Operations Director

James Walker SBU Operations Director

Field Based – Ideally located within an hour’s drive from Cockermouth, Bingley or Gourock

About James Walker

A privately owned global industrial business, supplying a vast range of high performance fluid sealing products and associated knowledge-based services to virtually every industry sector. With state-of-the-art skills in materials technology, particularly relating to elastomers, polymers, composites and engineering plastics plus extensive expertise in precision machining of exotic alloys for metallic seals, and tension control fasteners for bolted joints.

Your role

The James Walker SBU is growing and evolving across the global marketplace. As Operations Director, you’ll have an exciting opportunity to make a difference in shaping and implementing the business’s operational footprint to meet the customers’ critical requirements whilst driving efficiency to maximise results.

As an energetic and dynamic leader you will help transform and grow our business to deliver World Class performance through our five UK plants, maximising operational performance of our large gasket service centres and providing operations best practice guidance to our remote manufacturing plants and smaller gasket service centres.

Key Responsibilities

• Setting the strategic direction, goals and metrics for global operations and their achievement.
• Ensuring the highest levels of health and safety are maintained by employees at all UK Plants and Gasket/Service Centres.
• Developing the management team, ensuring robust succession and development plans are in place. Engagement, performance, motivation and the development of skills are critical factors in maximising potential and delivering high performance.
• Being a key sponsor for the successful deployment of the new end-to-end IT system (Project Keystone utilising Syteline 10) across the Operations function globally.
• Introducing a standardised, cross site Management Operating System that gives the business hourly, daily, weekly and monthly control points from which to optimise the business.
• Leading on Lean/CI improvement initiatives to raise productivity, quality, customer service, and reduce costs.
• Ensuring that clear supplier category strategies are continually optimised to deliver a robust, resilient supply chains that enable the business to optimise and improve its cost base year on year.
• Reviewing and optimising our global logistics.
• Setting robust stock level strategies and improvement mechanisms to enable improved customer deliveries whilst also releasing capital back to the business.
• Ensuring that the MBU delivers a quality product, right first time to customers.
• Supporting Product Managers to promote the products and materials to enhance the reputation of the business across target regions, customers, industries, and applications.
• Identifying and introducing innovative technologies into manufacturing process to improve the business performance, creating environment of continuous improvement, e.g. AI / Robotics etc.
• Managing Customer relations and occasional high level visits.
• Work with external stakeholders to develop JW relationships and standings within the communities it operates within (Councils, Colleges, DBT, Chamber of Commerce).

About you

Essential Experience

• Experience of ETO, CTO, MTS manufacturing across multiple geographies.
• Has led manufacturing operations with lead times measured in hours as well as operations with lead times measured in weeks.
• Strong experience of managing multiple manufacturing sites (including unionised sites).
• Driven a step change in HS&E performance.
• Understands what a World Class Management Operating System looks like.
• Has led operational excellence in a ‘Lean’ environment.
• Has delivered step change performance within a manufacturing business.

Preferred Experience

• Has implemented a standardised Management Operating System across multiple sites.
• Has implemented a robust Supply Chain structure, delivered Year on Year cost savings, increased supply chain resilience through leveraging a global supply chain, improved inventory levels / stock turns significantly.
• Can inspire through a sense of fun when appropriate.

Qualifications:

• Degree level qualification (or equivalent) (Essential)
• Degree in Engineering, Chemistry or Materials (Preferred)

Application End Date: 18/10/2024