Operations Director (Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Distribution)

Role overview

Arabian Ethicals, founded in 1977, is a leading healthcare business in the UAE and the exclusive UAE distributor for a wide portfolio of multinational pharmaceutical, consumer, and veterinary brands. Its network supports more than 2,000 pharmacies, 150 hospitals, 600 hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialist outlets, as well as over 100 veterinary clinics and farms.

This is a senior, high-responsibility leadership opportunity for an operations professional who can take full ownership of end-to-end distribution performance in a heavily regulated healthcare setting. The role shapes and delivers the operating model that keeps products moving safely, compliantly, and efficiently from warehouse to patient across pharmaceutical, healthcare, animal health, and consumer channels under GDP requirements.

You will work closely with sales, market access, business development, regulatory, and finance teams to build the infrastructure that supports growth while maintaining strict standards for GDP compliance, cold-chain integrity, and service quality. The position also requires mobility across sites and, when needed, visits to regulatory authority locations. Continuous improvement of operational performance is a core expectation.

Operational strategy and leadership

• Set and deliver a 3-year operations roadmap that supports business expansion and regulatory commitments.
• Lead transformation initiatives that improve efficiency, scalability, and service levels across the distribution network.
• Promote a strong culture of continuous improvement, disciplined execution, and safety-led thinking.
• Represent operations at leadership level by converting business priorities into practical action plans.

Supply chain, logistics, and procurement

• Take charge of warehousing, inventory control, transport, and last-mile delivery for pharmaceutical and healthcare products.
• Make sure all facilities follow strict GDP-compliant storage, handling, and movement procedures.
• Oversee cold-chain operations for temperature-sensitive products, including serialisation and traceability controls.
• Own demand planning and forecasting so stock availability is protected and expiry or stockout losses are reduced.
• Handle direct and indirect procurement and maintain working relationships with 3PL providers, freight forwarders, and approved logistics vendors.

Regulatory compliance and quality

• Ensure full alignment with GDP standards and all local regulatory authority requirements.
• Keep distribution licences, certifications, and filings current, with proactive management of renewals and audits.
• Lead internal compliance reviews and manage external inspections with preparation and professionalism.
• Develop and maintain SOPs covering warehousing, cold chain, recalls, and adverse event reporting.
• Oversee the quality management system and deviation/CAPA workflows.

Financial management and cost control

• Own operational budgets and improve cost efficiency without sacrificing compliance or service quality.
• Monitor cost-to-serve, inventory turns, shrinkage, and logistics unit economics.
• Deliver margin improvement through supplier negotiation, route optimisation, and productivity gains.
• Provide regular financial performance updates to the AEC GM.

Process excellence and digital transformation

• Introduce strong SOPs and use the ERP platform to improve operational visibility.
• Drive adoption of digital solutions such as analytics, serialisation systems, and automation across distribution operations.
• Ensure systems and workflows remain audit-ready and aligned to regulatory expectations at all times.

Team leadership and development

• Lead and build a high-performing team across warehousing, logistics, compliance, and planning.
• Set clear KPIs, performance management methods, and succession plans.
• Create a culture of ownership, collaboration, psychological safety, and operational excellence.
• Coach and mentor functional managers to strengthen organisational depth and capability.

Commercial alignment and customer focus

• Work with commercial teams to ensure operational capacity supports sales growth and customer commitments.
• Own service-level delivery, including OTIF, order accuracy, and returns handling, as a commercial differentiator.
• Represent operations in key customer discussions and tender or bid processes where operational credibility is important.
• Support business development with scalable operating models for new principal agreements, distribution contracts, and market-entry opportunities, including cost-to-serve modelling, capacity reviews, and operational due diligence.

Risk management and continuity

• Identify and reduce operational risks such as supply disruption, cold-chain failure, and regulatory non-compliance.
• Maintain business continuity plans for critical distribution activities.
• Manage product recalls and returns in line with applicable regulatory requirements.

Qualifications and experience

The role calls for a bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Pharmacy, Life Sciences, Engineering, or a related discipline. An MBA or postgraduate qualification in Supply Chain, Operations, or Business is also preferred.

Ideal candidates will bring 10–15+ years of progressive experience in operations and/or logistics within pharmaceutical, healthcare, or regulated FMCG distribution, along with direct exposure to GDP-regulated environments. You should have led large, multi-functional teams across multiple sites and worked hands-on with ERP/WMS systems and process improvement methods such as Lean and Six Sigma.

Experience working in the GCC or MENA region is important, including familiarity with local regulators such as MOH, SFDA, DHA, HAAD, or equivalent bodies. Exposure to cold-chain operations, serialisation, track-and-trace platforms, and digital transformation programmes in warehouse or logistics functions is also expected.

Skills and abilities

This role requires strong knowledge of GDP and pharma supply chain operations, analytical and data-led decision-making, fluency with ERP/WMS/TMS tools, risk and compliance management, and the ability to balance strategic thinking with strong execution. A Lean or Six Sigma certification, C-suite stakeholder influence, commercial awareness, and a customer-first mindset will be valuable.

Additional information

The role is onsite in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is a full-time position. Travel across operational sites and, where necessary, to regulatory authority offices is required. The incumbent is expected to keep improving operational efficiency on an ongoing basis.