firm referral. Thank you.