Location: Montreal, QC
The Director of Operations is responsible for all pharmaceutical cGMP production operations in Montreal, QC,
including: manufacturing, warehousing, purchasing, maintenance, and engineering. Vetio is the leading North
American Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) for Animal Health. The site completed
an Oral Solid Dosage production expansion and received a FDA Pre-Approval Inspection in 2018 with no
observations (Vetio is currently manufacturing veterinary drugs under 21CFR Parts 210/211). The Director of
Operations role is a new position in the company to manage existing production activities as well as build an
operations organization to address the growing list of new products and technical transfers commercializing in the
next 24 months and beyond. This is a unique opportunity where the candidate will shape the way the operation
runs and then manage it going forward.
Key Tasks and Responsibilities
• Ensures compliance with cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) policies and procedures, as well as
FDA, OSHA, and other regulatory guidelines.
• Ensures that all activities are carried out in a safe and ethical manner, and according to high standards
regarding product safety, quality, resource utilization, production efficiencies, operational safety, and
environmental protection.
• Develops staff, processes, and systems to support commercial manufacturing for Vetio as it grows as a
CDMO.
• Coordinates the utilization of plant facilities, equipment, materials, and manpower to meet the company’s
production and business objectives.
• Coordinates with Production Scheduler to generate weekly production plan for all processes in line, monitors
progress and ensures that pre-define KPI are attained. Ensures schedules are met and actions are taken to
correct deviations to schedule.
• Maintains capacity analysis for all manufacturing processes to proactively address capacity constraints.
• Develop departmental budgets and maintains material usage, labor utilization and operational spending within
budget.
• Identifies opportunities for efficiencies with equipment, planning, personnel, etc. and implement improvements
effectively.
• Identifies ways to increase efficiencies and decrease costs by creating a continuous improvement culture.
• Executes the operational corporate plan and meets or exceeds all operational KPI’s in a timely manner.
• Ensures that employee related tasks are completed timely including time/attendance, performance reviews,
corrective action, and training.
• Participates in establishing standards for implementation within new manufacturing facility.
• Supervise, coach, train, and mentor team members; create, maintain and improve a safe and efficient
environment for the warehouse team and ensure team members are trained to operate in an efficient and
safe manner.
• Maintains culture in Manufacturing that is consistent with corporate values.
• Monitors and maintains efficient flow of materials and documentation through the manufacturing process to
ensure schedules are met, bottlenecks are identified/eliminated, and production batches are available when
needed at each production step.
• Drives necessary actions to establish and monitor key performance objectives for each department and
overall site.
• Collaborates with all functions of the business to ensure sufficient information and resources are utilized to
meet customer needs while operating within budget.
• Directly supervises Production Managers & indirectly supervises all area Supervisors and Operators.
Education & Experience Required
• Bachelor’s degree, ideally in technical field.
• In-depth knowledge of cGMP requirements (Health Canada, FDA); knowledge of EMA cGMP and Cannabis
regulations an asset;
• Prior experience running a successful plant operation either as a plant manager or operations manager (Oral
Solid Dosage experience a plus).
• Demonstrated ability to lead high performing work teams;
• Language(s): French & English are required.
Skills & Abilities
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and customer service skills;
• Excellent leadership skills and demonstrated ability to develop plant staff.
• Thrives in a growth environment with a hands-on approach as part of a small, nimble organization;
• Adaptability and ability to operate under pressure and tight timelines.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work well with cross-functional teams.