Chief Operating Officer Job Description

1. Job Title: Chief Operating Officer
Department: Operations
Reports to (Job Title): CEO


Purpose
The Chief Operating Officer is responsible for overseeing the organization’s ongoing operations
and procedures as well as the efficiency of the business.
This specifically includes the accountability for the product pipeline and the entire product
lifecycle.
It is the COO’s responsibility to ensure that processes are defined and adhered to. The
adherence to and efficiency of those processes needs to be actively measured by relevant Key
Performance Indicators, which need to be regularly fine-tuned.
Moreover, the job holder is accountable for the management of security and the facilities for the
entire Austell organisation as well as oversight, integration and active management of a steering
committee forum for Austell.

Key Accountabilities
1. Acts as trusted advisor to the CEO and Senior Leadership Team
 Responsible for advising the leadership team on the required operations capabilities
to enable the effective functions of the organisation
 Constantly keeps all Austell Issues on the senior leadership team’s radar
 Supports and advises CEO senior leadership team on operational business issues
and factors
 Work with business leaders and contributes to the development of organisational
strategies
 Provide key input on operational capabilities requirements and solutions to support
the execution of business strategies
 Facilitates and manages the numerous steering committee meetings and forums for
the organisation
 Write and submit reports to the CEO in all matters of importance

2. Leads the Operations Function
 Ensure that the values and leadership standards are communicated and
understood at all levels.
 Build trust among team members and broader stakeholders by setting a highly
visible example for colleagues within the strategy team in terms of professional
excellence and commitment to demonstrating Austell values and competencies
 Create and maintain a team culture that values, recognizes and generates high
performance, supports innovation and challenges the status quo
 Ensure the integration of new initiatives into business operations while minimizing
the risk of potential negative impact on existing operations by validating
adjustments to existing processes, interfaces and exception handling as well as
provisioning of sufficient training.

2.  Oversee daily operations of the company and the work of executives (Regulatory,
Operations, IT, Marketing, Sales, Finance etc.)
 Provide clear role responsibility, stablishing a climate of continuous measurement
and performance improvement
 Lead employees to encourage maximum performance and dedication
 Set comprehensive goals for performance and growth
 Evaluate performance by analysing and interpreting data and metrics
 Provides functional feedback on how well the operations function is meeting the
needs of the customer and business and delivering a quality service.
 Develops SLA’s with business and tracks delivery
 Develops on organisation wide value propositions that is clear and implementable
across the organisation driven by organisation needs and cross functional
requirements
 Create processes to share information and experiences, leverage initiatives across
the function where appropriate, and enhance productivity of marketing efforts for
the brand
 Actively support development of direct reports and high-potential colleagues within
and across the Team, providing insights, direction and opportunities
 Provide effective and inspiring leadership by being actively involved in all programs
and services, developing a broad and deep knowledge of all programs
 Implement and lead a continuous quality improvement process throughout the
program and service areas, focusing on systems/process improvement. Promote
regular and ongoing opportunities for all staff to give feedback on program
operations.


3. Austell Facilities and Security Management
 Develop robust strategy, policies and practices relating to appropriate facilities
management and security
 Manage all facilities and security staff member’s performance
 Develop security and facilities capabilities for the organisation and is accountable
for ensuring that the functions have the resources to effectively operate within the
environment

4. Project Management
 Develop a fully functional project management system (PMS) incorporating best-
in-class project management capabilities, project management tracking and
reporting systems
 Overall accountability for managing the PMS function for improving the
consistency, predictability and efficiency of the Austell project delivery capability
 Oversees the PMS process implementation and ensures that information
concerning content (e.g., deliverables, risk, issues) passes to and from sponsors
 Responsible for ensuring that PMS has the capabilities that ensure that all new
products are actively managed as a project and can move through the entire
Austell value chain within the expected time, quality and costs expectation sand
that transparency of where the product is throughout the project lifecycle can be
reported on promptly.
 Responsible for the development of the business intelligence capability which
provides management information to all relevant leadership stakeholders in order

3. to make informed decisions regarding the operational, tactical and strategic
business
 Accountable for the development of the project management policy, processes and
standards that are followed and enforced within the business
 Oversight of all company projects and programs that are aligned to Austell’s
strategic objectives
 Establish, implement and manage business process engineering and re-
engineering capabilities that will served the entire Austell organisation

5. Corporate Affairs
 Initiating and maintaining a policy role and function reflective of the objectives of
the organisation and of its constituent bodies
 Advising and guiding the Management Board on its corporate affairs
responsibilities
 Works with the CEO to develop corporate social responsibility (CSR) plan and
have oversight of all CSR endeavours that are aligned to the strategic priorities of
Austell
 Accountable for building Austell’s brand impact and reputation and ensuring its
future success
 Oversee the development of internal communications capabilities and act as the
key point of contact for process and internal alignment and integration of Austell
 Establish policies that promote company culture and vision

6. Operations Financial Management
 Financial forecasting for the function
 Develops the budget for the function, develop/present annual CAPEX / OPEX
business plan/budget for the function
 Actively manages costs relating to functional operations

7. Cross Functional Integration
 Enforces matrix management throughout the team
 Drives and communicates the company vision and services culture
 Determines how function can service the business optimally
 Measures stakeholder satisfaction and performance
 Presents functional success as a means of increased revenue
 Identify operations and project management best practices and leverage them for
the whole of Austell and provide an active role in determining efficiency
opportunities
 Ensure alignment and support of all operations and staff members as measured by
product performance
 Ensure strategic world-class project management capabilities are in place,
communicated and operationalised

4. Key interfaces (roles & nature of interface)

South Africa

 CEO and senior leadership team (S,C,I)
 Sales Team (S,C,I)
 Regulatory Team (S,C,I)
 Austell-Marketing Team (S,C,I)
 HR Team (S,C,I)
 Finance Team (S,C,I)
 Operations Team (A,R,C)




Ideal Background

Education: Degree
Experience:

 10 years’ experience in a Senior Executive role in the pharmaceutical industry
 Understanding of business functions such as HR, Finance, Marketing, etc.
 Demonstrable competency in strategic planning and business development