General Manager – Medical & Life Sciences | Automation

Location: Limerick Reporting to: Managing Director | Automation Department: Operations Management

Overview

Our client, a leading Limerick-based automation solutions provider and part of a global engineering group, is seeking an experienced General Manager to lead its Medical & Life Sciences Business Unit.

This is a senior executive role with full strategic and operational responsibility, including complete P&L ownership. The General Manager will lead cross-functional teams across Engineering, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, and Business Support, ensuring safe, compliant, and high-quality delivery of engineered automation solutions to a regulated customer base.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and execute Business Unit strategy, annual operating plans, and long-term growth objectives.

• Deliver revenue, margin, cost, and cash flow targets with full P&L accountability.

• Drive operational excellence across engineering, manufacturing, and project delivery, with clear KPI oversight (safety, quality, delivery, productivity, cost).

• Partner with Commercial teams to support business development and act as escalation lead for key customers.

• Build and develop a high-performing leadership team and foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

• Ensure compliance with regulatory, quality, safety, and corporate governance standards.

• Serve as a key member of the senior leadership team with direct oversight of functional leaders.

Candidate Profile

Essential:

• Degree-qualified (Engineering, Business, Operations, or related).

• 10–15+ years’ senior leadership experience in manufacturing, automation, or engineered solutions.

• Proven full P&L responsibility.

• Strong financial, strategic, and operational leadership capability.

• Experience leading cross-functional teams in a global, matrixed environment.

Desirable:

• MBA or Master’s degree.

• Experience in regulated industries (medical devices, life sciences, pharma).

• Background in custom automation, capital equipment, or project-based manufacturing.

• Experience scaling operations in a growth environment.

The Opportunity

This role offers full executive ownership of a strategically important Business Unit within a growing automation organisation serving global life sciences clients. It represents a significant leadership opportunity within one of Ireland’s most dynamic advanced manufacturing environments.

For further information on this General Manager role in Limerick please contact Caroline Kingston on 0868395531 or email caroline@hero.ie Check out all our open jobs on our HERO Recruitment website – https://www.hero.ie/

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