GM - Operations at Asahi Tennants Color Private Limited, Gujarat

About the Role

The GM - Operations will have end-to-end operating responsibility for both the Odhav and Chatral manufacturing plants. The respective Plant Heads / site operations leaders will report directly to the GM - Operations. The role will translate commercial and product priorities into reliable plant execution, establish one operating system across both sites, improve throughput, cost, service, compliance and asset productivity, and ensure capacity expansion is pursued only after existing assets are optimised.

Key Responsibilities

• Multi-site Leadership - Provide common operating leadership across Odhav and Chatral; directly manage the Plant Heads / site operations leadership, align production and capacity decisions across sites, and create common standards for safety, GMP, productivity, engineering, maintenance and performance reviews.
• Manufacturing Delivery - Own integrated monthly and annual production plans for the Odhav and Chatral plants and ensure on-time, right-first-time delivery against customer and inventory requirements. Balance product allocation, campaign planning, reactor occupancy, manpower, maintenance and inter-site capacity constraints.
• Plant Performance & Productivity – Drive utilisation, yield, cycle time, batch size, conversion cost, solvent recovery and throughput improvement product by product. Establish daily and weekly loss analysis with clear owners and recovery actions.
• Capacity Planning & Debottlenecking - Maintain a block- and equipment-level capacity model for both Odhav and Chatral. Optimise product allocation between the two sites, identify bottleneck reactors, filters, dryers, utilities and shared equipment, and prioritise reallocation and debottlenecking before recommending major capex.
• Cost Competitiveness – Build product-level manufacturing cost transparency covering raw-material usage, utilities, labour, recovery, waste and conversion cost. Partner with Commercial and Finance on margin-recovery actions and make-versus-buy decisions.
• Engineering & Reliability – Ensure preventive maintenance, calibration, utilities reliability, statutory compliance and equipment availability. Reduce unplanned downtime and strengthen maintenance planning, spares discipline and engineering documentation.
• Quality & GMP Execution – Partner with QA/QC to maintain GMP discipline on the shop floor, documentation accuracy, deviation / CAPA closure, change control, validation readiness and audit preparedness. Embed quality into daily operating routines.
• EHS & Process Safety – Own manufacturing EHS execution, process-safety discipline, permit systems, hazardous-operation controls, solvent handling, waste management and emergency preparedness. Ensure production decisions never compromise safety or environmental compliance.
• Technology Transfer & Scale-Up – Work with R&D, QA and Engineering to ensure robust technology transfer, scale-up, equipment fit, process reproducibility and target-cost achievement for new products. Provide early operations input on plant fit and capex requirements.
• Supply Chain Coordination – Coordinate with Procurement and Planning to manage critical raw materials, campaign sequencing, inventory norms and supply continuity. Support second-source and backward-integration decisions where supply risk or economics justify action.
• People & Shift Leadership – Build accountable plant leadership across Production, Engineering and shift teams. Strengthen SOP adherence, training, succession, productivity and shop-floor problem solving. Develop a strong second line capable of independently running daily operations.
• Operating Rhythm & Governance – Run daily plant reviews, weekly operations reviews and monthly productivity / cost reviews. Maintain a concise dashboard covering safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, maintenance, capacity, inventory and people.

Candidate Profile

• 15–20+ years of manufacturing / operations leadership in APIs, pharmaceuticals or closely related process industries.
• Chemical Engineering / Pharmacy / Science qualification; postgraduate management or operations qualification desirable.
• Hands-on experience managing multiproduct API plants, including Production, Engineering, Utilities, EHS and GMP execution.
• Demonstrated track record in yield improvement, cycle-time reduction, cost productivity, debottlenecking and capacity enhancement.
• Strong understanding of technology transfer, validation, change control, deviations, CAPA and regulatory / customer audit readiness.
• Proven ability to lead large shop-floor teams and work effectively with Quality, R&D, Supply Chain, Commercial and Finance.

Leadership Attributes

Safety-first | Shop-floor oriented | Data-led | Cost conscious | Strong problem solver | Disciplined executor | Develops people | Cross-functional collaborator | High ownership | Balances output with GMP and EHS