Global Process Owner (GPO) - Plan-to-Distribute | Manufacturing, Release & Distribution

Make your mark for patients

We are looking for a Global Process Owner (GPO) – Plan-to-Distribute | Manufacturing, Release & Distribution to join us in our HQ office in Brussels, Belgium.

About the role

You will play a key role in shaping how the organization structures and governs how products are planned, manufactured, released, and made available for distribution across our global organization.

As Global Process Owner for Plan-to-Distribute, you will own the end-to-end process from production planning through manufacturing, quality release, and inventory readiness, and act as a key guardian of process compliance in the context of ongoing changes and transformations.

You will ensure consistent, efficient, and compliant ways of working across regions and sites. This role is ideal for someone with strong experience in manufacturing or supply operations, combined with a passion for process improvement, standardization, and transformation in a regulated environment.

This is a senior enterprise role requiring the maturity to work through influence in a large, federated stakeholder landscape, bringing coherence across handovers rather than replacing local manufacturing, supply, or quality accountability. Success in this role is reflected in the consistent execution of planning, manufacturing, and distribution processes across regions, improved transparency and control, strengthened compliance, and the ability to enable effective cross-functional collaboration while supporting transformation and business priorities.

Who you'll work with

You will be working in a team that connects expertise across the full value chain and enables a more integrated way of operating across the organization.

The team brings together global process leaders and works closely with manufacturing sites, quality teams, supply chain, engineering, and regional experts.

You will collaborate with stakeholders across functions and geographies, including senior leaders, to align processes and support key transformation initiatives. You will also help build a strong network of process experts and contribute to a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.

You will work in partnership with functional leadership teams to connect existing expertise, improve decision quality, and strengthen end-to-end performance across planning, manufacturing, release, and distribution.

What you'll do

• Define and govern the global manufacturing and supply process from production planning through manufacturing, quality release, and inventory availability, ensuring consistency across sites and regions
• Identify and drive improvements in efficiency, reliability, and compliance by simplifying processes, standardizing practices, and introducing automation where appropriate
• Partner with manufacturing, quality, supply chain, procurement and regional teams to align process design and resolve cross-functional challenges
• Establish clear standards for documentation, controls, training, and performance management to support compliance, audit readiness, and sustainable operations
• Support transformation initiatives by ensuring processes are well designed, integrated across functions, and aligned with both operational and regulatory requirements
• Build and develop a community of process experts, promoting best practices and strengthening capabilities in process management across the organization
• Shape and support transformation initiatives and major programs (including wave-based deployments) by identifying and prioritizing process improvement opportunities, guiding end-to-end process design, and ensuring alignment across functions, systems, and governance, in partnership with business and functional teams responsible for implementation and adoption
• Support structured change adoption by contributing to change impact assessments, defining adoption priorities, and ensuring business readiness and stakeholder alignment, while partnering with functions accountable for execution, training delivery, and post-implementation stabilization

Interested? For this role we’re looking for the following education, experience and skills

• Strong experience in manufacturing, supply chain, or production operations within complex international organizations
• Around 15 years of professional experience, ideally in life sciences, pharmaceuticals, or another highly regulated industry
• Solid understanding of production planning, manufacturing execution, quality release, and inventory management processes
• Experience with process improvement methodologies such as Lean or Six Sigma; certification is an advantage
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence, challenge constructively, and build alignment across functions and senior levels
• Ability to work across processes and systems with a focus on end-to-end outcomes rather than individual tools
• High emotional intelligence, resilience, and the ability to navigate a large stakeholder ecosystem with credibility and diplomacy
• Excellent English communication skills are required; additional languages may be beneficial depending on stakeholder scope

Are you ready to ‘go beyond’ to create value and make your mark for patients? If this sounds like you, then we would love to hear from you!

About us UCB is a global biopharmaceutical company, focusing on neurology and immunology. We are over 9.000 people in all four corners of the globe, inspired by patients and driven by science.

Why work with us? At UCB, we don’t just complete tasks, we create value. We aren’t afraid to push forward, collaborate, and innovate to make our mark for patients. We have a caring, supportive culture where everyone feels included, respected, and has equal opportunities to do their best work. We ‘go beyond’ to create value for our patients, and always with a human focus, whether that’s on our patients, our employees, or our planet. Working for us, you will discover a place where you can grow, and have the freedom to carve your own career path to achieve your full potential.

At UCB, we’ve embraced a hybrid-first approach to work, bringing teams together in local hubs to foster collaborative curiosity. Unless expressly stated in the description or precluded by the nature of the position, roles are hybrid with 40% of your time spent in the office.

UCB is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions will be made without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable laws.

Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us on EMEA-Reasonable_Accommodation@ucb.com. Please note should your enquiry not relate to adjustments; we will not be able to support you through this channel.