Improvement Lead Utility Operations & Maintenance

Improvement Lead Utility Operations & Maintenance

Location: Leiden (fully on-site with occasional WFH; no travel required)

Duration: 12–16 months (starting ASAP)

Hours: 40 hours per week

Do you want to improve work processes, engage people through change, and further professionalize our Utility Operations & Maintenance organization with a future-oriented focus? At Johnson & Johnson, we work on innovative medicines that change lives. You will contribute to a smooth manufacturing process for our unique, custom-made medicines. Your technical expertise and problem-solving skills are essential to the reliability of our facilities. Join our team and make an impact in the world of pharmaceuticals!

As Improvement Lead, you will work within the GET Maintenance department, which consists of 80 employees in total. You will focus on a team of 27 to 30 employees (MBO+ level) working across five different shift patterns in a 24-hour operation spanning two sites. Together, they manage all utilities and provide first-line response to production breakdowns. Note that the entire focus team is Dutch, though the wider maintenance department is a dynamic mix of colleagues from various backgrounds and nationalities who constantly seek new perspectives and innovative solutions. We work on both facility/building systems and production equipment, as well as your personal development. Here, you will have the freedom to shape your own work, and we actively encourage initiative, maintaining a strong focus on achieving personal and business goals.

The environment is evolving and calls for a different way of working. At the same time, the team has expanded significantly with new hires over the past period. This combination presents opportunities for further professionalization and requires targeted coaching, clear processes, and a strong culture of continuous improvement.

roles and responsibilities

• Act as operational support to provide daily operational planning, ensure process execution, and implement change (including process excellence, setting up KPIs, and increasing productivity).

• Provide structured feedback and hold one-to-ones with team members (with no direct line management duties).

• Independently initiate and hands-on deliver improvement initiatives, optimizing work processes and increasing the team's overall effectiveness and output.

• Identify opportunities for improvement, translate them into actionable plans, and take ownership of the approach, execution, and sustainment.

• Build buy-in and actively involve team members in change and continuous improvement, staying close to the shop floor to independently drive the implementation of improvements.

• Independently develop a vision for the required quality and capacity, translating this into concrete action and improvement plans for the team in alignment with the manager.

• Structure and optimize work processes for utility operations, breakdown response, and maintenance.

• Clarify roles and responsibilities, strengthening collaboration and shift handovers across the five shifts.

• Engage employees in change initiatives and embed continuous improvement into day-to-day operations.

• Deliver and sustain improvements in work and maintenance processes and systems, from analysis through to hands-on execution.

• Create standard operating procedures (SOPs) and work instructions, ensuring adherence on the shop floor.

• Ensure compliance with GMP, safety, and regulatory standards, fostering a safe working environment.

• Monitor progress and results, independently steer improvement projects, and align priorities, prerequisites, required resources, bottlenecks, and solutions with the manager.

how to succeed

• Bachelor's level of thinking and working (HBO level), preferably with a technical background.

• Demonstrable experience leading teams in an industrial or operational environment, ideally complemented by knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry.

• Extensive experience in independently initiating and executing improvement initiatives.

• Strong change-management skills and experience in a leadership, coordinating, or similar role where you motivate and guide people through change.

• Strong stakeholder management and collaboration skills across multidisciplinary teams.

• Decisiveness and the ability to make well-considered decisions independently.

• Strong communication skills and personality, with the confidence to provide constructive, clear, and structured feedback.

• Fluency in both Dutch and English.

benefits

This role offers a very competitive hourly rate. This contract will run initially for 12–16 months.

you are welcome here

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine is working to create an inclusive environment where diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences are valued and each and every one of our people feels that they belong and can reach their potential. No matter who they are.

about Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

Patients inform and inspire our science-based innovations, which continue to change and save lives. Applying rigorous science and compassion, we confidently address some of the most complex diseases of our time and unlock the potential medicines of tomorrow. Our diverse portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas — Oncology, Immunology, Neuroscience, Cardiovascular, Pulmonary Hypertension, and Retina. We are continuously working to develop treatments, aspiring to find cures, pioneering the path from lab to life, and championing patients every step of the way.

application process

We are looking to process the first round of applications within the next 2 working days. We do not accept applications via email or LinkedIn InMail - you must apply direct to this advert.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

For more than 130 years, diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) have been part of our cultural fabric at Johnson & Johnson and woven into how we do business every day. Our commitment to respect the dignity and diversity of all is embedded in our Credo. We know that the success of our business depends on having the best talent in a workforce that reflects the diverse markets we serve around the world and an inclusive culture that values different perspectives and life experiences. That is why we are working to create an inclusive environment where diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences are valued and each one of our people feels that they belong and can reach their potential. No matter who they are. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Johnson & Johnson means “You Belong”.