Job Title: Operations Lead Vaccines - Person In Plant Location: Pune, India
About the job As an Operations Lead Vaccines - Person In Plant within our EM&S Vaccines Operations team, you'll lead the operational management of strategic manufacturing partnerships, ensuring the reliable delivery of high-quality vaccines through Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs). Ready to get started? Join the team protecting half a billion lives every year with next-generation science, mRNA innovation, and AI-driven breakthroughs. In Vaccines, you'll help advance prevention on a global scale while working closely with internal and external partners to ensure manufacturing excellence, operational compliance, and uninterrupted vaccine supply.
About Sanofi We're an R&D-driven, AI-powered biopharma company committed to improving people's lives and delivering compelling growth. Our deep understanding of the immune system – and innovative pipeline – enables us to invent medicines and vaccines that treat and protect millions of people around the world. Together, we chase the miracles of science to improve people's lives.
Main responsibilities
• Serve as Sanofi's primary operational representative at the Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO), ensuring strong collaboration and operational excellence.
• Coordinate Drug Substance (DS) and Drug Product (DP) manufacturing activities to ensure products are delivered on time, in full, and to quality expectations.
• Monitor manufacturing performance through key performance indicators (KPIs), proactively identify risks, and drive timely resolution of operational issues.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain, Quality, MSAT, Regulatory Affairs, Logistics, Planning, Procurement, and external partners to ensure seamless manufacturing and product release activities.
• Support deviations, change controls, investigations, CAPA activities, and quality audits while maintaining compliance with regulatory and quality standards.
• Lead or support technical transfers, new product introductions, and continuous improvement initiatives at external manufacturing sites.
• Build trusted relationships with internal stakeholders and external manufacturing partners to deliver business objectives and strengthen long-term partnerships.
About you
• Experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, vaccine manufacturing, manufacturing operations, supply chain, or external manufacturing.
• Strong understanding of Drug Substance (DS) and Drug Product (DP) manufacturing processes.
• Knowledge of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and global pharmaceutical regulations.
• Experience working with Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs) or external manufacturing partners is preferred.
• Strong project management, analytical, stakeholder management, and communication skills with the ability to make independent decisions.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Pharmacy, Biotechnology, Engineering, Life Sciences, or a related scientific discipline.
• Fluent in English. Knowledge of Hindi or another Indian language is an advantage.
• Ability to work onsite at the CMO in Pune a minimum of three days per week.
Why choose us?
• Work at the forefront of AI-driven research, smart manufacturing, and groundbreaking mRNA platforms that are redefining the future of immunology.
• Help protect half a billion people every year, contributing to one of the largest global vaccination efforts in healthcare.
• Develop your career with access to mentoring, international mobility programs, and opportunities to grow across four continents.
• Share knowledge with leading scientists, engineers, and manufacturing experts in a purpose-driven community dedicated to protecting millions worldwide.
• Play a critical role in strengthening strategic external manufacturing partnerships that support global vaccine supply.
• Gain exposure to global cross-functional teams while contributing to technical transfers, manufacturing innovation, and operational excellence.
Pursue progress, discover extraordinary Better is out there. Better medications, better outcomes, better science. But progress doesn’t happen without people – people from different backgrounds, in different locations, doing different roles, all united by one thing: a desire to make miracles happen. So, let’s be those people.
At Sanofi, we provide equal opportunities to all regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, ability or gender identity.
Watch our ALL IN video and check out our Diversity Equity and Inclusion actions at sanofi.com!