Global Head of Strategic Planning and Business Operations (SPBO)

At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections,  where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

The Position

Who We Are: 

At Roche, we are passionate about transforming patients’ lives, and we are bold in both decision and action - we believe that good business means a better world. That is why we come to work every single day. We commit ourselves to scientific rigor, unassailable ethics, and access to medical innovations for all. We do this today to build a better tomorrow. Roche is strongly committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. We strive to build teams that represent a range of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. Embracing diversity enables us to create a great place to work and to innovate for patients. 

At Roche Diagnostics Global Operations, our employees produce reagents and instruments that help diagnose disease and impact the lives of people all over the world. Across our global manufacturing network and our supply chain hubs, more than 9,000 employees are working to ensure the timely delivery of world-leading,  high-quality products for all Diagnostics Business Areas, fulfilling the Roche purpose of “doing now what patients need next”. 

Position Summary:

As the Global Head of Strategic Planning and Business Operations (SPBO), you serve as a high-impact architect of the Global Operations division, shaping long-term strategic direction and driving operational excellence. This role is the cornerstone for delivering innovative solutions and cultivating a high-performing, collaborative culture aligned with the organization’s broader diagnostics strategy. As a member of the Global Operations Leadership Team (GOLT), you will oversee critical functions and ensure seamless daily execution while steering the long-term roadmap. Crucially, this role centralizes key resources and strategic capabilities requiring you to deliver at a global scale with high accountability.

Your main responsibilities:

Leadership:

• Visionary and Strategic Leadership: You combine a bold long-term vision with an entrepreneurial mindset, prioritizing sustainable global impact over short-term gains while focusing on innovation and the broader competitive landscape.

• Authenticity and Integrity: You build trust and organizational credibility through transparent communication, genuine engagement, and unwavering ethical principles.

• High-Performance Culture and Talent Development: You empower global teams to thrive by unlocking potential and building a diverse, cross-functional talent pipeline for manufacturing excellence. You are a master of interpersonal dynamics, using these skills to shape influence and drive performance across the network.

• Transformational Leadership in Ambiguity: You navigate complexity with resilience and strategic problem-solving. You are expected to navigate extreme organizational complexity, using your influence to drive growth even when the path forward is not yet defined.

• Courageous Servant Leadership: You demonstrate tenacity by constructively challenging the status quo. You are able to push back when required and have the courage to communicate clear priorities, even when those decisions are difficult or unpopular.

• Collaboration and Operational Excellence: You dismantle functional silos to standardize processes across manufacturing and enabling functions, ensuring seamless integration with Supply Chain, Procurement, and External Manufacturing.

• Systems Thinker: You analyze complex global challenges with strong analytical skills, crafting integrated solutions that drive efficiency and future-readiness.

Business & Strategy:

• Investment Oversight: As a member of the Diagnostic Investment Committee, you contribute to capital and strategic investment decisions for the entire global organization.

• Strategic Roadmapping: You develop and operationalize the 10-year strategic plan for Global Operations, including procurement, manufacturing, supply network strategies, and asset allocation. Because you hold the resources previously managed at the site level, you are responsible for ensuring these global assets meet the needs of the entire enterprise.

• Global Representation: You represent Global Operations in divisional investment committees, regulatory bodies, and overarching sustainability committees.

• Strategic Integration: You ensure that cross-functional requirements from regulatory or decision boards are seamlessly integrated into global operational workflows.

• Digital Architecture: You design and implement a robust digital strategy, including Cybersecurity, IT/OT Management, Master Data Governance, and Business Process Management.

• Future Capability Building: You are accountable for identifying and embedding critical functions such as Risk Management, Long-Term Capacity Planning, Business Continuity, and Sustainability.

• Global Strategy Execution: You lead the long-term "One Network" footprint, aligning business plans across the global manufacturing landscape.

• Leadership Accountability: You co-own the Global Operations strategy, acting as a key decision-maker within the executive leadership team.

• Compliance & Safety: You ensure strict adherence to Safety, Health & Environment (SHE) requirements and legal standards.

• Executive Presence: You represent the organization effectively to high-level internal and external stakeholders. Your ability to negotiate and influence at the executive level is a key differentiator for success in this role.

• Innovation and Improvement: You leverage healthcare trends to drive innovation, balancing cost efficiency with a culture of continuous improvement.

• Workforce Oversight: You provide strategic leadership for a global workforce of approximately 250–300 professionals.

Continuous Improvement and Innovation:

• Efficiency Gains: You identify and manage opportunities for cost savings and innovation across both core and enabling functions.

• Manufacturing Technology: You champion innovative practices to elevate manufacturing performance, capitalizing on the collective capabilities of the global network.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: You lead the integration of advanced analytics and digital tools to optimize processes and enhance predictive capabilities across the manufacturing network.

Who you are:

As the Global Head of Strategic Planning and Business Operations (SPBO), you bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, or a related field (required); MBA or advanced degree (Master’s/Ph.D.) is highly preferred.

• 15+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing, operations, or technology management, specifically within healthcare, pharmaceuticals, or highly regulated industries.

• Proven senior leadership of multi-site or global operations, with a track record of implementing strategies that deliver significant enterprise value.

• A strong background in production, quality assurance, operational excellence (Lean/Six Sigma), and regulatory compliance.

• Proven success in financial management, cost optimization, and mitigating operational risk in complex, global environments.

• The ability to negotiate, influence without authority, and collaborate across a matrixed organization. You must be comfortable being the "final word" on resource allocation for the global network.

• Alignment with a coaching-based leadership framework, focused on collaborative decision-making and developing others.

Mindset:

Roche Operating Principles are the mindset and culture we as Diagnostics colleagues strive to adopt to help achieve our vision and realize our strategy. The Operating Principles are:

• Put patients first

• Follow the science

• Act as one team

• Embrace differences

• Accelerate learning

• Simplify radically

• Make impact now

• Think long term

Travel Requirements 

As this position is a global role, high flexibility and frequent international business travel will be required

 

 

Where pay transparency applies, details are provided based on the primary posting location. For this role, the primary location is Rotkreuz. If you are interested in additional locations where the role may be available, we will provide the relevant compensation details later in the hiring process.Who we are

A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.

Let’s build a healthier future, together.

Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.