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Manufacturing and Supply

Manufacturing and Supply
Where the
miracles of
science
are made
a reality
for patients

SMS Program Lead

Geel, Belgium
Apply now

At a glance

Our teams produce and deliver over 4 billion units of medicines and vaccines every year, ensuring every breakthrough gets to the people who need it most.
Our state-of-the-art facilities, AI-powered smart factories, and cutting-edge automation are redefining what’s possible: ensuring treatments reach patients faster, safer, and more sustainably than ever before. This is where your skills, ambition, and passion can shape the future of healthcare.

Lean Engineer

  • Location: Geel

About the job

  • Within Operational Excellence organization, focusing both on performance and standardization, the Lean Engineer reports to the Head of Operational Excellence and Smart Factory

  • She / He will play a key role at the Geel site by driving performance & transformation initiatives to achieve the site’s strategy & ambition.

As an Lean Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in transformational initiatives and driving continuous improvement principles (SMS = Sanofi Manufacturing System, Lean) across the organization. 

Your mission encompasses deployment and monitoring of SMS 2.0, driving continuous improvement, diagnosing area site performance, developing improvement solutions, fostering a performance-oriented culture, and ensuring alignment with strategic goals, at all levels of the organization.

The Lean Engineer will collaborate with the departments, areas management, shopfloor teams and process owners to initiate and implement performance improvement projects/initiatives.

You will be serving either as a project lead, coach, empowering other employees on site to drive change, applying the lean and continuous improvement principles consistently and effectively, assuring impactful and quantified performance improvement, as well as sustainability.

Main responsibilities:

  • Transformation & programs deployment and sustainment:

    • Drive performance & transformation initiatives (e.g., SMS 2.0 deployment, boosters, Factory 4.0 solutions, etc.), actively supporting impact quantification, ensuring impact delivery and sustainability.

    • Ensure inclusion of the effective use of Digital to transform site operations.

  • Continuous improvement:

    • Work with business leaders to identify process gaps that will be captured in continuous improvement plans and facilitated by the continuous improvement teams for impactful results.

    • Lead waste elimination to build teams’ skills at identifying and eliminating waste.

    • Support execution, CI (Continuous Improvement) standard deployment, problem solving, Operational Excellence (LEAN) methods…

  • Maturity of the Sanofi Manufacturing System 2.0: ensure process confirmation and sustainment of SMS standards (planning, owner, follow up, prioritization).

  • Standardization:

    • Ensure alignment of site to Global SMS 2.0 standards, including continuous improvement to standards and maturity of standards, replicating best practices across departments, and sharing across the organization.

    • Ensure teams are utilizing the appropriate improvement methodology including training on tools and application as required.

  • Industrial culture

    • Drive a performance-oriented culture & instil a continuous improvement mindset throughout the organization.

    • Ensure alignment with strategic goals, at all levels of the organization.

About you

  • Bachelor of Science, Engineering, Business or Operations.

  • 5+ years manufacturing experience or LEAN industrial experience with good understanding of overall business operations knowledge and Good Manufacturing Practices.

    • Experience in leading complex and cross-functional initiatives.

    • Project Management and Change Management experience preferred.

  • Highly Proficient in MS Office Applications including Excel, PowerPoint & PowerBi.

  • Excellent Communication Skills both in English and Dutch (verbal, written and presentation)

  • Excellent Interpersonal and Influential Leadership Skills, and strong end-to-end Business Acumen. Demonstrates Leadership behavior for challenging status quo and driving Transformation. Ability to function within a diverse team, from shop floor to leadership. Ability to train and coach.

  • Ability to adapt within rapidly changing business environment.

  • Pragmatic, analytical and data driven with systematic problem-solving capabilities.

Why choose us?

This is a great opportunity to join the Operational Excellence & Transformation Team of Sanofi Geel.

Our team role is to drive simplification, standardization and digitization that will support the One Industrial Manufacturing and Supply Network Strategy toward competitive and sustainable growth.

You’ll work with talented and passionate colleagues in an environment offering plenty of opportunities for career development. Ready to get started?

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Pursue Progress. Discover Extraordinary.

Join Sanofi and step into a new era of science - where your growth can be just as transformative as the work we do. We invest in you to reach further, think faster, and do what’s never-been-done-before. You’ll help push boundaries, challenge convention, and build smarter solutions that reach the communities we serve. Ready to chase the miracles of science and improve people’s lives? Let’s Pursue Progress and Discover Extraordinary – together.

At Sanofi, we provide equal opportunities to all regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.

Watch 'One day at Sanofi' and check out our Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiatives at sanofi.com

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Why work with us

  • We’re problem-solvers and pioneers. United by the belief that everyone deserves a healthier future. We create best-in-class vaccines that prevent disease and protect lives.

  • Innovation drives us. From AI and mRNA to next-gen science, we push the boundaries to deliver first- and best-in-class vaccines for infectious diseases worldwide.

  • Growth happens here. With bold investments in R&D and world-class facilities, Sanofians across the entire vaccine lifecycle are shaping the future of global health.

  • We do what’s right. Sustainability and DE&I drive our positive global impact—because the diverse communities Sanofians represent are the patients we serve.

All-in on diversity

At Sanofi, diverse perspectives fuel the best solutions for patients. Hear from Monique Vessey, our Supply Chain Transformation Leader, on how her background shapes her approach to delivering life-changing medicines.

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"Manufacturing and Supply is the bridge between the science that happens in research laboratories and the people and communities we serve."

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Executive Vice President of Manufacturing and Supply

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