VP Operations North America

The Vice President, North America Rx Operations is a strategic, operational leader responsible for overseeing end-to-end manufacturing across the NA network, and as part of the Global Operations Leadership Team. This role will drive operational excellence, continuous improvement, and cross-functional alignment to drive capacity and quality resulting in a compelling customer experience. The VP will shape long-term network strategies while ensuring executional excellence in day-to-day operations, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and performance. A strong process orientation, extensive experience with integration, and a proven ability to drive results through others are essential to excel in this role.

Strategic Leadership 

• Develop and implement breakthrough manufacturing strategies aligned with company goals and future growth opportunities, with a strong focus on process orientation and seamless integration of new initiatives.

• Anticipate industry trends and technological advancements to ensure a future-ready operations model.

• Guide organizational structure, talent planning, and capability development to support scalable manufacturing operations, leveraging process-driven approaches for integration and alignment focused on a Compelling Customer Experience.

Operational Excellence 

• Lead manufacturing, engineering, and operational teams in executing highly efficient, cost-effective, and quality-driven processes, ensuring all operations are process-oriented and standardized for consistency.

• Champion continuous improvement using Lean, Six Sigma, or other process optimization methodologies, and ensure these methodologies are integrated across the network.

• Own KPIs across productivity, yield, quality, cost, and delivery.  Analyze metrics and deploy actions to achieve and exceed targets by driving results through the leadership and empowerment of others.

Change Management & Innovation 

• Serve as a change agent, instilling an adaptive mindset and empowering teams to embrace transformation, with a focus on integrating new processes efficiently into existing operations.

• Encourage innovation across processes, products, and people practices, maintaining a competitive edge in global manufacturing by promoting a culture of integration and collaboration.

• Promote, implement digital manufacturing, and smart factory technologies, ensuring their integration into current processes for maximum impact.

Cross- functional Collaboration & Communication

• Collaborate across R&D, Commercial, Quality, Supply Chain, HR, and Finance teams to deliver seamless operations, emphasizing process alignment and integration across functions.

• Drive integrated planning, resource alignment, and capital project execution through a process-oriented approach.

• Communicate strategic vision and operational performance effectively across all levels of the organization, ensuring that process changes and integration efforts are clearly understood and adopted.

Stakeholder & Customer Focus 

• Balance diverse internal and external stakeholder needs while maintaining ethical standards, using structured processes to ensure transparency and alignment.

• Maintain a strong customer-centric mindset, aligning operations with voice-of-customer insights to ensure satisfaction and loyalty, and integrating feedback into operational processes.

• Be an active contributor to the Global Operations Leadership Team in advancing our organizational capabilities and processes, with a focus on integration and process improvement.

Leadership Attributes

• Process Orientation – Designs, implements, and optimizes structured processes to ensure consistency, scalability, and operational excellence.

• Strategic Mindset & Vision – Sees future possibilities and translates them into actionable strategies.

• Plans and Aligns – Integrates risk-aware, adaptive plans with organizational goals.

• Optimizes Work Processes – Elevates systems and methods for highest quality output, with a focus on process integration and standardization.

• Ensures Accountability – Builds a culture of ownership and delivers results by driving performance through others.

• Manages Complexity – Navigates ambiguity and connects the dots to inform sound decisions, particularly during integration initiatives.

• Balances Stakeholders – Considers diverse needs and leads with integrity and inclusion.

• Financial Acumen – Applies financial insights to operational processes and decisions to optimize profitability of delivery.

• Communicates Effectively – Tailors messages to diverse audiences for clarity and alignment.

• Drives Vision & Purpose – Energizes teams around a compelling long-term direction.

• Cultivates Innovation – Invests in process that drive customer & organizational value.

• Customer Focus – Designs operations that consistently meet or exceed customer expectations.

• Builds Effective Teams – Creates high-performing, diverse, and resilient teams, empowering others to deliver results.

• Integration Experience – Demonstrates a track record of successfully integrating new processes, technologies, or teams within a complex organizational environment.

• Drives Results Through Others – Inspires, enables, and holds teams accountable to achieve and exceed business objectives.

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Operations Management, or related field; Master’s degree or MBA preferred.

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in global manufacturing environments, with significant experience in process design, integration, and optimization.

• Optical/Medtech Operational experience required.

• Proven success leading complex operations, managing cross-border teams, integrating acquired businesses or technologies, and scaling capabilities.

• Deep knowledge of manufacturing excellence, including Lean, TPM, automation, and quality systems, with a strong process orientation.

• Strong financial literacy with demonstrated ability to manage budgets, forecasts, and capital investments.

• Experience leading digital transformations and deploying ERP or MES systems is highly desirable, particularly with successful integration into existing operations.

• Demonstrated ability to influence at the executive level and across global matrixed organizations, driving results through effective leadership of others.

Work Environment & Travel

• This position may be based at a primary manufacturing site or corporate office with travel required (up to 30%) to global facilities and key stakeholder locations.