ABOUT KAI

Established in 2021 under the Kasikornbank Foundation with strong support from KASIKORNBANK, KAI serves as a knowledge integrator bringing together science, technology, agriculture, industry and market development.

Our mission is to create sustainable livelihoods for communities while restoring the watershed forests of Nan. We aim to increase income per unit of land, reduce cultivation pressure, and create economic pathways in which people and forests can thrive together.

As part of this mission, KAI is developing a medicinal plant extraction and pharmaceutical manufacturing capability in Nan - designed to transform Thai medicinal plants into standardized extracts and high-value ingredients with the quality, consistency and scientific evidence required for pharmaceutical and health applications.

This is not a conventional plant-management role.

We are looking for an experienced leader who can build this capability from the ground up - someone who understands plants, extraction science, pharmaceutical manufacturing, engineering, quality systems, regulation and people, and can bring all of these disciplines together to create real value from medicinal plants.

Medicinal Plant  >  Extraction Process  >  Standardized Extract  >  Quality & Compliance  >  Scalable Manufacturing  >  High-value Product

YOUR MISSION

You will take leadership responsibility for establishing and operating KAI's medicinal plant extraction facility and its supporting quality-control laboratory in Nan.

The goal is to build a platform capable of extracting and standardizing active compounds from a diverse portfolio of medicinal plants - and to establish a manufacturing capability that can serve researchers, innovators and industry across Thailand.

WHAT YOU WILL BUILD AND LEAD

• Lead the establishment and operation of a GMP/PIC/S-compliant medicinal plant extraction facility, including process design, equipment selection, commissioning, qualification, validation and production readiness.
• Own extraction process development and scale-up: translate laboratory knowledge into robust, reproducible and economically viable manufacturing processes for different medicinal plants and target compounds.
• Evaluate and select appropriate extraction and downstream-processing technologies, including aqueous and hydroalcoholic extraction, solvent extraction, separation, purification, filtration, concentration, drying and other relevant technologies.
• Establish manufacturing and pharmaceutical quality systems aligned with GMP and PIC/S requirements.
• Lead the development of an ISO/IEC 17025-capable analytical and quality-control laboratory.
• Lead the development of SOPs, specifications, batch records, validation systems, change control, deviation management, CAPA and related pharmaceutical quality systems.
• Establish appropriate analytical methods and quality specifications for raw materials, intermediates and standardized extracts.
• Work with scientists and R&D teams to transfer extraction processes from laboratory to pilot and commercial scale.
• Improve yield, purity, consistency, productivity, throughput and manufacturing economics.
• Build traceability and quality control from medicinal plant raw materials through finished extracts.
• Ensure compliance with relevant Thai regulatory requirements and applicable international standards.
• Prepare the facility and organization for regulatory inspections, certification and external audits.
• Recruit, develop and lead production, engineering, QA/QC and laboratory teams.
• Create a culture of quality, safety, scientific rigor and operational excellence.

Most importantly: you will help determine how Thailand can create substantially greater value from its medicinal plant resources.

THE PERSON WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We are interested in people who have actually built, operated or transformed pharmaceutical, herbal-medicine, botanical-extraction or natural-product manufacturing operations.

A degree in Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biotechnology, Food Science or a related discipline is relevant. A licensed pharmacist would be an advantage for roles and responsibilities where pharmaceutical regulation requires it.

More important than the degree, however, is demonstrated capability.

IDEAL EXPERIENCE

• Preferably at least 5 years of hands-on experience in manufacturing process development, scale-up, or pharmaceutical/herbal manufacturing
• Pharmaceutical or herbal manufacturing
• Medicinal plant / botanical extraction
• Process development, technology transfer and scale-up
• GMP / PIC/S implementation and pharmaceutical quality systems
• Extraction, separation, purification, concentration and drying technologies
• Analytical laboratories and ISO/IEC 17025
• Equipment selection, commissioning and qualification
• Process validation and cleaning validation
• Regulatory compliance and audit readiness
• Production economics and process optimization
• Building and leading multidisciplinary technical teams

Experience establishing a new facility, commissioning a new production line, transferring a process from R&D to manufacturing, or successfully taking a facility through GMP/PIC/S certification would be particularly valuable.

WE ARE NOT JUST LOOKING FOR AN OPERATOR.

We are looking for a builder, problem solver and leader.