Dir, Plant Management

Job Description

As General Manager, Upper Hutt Operations, you bring enterprise leadership, strategic direction, and operational excellence together to ensure the long-term success of the Upper Hutt manufacturing and distribution site.

You hold end-to-end accountability for planning, manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution operations, ensuring compliant, uninterrupted supply to global markets at a cost structure aligned with the company’s strategic objectives. You act as the primary senior leader for the site, representing Upper Hutt within Global Animal Health Manufacturing (GAHM), across corporate enterprise forums and to external stakeholders and regulators.

You partner closely with Global Supply Chain, Quality, Tech Solutions, EHS, Commercial, and Regulatory stakeholders to understand market demand, portfolio evolution, and long-term opportunities. Together with the Site Leadership Team, you translate enterprise strategy into site strategy, KPI targets, and prioritized improvement initiatives that ensure sustained performance across People, Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost (PSQDC).

Primary Activities and Responsibilities

• Leadership and Strategy - Set site direction and build a high-performing leadership team by:

• Defining and deploying the Upper Hutt site strategy in line with GAHM and enterprise priorities.

• Sponsoring site strategic workstreams, capital plans, and transformation programs.

• Translating enterprise objectives into site KPIs and disciplined performance management.

• Fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and engaged culture.

On-the-Job Development of the Site Leadership Team through:

• Coaching, developing, and evaluating Site Leadership Team members

• Strengthening tiered management to improve alignment, decisions, accountability, and information flow.

• Building Lean capability to support uninterrupted, compliant, on-schedule supply.

• Promoting strong safety and compliance through sponsorship and Gemba routines.

Support and Oversee Daily Management through:

• Aligning make-test-release schedules through effective S&OP and visible issue escalation.

• Using management systems and Gemba to meet budget, forecast, safety, quality, legal, and financial requirements.

• Owning safety and quality systems to improve EHS and Quality standards.

• Financial Stewardship and Asset Management

• Developing annual operating and capital plans aligned with financial targets.

• Managing site profitability, cost, and inventory performance.

• Ensuring effective stewardship of site equipment and infrastructure.

Customer-Facing Representative for the Upper Hutt Site through:

• Representing Upper Hutt in enterprise forums, global reviews, and strategic initiatives.

• Building partnerships with Global Supply Chain, Commercial, Regulatory, and other functions.

• Supporting the company’s external reputation with Public Policy, Communications, and legal entity directors.

As Director of New Zealand-Based Legal Entities, Ensure Legal Requirements Are Met, including EHS, by:

• Identifying, assessing, controlling, and monitoring hazards and environmental aspects.

• Setting EHS objectives, improvement plans, indicators, and regular reviews.

• Ensuring employees receive required EHS training, supervision, and information.

• Completing audits and inspections and implementing corrective actions.

Key Competencies, Skills and Experience Required

• Proven senior leadership experience in a GMP-regulated biological or pharmaceutical manufacturing environment.

• Strong communication, collaboration, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills across cultures and functions.

• Ability to lead through complexity, ambiguity, and change in a matrix environment.

• Demonstrated capability in strategy deployment, continuous improvement, performance management, and accountability.

• Strong business acumen, enterprise mindset, and financial understanding.

Who We Are

We are known as Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA. For more than a century, we have brought forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world's most challenging diseases.

What We Look For

We are looking for a leader who combines strategic thinking, operational discipline, and clear, compelling communication. If you bring intellectual rigor, comfort with ambiguity, and the ability to convert ideas into measurable outcomes across a complex matrix, we invite you to help shape how Asia Pacific turns strategy into sustained performance and patient impact.

Required Skills:

Accountability, Accountability, Activity Management, Annual Operating Plan, Business Acumen, Business Alignment, Change Management, Client Relationship Building, Coaching, Collaborative Leadership, Corporate Financial Management, Cross-Cultural Awareness, Driver Management, Executive Leadership, Financial Acumen, Financial Management, Goal Setting, High Performance Organization (HPO), Interpersonal Relationships, Leadership Theories, Lean Six Sigma Continuous Improvement, Management Support, Manufacturing Operations, Operational Excellence, Organizational Leadership {+ 9 more}

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully 
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company.  No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails. 

Employee Status:

Regular

Relocation:

VISA Sponsorship:

Travel Requirements:

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Valid Driving License:

Hazardous Material(s):

Job Posting End Date:

10/23/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.