Director of Operations 

UK manufacturer is seeking a Director of Operations to be part of their successful team. Reporting to the CEO, this person will lead all manufacturing and operational functions, continuing to drive excellence across the business and group. The successful person has the opportunity to progress to a further leadership role within the organisation in the future. 

The person

• A degree in Operations Management, Engineering, Business or similar calibre.
• 10+ years of solid progressive experience & success in Manufacturing Operations, preferably within an international company requiring global team collaboration.  At least 5 years factory management preferred. 
• Solid understanding of manufacturing and engineering applications and practices.
• Proven track record of strategic short and long-term planning, leading complex cross-functional projects, and full understanding of margin, profit, and loss.
• Strong financial acumen in manufacturing accounting, building operational business plans and budgets and be able to prioritise and articulate highest impact initiatives including capex projects.
• Demonstrated excellent people management and communication skills, the ability to motivate, develop and mentor employees at all levels of the organisation.
• Solid understanding of lean principles, six sigma, continuous improvement, quality system regulations, and leveraging KPI’s and action plans to ensure effective daily management of operations.
• Strong fundamentals in Enterprise Resource Planning systems (Prefer Oracle knowledge).
• Knowledge of safety, regulatory and government agencies.
• Prefer experience in complex manufacturing processes with a global supply chain. Travel requirements: 10-15%, UK with some international.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional teams to execute operational plans while delivering best in class safety, quality, service level and value engineering.
• Build and maintain a culture anchored on the business core values.
• Establish manufacturing strategies, footprint and space planning needed to support business growth and customer requirements effectively and efficiently.
• Instil operational disciplines and best practices throughout the leadership team and on the plant floor, 
• (6S, gemba walks, key metrics and KPIs, dashboards) with data-driven and financially sound decision making, workforce agility (cross training), etc.
• Ensure close communication and coordination with Global Operations and New Product Development teams to proactively support New Product launches.
• Identify gaps and optimise processes, systems, technologies, and flow through the entire value stream of the operations to drive productivity through continuous improvement, cost and lead-time reduction and improved quality.
• Build and develop a high energy, talented operations team for the operations group.
• Ensure close communication and coordination with Cross-Functional teams across the business.