Senior Director EU Operations
Medical Cannabis Industry - Germany
Hybrid working model - Berlin Office
Company Overview
Our client is one of the largest and most well-known Medical Cannabis producers & distributors in Europe. They were first established in 2006, and have over 1,000 employees worldwide, with over 130 in Europe, with 115 + in Germany. They are one of the better-known players in the EU cannabis space and were among the first to build a stable supply chain in Germany and the UK for cannabis medicines. They also truly have one of the strongest reputations for high quality & also consistent cannabis-based medications.
The company is part of a larger publicly listed group located in Canada and is considered a household name in the global cannabis industry. They have been selling medical cannabis in Europe for over 8 years and continue to play a major role in shaping the regulated cannabis market across the region.
As the European business continues to scale, they are now looking to hire a Senior Director Operations EU who will take ownership of operational performance across the region and play a key role in driving the next phase of growth.
Role Overview
Our client is looking for a Senior Director EU Operations who will take ownership of their end-to-end operations across Europe, covering internal production sites as well as their broader network of partners and distribution networks. You will be the bridge between the Global Canadian team & the European team, ensuring seamless integration across regions and functions.
This is a senior leadership role within the European business, sitting as part of the EU Leadership team and working closely with global functions. The position will focus on ensuring that operations across the region are fully aligned, scalable and set up to support continued commercial growth, while also supporting the engagement of the full European team.
The role will be accountable for strategic EU operations and will play a key role in leveraging Aurora’s global network to drive revenue, profitability and cash flow.
The role will oversee key operational areas including manufacturing, supply chain, logistics and distribution, while also working cross functionally with finance, commercial and global teams to ensure alignment on performance, planning and execution.
A key part of this role is driving consistency and integration across Aurora’s global network. The business operates within a matrix structure, so the successful candidate will need to be comfortable working across multiple teams, geographies and stakeholders to ensure that priorities are clear, mandates across functions are aligned, and execution is consistent. The key markets in Europe currently are Germany, UK, Poland with more coming online soon.
This position will also have direct responsibility for the production site in Leuna, Germany, alongside logistics, transportation and inventory functions, with indirect oversight of planning and procurement activities to ensure all aspects of EU operations are aligned and streamlined. The Site Manager for the Leuna site will be one of your main direct reports.
The company is looking for someone who can operate at both a strategic and hands on level. The successful candidate will need to be comfortable driving execution, improving processes and ensuring that operations are running efficiently across the region.
You will report directly to the VP Operations in Canada and play a key role in implementing the company’s global strategy across Europe, ensuring full alignment between global objectives and regional execution. A key part of this role is understanding, you are not the German OPS leader, but you are the European Leader, and candidates with an international mindset, will likely be more successful in this role.
Another important thing to highlight is that while our client is one of the most well-known and established medical cannabis companies globally, with over 1,000 employees worldwide, the European business operates very differently. With around 130 employees across Europe, the region functions more like a fast-growing SME than a large corporate. Because of this, the company is looking for someone who is comfortable operating within a global matrix environment and can deal with corporate environments, but who is also hands on and able to drive execution within the European team and can build processes and help scale the European operations.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership
• Represent Global Operations and Supply Chain in Europe
• Execution of the company’s strategic plan and goals in EU
• Foster and model open and reciprocal communication between regions and departments across Aurora
• Lead cross-functional alignment between operations, finance, and commercial teams
• Identify operational risks and opportunities and recommend strategies to address them
Operational Execution & Process Excellence
• Drive operational scalability to support business growth
• Support the optimization of a variety of processes and strategies
• Responsible for the oversight of Aurora’s cultivation, manufacturing (bottling), logistics and distribution of products across the region
Performance Management & Metrics
• Accountable for setting, measuring and delivering against KPIs and quarterly goals and targets
• Analyze performance trends and implement corrective actions
• Hold team members accountable for their respective areas of responsibility
• Lead operational reviews and communicate results to senior leadership
Financial and Resource Management
• Manage operating budgets, cost controls and margin improvement initiatives
• Responsible for delivering against financial targets on a monthly basis
• Ensure efficient use of resources
People Leadership & Culture
• Build, lead and develop high-performing operations teams
• Set clear expectations, goals and accountability structures
• Coach leaders; support talent development and success planning
• Foster a culture of Winning Together, Accountability, Courage and Compassion
Safety, Regulatory & Quality
• Foster a safety culture at Aurora
• Support Aurora’s robust quality management system to ensure compliance with industry regulations and the expectations of our patients and partners
• Stay ahead of industry and regulatory trends, integrating best practices to continuously enhance operations
Requirements
- You must have 8-10 + years of work experience in Operations and Supply Chain and Operations including Manufacturing, Customer Supply Chain, Supply and Demand Planning, Warehouse and Vendor Management, Procurement and Innovation
- You must have experience in either regulated FMCG / CPG / Consumer Good markets, OR Pharmaceuticals OR Medical Devices OR Consumer Health OR Medical Cannabis
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree (we would also welcome an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience)
- Strong leadership skills with prior experience developing and coaching high-performing teams to success
- Robust business acumen with a commercially driven approach capable of developing long-term strategies and executing best practices in high growth markets
Bonus Points for:
- Strong International Experience, looking after numerous regions
- Medical Cannabis experience
- Experience in Matrix Organizations or Public companies
- Experience in Startups or Scale ups + Public or Matrix Organisations
- Experienced across multiple industries not just one. Two or more of the industries mentioned above – FMCG & Pharma as an example or Medical Devices & Consumer Health
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
• Exceptional leadership, communication and stakeholder management skills
• Proven ability to work effectively in a matrix organisation and manage complex cross-functional initiatives and teams
• Proactive and strategic thinker with the ability to balance high-level planning and tactical execution
• Strong understanding of end-to-end manufacturing and supply chain processes, including demand planning, inventory optimization, procurement and logistics
• Knowledge of regulated Product production & Manufacturing Management including Quality systems and Manufacturing regulations GMP, ISO etc, Cost management, Continuous Improvement and Engineering
• Strong organizational skills with a focus on achieving defined milestones
• A culture champion with strong values and experience coaching others to success
Location and Travel
• Hybrid working model with presence required at the Berlin head office & Leuna . “This will be a Hybrid remote role with the expectation that there will be regular travel to the main EU Office (Berlin) and other internal and 3rd party sites as required to build and maintain relationships and to ensure accountability to all goals and targets. Expect travel to be at least biweekly.
. Travel across Europe & Germany will be required as needed.
Compensation & Benefits
- Competitive salary package, including performance bonus
- All Legal German Benefits
- Hybrid working model
- International travel opportunities