Deirdre Connaughton is Site Head at Takeda’s Bray facility in Ireland, where she leads the production of high containment and oncology products for global markets. Renowned for her strategic leadership, operational excellence, and commitment to digital innovation and talent development, Deirdre has held multiple leadership roles at Takeda, including Head of Business Excellence, Operations Manager – Packaging, and Compliance Manager. Her career spans Quality, Engineering, Compliance, Packaging Operations, and Business Process Optimisation, where she has driven transformative initiatives enhancing efficiency, compliance, and team capability. She holds a B.E. (Hons) in Chemical Engineering from University College Dublin, a Green Belt certification, and an Advanced Diploma in Project Management from Dublin Business School. Deirdre has completed executive education at Yale, MIT Sloan, and UC Berkeley, and holds ‘Sensei’ status from Takeda’s Key Influencer Programme. As Site Head at Takeda’s Bray facility, Deirdre Connaughton leads a 360-person team delivering high containment and oncology products for global markets. She oversees all site functions—Manufacturing, Engineering, Supply Chain, HR, Finance, and EHS—ensuring strategic alignment, operational excellence, and regulatory compliance. Deirdre drives continuous improvement, digital transformation, and talent development, while spearheading Bray’s transformation roadmap and representing the site in global initiatives focused on employee development, gender parity and collaboration.