Senior Director, Manufacturing & Site Leader - Freiburg and Stetten

Stryker Global Quality & Operations (GQO) is seeking an experienced

Senior Director, Manufacturing & Site Leader to lead one of Stryker’s most strategically important manufacturing campuses. This highly visible leadership role oversees more than

• 1,400 employees across Stryker’s
• Freiburg and

Stetten locations in southwest Germany and is responsible for driving manufacturing excellence, operational performance, talent development, and long-term growth strategies aligned to the site’s capabilities and business needs.

As the leader of the Freiburg campus, you will oversee a multi-division environment leading manufacturing for Instruments, Trauma & Extremities as well as Orthotech with co‑located on‑site divisional R&D and QA/RA functions for

Instruments, Trauma & Extremities, Endoscopy, Orthotech and Medical divisions.

A substantial Advanced Operations (AO) organization serves as a critical bridge between local and global R&D teams, ensuring successful new product introductions and seamless integration of products launched from other Stryker locations.

Success in this role requires a proven ability to lead at scale, foster innovation, drive continuous improvement, and build strong partnerships across a diverse global organization.

The role includes the General Manager function (legal director) for both locations covering all employees of these two sites.

Campus operations include the following focus areas

• High‑precision manufacturing of small bone osteosynthesis implants (plates and screws for hand, foot, cranio‑maxillofacial and neuro applications)
• Digital design and additive manufacturing of patient‑specific cranio‑maxillofacial and neuro implants
• High‑precision electromechanical assembly of smart surgical instruments and high‑accuracy localization and tracking devices for surgical guidance systems
• Assembly of computer platforms for computer aided surgery
• Micro‑precision manufacturing of electrodes and functional bioelectronic devices
• Main responsibilities
• Develop and execute a campus strategy for Freiburg and Stetten that aligns with divisional and GQO priorities, ensuring long‑term operational capability, business resilience, customer performance, and growth readiness.
• Lead all manufacturing operations to deliver world‑class performance across Quality, Service, Cost, Delivery, and Safety, while ensuring manufacturing capabilities meet current and future business needs across all supported divisions.
• Drive manufacturing excellence through continuous improvement, automation, innovation, and strategic capital investments, ensuring the campus remains at the forefront of advanced manufacturing technologies.
• Oversee successful new product introductions by partnering closely with R&D, Advanced Operations, and divisional leadership to deliver launches on time, within budget, and in alignment with supply and demand expectations.
• Provide overall financial leadership for the campus, including ownership of budgeting, forecasting, capital planning, and delivery of financial commitments.
• Foster a high‑performance culture grounded in trust, accountability, engagement, inclusion, and collaboration, while establishing a clear vision and direction for the campus leadership team.
• Build organizational capability through robust talent management, succession planning, leadership development, and the attraction, development, and retention of top talent.
• Ensure manufacturing capacity and supply continuity to support business growth, demand variability, and long‑term scalability, while driving productivity improvements and sustainable cost reductions through operational excellence.
• Partner across the Freiburg campus and global organization to maximize shared infrastructure, resources, and capabilities, enabling collaboration across multiple divisions and functions.

Qualifications

• Minimum Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, supply chain, business or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of leadership experience in manufacturing, operations or a related environment, including responsibility for business performance through others.
• Proven track record of building high‑performing engaged teams and leading through change in a complex environment.
• Excellent English and German speaking skills
• Preferred Qualifications
• Advanced degree
• Experience in a medical device or similarly regulated manufacturing environment.
• Deep knowledge of Lean manufacturing systems and continuous improvement, with evidence of embedding these principles at site level.
• Demonstrated ability to think beyond the site, leveraging a global and enterprise perspective to align operations, talent, and investment decisions with long‑term business strategy.
• Demonstrated ability to lead employee engagement, talent development and culture‑building initiatives that improve organizational performance.
• Strong strategic capability, business acumen and experience balancing short‑term execution with long‑term site capability building.
• Experience leading cross‑functional teams and influencing across matrixed organizations.
• Strong communication, executive presence and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to lead confidently at site, divisional and global level.
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