Operational Excellence Engineer / LEAN Partner

Operational Excellence Engineer / LEAN Partner - Pharmaceutical Production

Join our community of specialists and take part in the journey of restoring brain health.

Do you want to help production leaders and teams make improvement a daily habit? Your experience as a LEAN expert could help us coach managers, build capabilities, and turn complex manufacturing challenges into structured and sustainable improvements.

Your new role

As Operational Excellence Engineer for Pharmaceutical Production, you will play a central role in developing and embedding a practical LEAN system across Pharmaceutical Production organization. Reporting to the central Operational Excellence expert team, you will partner closely with Production leadership to build strong daily management, visual performance systems, process confirmation routines, and systematic problem-solving capabilities.

Your impact will come through formal training, coaching and facilitation as much as through project execution. You will help leaders and teams create stable processes, improve flow, make performance visible, solve the right problems at the right level, and sustain improvements through disciplined follow-up and leader standard work. You will also help translate the Pharmaceutical Production OPEX vision into a practical development roadmap and measurable results together with the organization.

Some of your key responsibilities will be to:

• Act as the dedicated LEAN partner for production colleagues and leadership teams across Pharmaceutical Production.


• Coach Directors, Team Managers, specialists, SMEs, and operational teams in key LEAN leadership behaviors, routines, and competencies.


• Build, standardize and mature visual management, performance boards, and daily/weekly performance dialogue across the PP area.


• Build and mature PP systematic problem-solving system and training program including all related capabilities, such as PDCA/A3 thinking, root cause analysis, countermeasures, escalation, and follow-up systems.


• Facilitate and support improvement and problem-solving cases, from framing, diagnostics and data analysis to implementation, benefit realization, and sustainment.


• Develop and embed process confirmation systems, including leader standard work, process adherence routines, and feedback loops that strengthen operational discipline.


• Facilitate Kaizen events, process mapping, VSM, SMED, and other practical improvement activities where they create value.


• Translate insights from Gemba, performance data, and stakeholder input into prioritized improvement actions.


• Partner with the central OPEX expert team to align methods, standards, and capability-building across PP areas.


• Support the creation and execution of the OPEX development roadmap for Pharmaceutical Production, turning vision into prioritized initiatives, clear milestones, and measurable results together with the organization.


• Help strengthen a continuous improvement culture where leaders take ownership and teams are empowered to improve.

Your future team

With approximately 400 people across two manufacturing sites in Denmark and France, Pharmaceutical Production is responsible for manufacturing and packaging Lundbeck commercial products worldwide. You will join the central Operational Excellence expert team as a dedicated LEAN partner for the Pharmaceutical Production area.

You will be part of an experienced Projects & Operational Excellence team with a proven history of delivering successful breakthrough improvement initiatives. The team combines process expertise, LEAN leadership, project management, data insights, business intelligence, and practical change management to support our manufacturing and supply processes.

We aim to create the ideal conditions for you to perform and continuously develop in your role, so that together we can create better outcomes for patients. Lundbeck offers a workplace with a flat organizational structure and a collaborative working environment based on respect, curiosity, and shared ownership.

The position is based in Valby, Denmark.

What you bring to the team

We are looking for a colleague who combines strong LEAN expertise with the ability to coach, challenge, and support leaders and teams in a manufacturing environment. You thrive when you are close to the process, working with people to create practical solutions and lasting behavioral change.

• Relevant education, such as an M.Sc. in Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management, or a similar field, combined with solid experience in continuous improvement or operational excellence.


• Significant hands-on experience applying LEAN methodology in manufacturing, production, or supply chain environments; experience from pharmaceutical production or another regulated/GMP environment is an advantage.


• Strong practical toolbox within visual management, performance boards, daily management systems, systematic problem solving, process confirmation, leader standard work, and Kaizen facilitation.


• Proven ability to coach leaders at different organizational levels and to influence through informal authority.


• Experience building capabilities through coaching, facilitation, formal training, and hands-on support to teams and SMEs.


• Ability to understand complex operational problems, analyze performance data from different sources, and translate insights into actionable solutions.


• Experience with VSM, SMED, PDCA/A3, root cause analysis, and preferably DMAIC methodology.


• Proven or certified analytical skills, from simple OEE and pareto calculations to statistical variation analysis and design of experiments is an advantage. 


• Hands-on experience facilitating Hoshin Kanri or similar strategy deployment processes is an advantage.


• A structured and disciplined working style, with the ability to balance strategic capability building with practical execution.


• Strong project management competences are essential, including the ability to structure development roadmaps, align stakeholders, manage priorities, and move initiatives from vision to execution and results.


• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, including the confidence to facilitate groups, challenge constructively, and create alignment.


• A proactive, collaborative, and curious mindset, with a genuine motivation to develop people, teams, and processes.

As some activities involve our international sites and suppliers, we expect you to be fluent in both written and spoken English. Proficiency in Danish or French will be considered an advantage but is not a requirement.

Our promise to you

Lundbeck offers an inspiring workplace and innovative culture, where our curiosity, accountability and adaptability enable us to transform lives. We want to go faster and further on addressing the big unmet needs of people living with brain disorders. We offer rewarding careers with a mix of exciting tasks and development opportunities that are balanced with initiatives focused on your well-being.

We need every brain in the game, and at Lundbeck, we are committed to building a workforce that is as diverse as the people we serve. Read more about our commitment at www.lundbeck.com/global/about-us/our-commitment/diversity-and-inclusion.

Annual Base Salary Range: DKK 582 000.00 - 872 000.00 DKK gross

At Lundbeck, we are committed to fair and transparent pay. Please note that the final base salary within the stated range will be based on relevant qualifications, skills, competencies, and level of proficiency as well as internal pay equity.

Can you see yourself in this role? We want to hear from you. Does this sound like your dream job, but you’re not sure if you meet all the requirements? We still want to hear from you!

Upload your CV and include a few lines about your motivation for applying. We ask you not to include a photo or personal information that does not relate to your professional experience.

A separate cover letter is not needed.

If you have questions or want to hear more, please contact Hiring Manager Laura Aluminé Branzuel, Director Projects & Operational Excellence, at [email protected] or +45 30 83 28 37.

We will review applications and call candidates for interviews on an ongoing basis, so please do not hesitate to apply.

Applications must be received by 30.06.2026.

Learn more about us at www.lundbeck.com, LinkedIn or Instagram (@h_lundbeck).

#EveryBrainInTheGame

This job ad is intended for individuals seeking a career opportunity with Lundbeck. We engage with recruitment and search firms where needed on the basis of a written agreement, and we do not accept unsolicited requests of any kind. If you work as a recruitment consultant, you are kindly instructed to refrain from contacting Lundbeck or the hiring manager directly with suggested candidates. If you violate this policy, you do so at your own risk and for your own account, and Lundbeck will not assume any liability nor pay any associated fees resulting from such violation.