Innovation Technical Manager (External Manufacturing)

Innovation Technical Manager (External Manufacturing)
You've built experience, now use it where bold ideas meet real impact. At Opella, we're challenging how self-care works for millions of people and need leaders and experts ready to shape what's next.
As an Innovation Technical Manager, you'll bring your skill, your curiosity and your drive to make health simpler, smarter and more human.

About the job:
As Innovation Technical Manager, you will provide technical leadership for innovation projects involving our external manufacturing partners across Japan, ASEAN and South Korea, making sure proposed manufacturing routes are technically sound, compliant, cost-conscious and aligned with timelines and quality expectations.

You will lead technical visits and due diligence with new and existing manufacturing partners, identify operational and supply risks, and turn your findings into clear recommendations and execution plans. As the external manufacturing focal point on innovation projects, you will lead end-to-end project delivery in close partnership with cross-functional teams and external partners.

Based in Tokyo and reporting to the Head of External Manufacturing, Japan, ASEA, China and Australia, this is an individual contributor role with regional project scope.

Main responsibilities:
Act as technical lead for assigned innovation initiatives from early concept through launch readiness and post-launch review, planning and conducting technical visits to new and existing manufacturing partners to assess capability, capacity, process readiness and supply robustness.
Lead technical due diligence for licensing, buy, external manufacturing and partner supply opportunities, assessing process maturity, quality and supply risk, site readiness and documentation, and recommending remediation where needed.
Organize and lead innovation showcase workshops with manufacturing partners to identify and advance ideas that strengthen the innovation pipeline.
Manage the end-to-end execution plan for assigned innovation projects, including milestones, risks, resourcing and governance, coordinating closely with R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Procurement, Supply Chain and external partners to keep decisions aligned and on schedule.
Lead sourcing cases for assigned projects and build stakeholder support for the preferred manufacturing partner network.
Capture lessons learned from partner due diligence and project delivery, turning them into better ways of working, and contribute to productivity, cost and sustainability opportunities across the manufacturing partner network.

About you:
Experience: Experience in pharmaceutical, consumer healthcare, food supplement, OTC or another related regulated manufacturing environment, with 5+ years in project management and 3+ years in production or a related field.
Skills: Strong understanding of contract manufacturing operations, technology transfer, process scale-up, validation, packaging, quality systems and launch readiness. Proven ability to run technical assessments, due diligence and partner or site evaluations. Strong project management discipline, including milestone planning, risk management and stakeholder alignment. Comfortable working across complex cross-functional networks and influencing decisions without direct authority, with commercial awareness that connects technical choices to cost, timeline, supply continuity and business case.
Education: A degree in a science-related field, or equivalent hands-on technical experience.
Languages: Fluent/Native Japanese and business-level English are both required. Korean is an advantage.

This is more than the next step in your career, it's a chance to lead change and help reinvent self-care for the world. If you're ready to challenge, inspire and deliver impact that matters, we're ready for you. We are challengers. We are Opella.

Opella values diversity in all its forms and is committed to fostering a workplace where everyone can belong and excel. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.

About Us:
Opella is the self-care challenger with the purest and third-largest portfolio in the Over The Counter (OTC) & Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements (VMS) market globally.

Our mission is to bring health in people's hands by making self-care as simple as it should be. For half a billion consumers worldwide, and counting.
At the core of this mission is our 100 loved brands, our 11,000-strong global team, our 13 best-in-class manufacturing sites and 4 specialized science and innovation development centers. Headquartered in France, Opella is the proud maker of many of the world’s most loved brands, including Allegra, Buscopan, Doliprane, Dulcolax, Enterogermina, Essentiale and Mucosolvan.

As a globally certified B Corp company, we are active players in the journey towards healthier people and planet. Find out more about our mission at www.opella.com.