Head of Quality Operations Europe

Interested in a career that matters?

Join us as our new Head of Quality Operations Europe in Global Quality

We’re looking for an experienced leader to head our Quality Operations Europe organization, covering all our European enzyme and microbe manufacturing sites (11 sites). This is a unique opportunity to be part of the team shaping how quality creates business impact in Novonesis. It is a demanding role that combines daily operational execution with tactical and strategic leadership to ensure that we strike the right balance between compliance, cost and risk to create business and customer impact. 

You will report to the Vice President of Quality and be part of the global Quality leadership team and be a key part of setting the direction for how Quality creates business impact in Novonesis. You will be part of an experienced and visionary leadership committed to making Novonesis a success. In daily work, you will be a business partner for production site leadership teams and collaborate globally with the other Quality Operations regions and global product management teams.  To be successful in this role, you will invest time at production sites, understand their realities, and facilitate the translation of global intent into practical, value-adding quality execution.  You will also support the global teams in ensuring requirements are deployed across impacted sites and functions to secure the management system is maintained consistently even as company innovation brings new products and capabilities online. You will act as a catalyst to drive needed changes to systems and processes.

Welcome to Quality

Quality in Novonesis is a global organization covering all production sites, all business areas, Quality Control and development of new QC technologies. We take pride in being a partner to production and the business while safeguarding quality. We work consistently to simplify and optimize processes to ensure efficiency and robustness execution.

If you thrive in complex operational environments, and are energized by driving collaboration, simplification, and change together with sites and production leadership, this is a role for you.

In this role you’ll make an impact by:

• Lead and continuously develop the regional Quality Operations organization to deliver compliant and efficient support to all European manufacturing sites.
• Acting as a trusted quality partner to Production and site leadership, enabling stable operations and reliable delivery.
• Driving continuous improvement of quality performance, in close collaboration with the business and sites.
• Ensuring the organization has the right capabilities, now and in the future, to support evolving site and business needs.
• Implementing global standards and IT solutions.
• Prioritizing relevant capital investment to manage risk and to drive long term compliance for manufacturing sites.
• Supporting the digitization of quality and food safety with automation and AI tools.

To succeed you must:

• Hold an academic degree (BSc or MSc) in life science, engineering, or a related field.
• Have minimum 10 years of leadership experience from operations-based roles (quality, production, or development) within biotech, food, or another regulated industry.
• Have ability to drive adoption of IT platforms at global scale
• Have a strong quality mindset and understand Novonesis’ products and their intended use, or a strong motivation and ability to acquire this knowledge quickly.
• Strong organizational and communication skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders
• Have ability to create coherence and consistency across sites.
• Collaborate with the quality functions and across all of operational areas to achieve business results.
• Visionary with ability to set a clear direction and being able to translate the vision into actions with a lasting impact.
• Have a high sense of urgency and optimization mindset that drives meaningful change.
• Able to balance risk, cost, and complexity with sound judgment.

Location: Hørsholm, Copenhagen

Application deadline: 22nd April, 2026
Contact details: Mikael Bundgaard-Nielsen, Vice President – Quality, MBN@novonesis.com

Our purpose guides the way

In Novonesis, we know that solutions rooted in biology can help solve humanity’s biggest challenges. Since we began more than a century ago, this has been our guide. It’s how we've gotten so far. And it’s how we'll impact the future. Now, more than ever, the world needs change. And with biosolutions, the possibilities for transformation are endless. If our purpose resonates with you, we encourage you to apply.

Opportunities for everyone

We are committed to an inclusive recruitment process and equal opportunity for all applicants. Therefore we ask you to apply without a cover letter or photo and instead include a few sentences in your CV explaining your motivation for applying.

We make all employment decisions based on business needs and welcome candidates with a wide range of backgrounds, including ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status.

Explore other openings

If this position isn’t the right fit, you may still find other opportunities with us. You’re welcome to explore open roles or create a job agent to stay connected with future opportunities at novonesis.com/Career