HEAD OF TRANSPORT PLANNING – PARAGON SPECIALIST

“Excellent opportunity for experienced and graduate calibre transport network planning & Paragon transport systems specialist to lead brand new transport management centre”

£Excellent + Blue Chip Benefits

South East Asia 

Our client is global market leader.  As part of an Asia Pac transformation programme to improve and drive transport network synergies, centralised planning, visibility and control, our client is seeking a Head of Transport Planning who is also a very experienced Paragon transport planning systems specialist.

As Head of Transport Planning you will lead and manage a new centralised Transport Planning Management Centre, planning our client’s very large-scale, 1500 vehicle + fleet. This will include planning inhouse full load networks, LCL networks and scheduling of a large pool of national sub-contractor transport partners. This is expected to grow further as part of an ambitious strategic plan. You and your team will support multiple sites and operations serving customers nationally. You will lead a team of Planning Managers and Planners.  

The ideal applicant will be of graduate calibre, in logistics, engineering or business and a strategic thinker with excellent change programme management experience. Your career history will be characterised by fast track career progression and demonstrable achievements in transport planning excellence.  Most importantly, you will possess in-depth and consistent experience of large-scale in house and sub contract fleet planning and management across multiple locations, gained within a multinational high velocity Retail or FMCG or third-party logistics environment.

This is high profile and senior customer facing role and you will play a key role in understanding and fulfilling customer transport network requirements.  You will be diplomatic and confident with the experience and credibility to successfully question and extract information and constructively challenge your internal and external stakeholders and your operational colleagues.

You will be logical and data driven in understanding problems and developing practical solutions.  This will include setting KPI’s, targets and goals for monitoring and evaluating operations and cost effectiveness.  You will also drive and control the effective use of resources in order to stay within budget. 

You will ensure statutory and legal compliance developing a culture focused on safety, quality, service excellence, integrity and cost consciousness.  

The Role:

• Leading the Planning Team at a new Transport Management Center.
• Using Paragon Software, you will plan and design optimised schedules creating the greatest value for our client and its customers. 
• Interpret data, understand complex demand planning and create optimal transport solutions across multiple customers, business divisions and operational locations.
• Create meaningful business intelligence reports for Transport Directors and create continual improvement solutions.
• Developing strategies and use state of the art systems to optimize fleet and create innovative transport solutions for multiple business sector. 
• Manage planning, solutions, costs and reporting. Create planning schedules that achieve contractual service and performance levels and continue to improve transport models to beat the budgets and develop innovation.
• Deliver operational strategies using Paragon transport planning software.
• Reviews and updates KPIs, targets, and goals within Paragon for monitoring and evaluating operations and cost effectiveness.
• Develop Paragon transport software Super Users and upskilling the planning team.
• Understand and drive optimal solutions within transport national planning execution.
• Deliver continuous and unrelenting drive for improvement within our client’s transport and distribution operations. Including logical roll out strategies to achieve ambitious targets.
• Communicate effectively and constructively and diplomatically challenges and addresses site operational issues or people orientated issues in an open and collaborative manner.
• Lead from the front with an open and approachable “hands on” coaching and mentoring management style, which encourages empowerment and accountability and engenders enthusiasm and respect.
• Accountable to Board level for the delivery of operational and financial results

The Ideal Candidate:

• University degree educated in logistics or business or engineering or science.  A Master’s Degree in logistics and supply chain or transport planning would be highly advantageous.
• An experienced transport management professional experienced in running large primary and secondary road transport fleets both in house and via third party 3PL and 4PL partnerships.
• A Paragon transport software specialist.  This is a prerequisite.
• At least 7-10 years transport operations management and transport network planning experience.
• Experience of transport network planning, transport control tower concepts, transport operations management and project management.
• A track record of network development including implementation of centralised planning, transport management systems, network consolidation and integration.
• Transport operations leadership, customer relationship management, and project management expertise.
• This experience may predominantly have been gained within 3PL contract logistics focused on both primary and secondary road transport or large retail or other large FMCG or Industrial multinational, multi-site, complex and high velocity transport operations.
• Highly analytical and data driven with experience of transport management, routing and planning software packages.  An advanced user of Excel.  A project management qualification would be highly advantageous.
• Fast track career progression to date with the ambitious and desire to progress to Director level within this dynamic growth environment.
   

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE – WAREHOUSING & LOGISTICS 

“Career development opportunity for Degree/Masters educated Operational Excellence specialist with a track record of lean CI and programme management within multinational warehousing and supply chain operations.”

£Excellent + Blue Chip Benefits

South East Asia 

Our client is a global multinational.  A true market leader, they have a strong culture of safety, customer focus, quality and reliability.  

Highly successful and long-established with industrial expertise across a number of verticals, our client has a global network of operations and integrated state-of-the-art information technology across warehousing and transport.  

As a result of internal promotion, they are seeking a Director of Operational Excellence.  As the Director of Operational Excellence, you will combine strategic insight and execution excellence. You will be responsible for the overall delivery, implementation and maintenance of the operational excellence programme across multiple countries and supply chain (predominantly warehousing) operations.  This will include facilitating the lean, continuous improvement process, training local teams, ensuring the sustainability of local compliance, coaching local Operational Excellence Programme Managers in managing improvement projects and training the local operations and management teams, continuous identification and development of best practice.

Specifically, this will include strategies for lead time reduction, faster time to market, process excellence and product lifecycle management.  Our client’s objective is enhanced service levels and efficiency throughout its supply chains, through best practice sharing and a culture of continuous improvement.  This includes increased transport, warehousing, management and supplier-related efficiency via enhanced traceability systems, optimised costs and inventory levels.  Our client’s aim is to mitigate supply chain risks through high flexibility and adaptability to change and a reduced negative impact on the environment via its sustainability initiatives.

Our client is seeking a university degree/Master’s degree educated Engineering or Logistics professional with a track record of Operational Excellence focused on large, multi-site manual, automated and semi-automated warehousing and logistics operations. This may include end-to-end fulfilment solutions, including order management, inventory planning, order picking and packaging, value-added logistics services such as repair services and spare parts or production or retail or ecommerce logistics. This experience may have been gained either inhouse within a multinational retailer, manufacturer or third-party contract logistics environment.  Candidates must have specifically worked within a lean, continuous improvement and operational excellence function.  Earlier operational leadership and change programme management experience must also be highly evident in your experience.  Multi country, multi-site and multinational experience are prerequisites.

You will work in partnership with highly experienced and skilled warehousing and logistics leadership colleagues to develop just-in-time and scalable solutions that optimise operations and boost productivity. You will apply best practices and management skills to improve business processes – enabling our client’s supply chains to gain a genuine competitive edge in the marketplace.  Through optimising organisational structures, improving critical material and information flows you and your Operational Excellence team will create sustainable value for the future, keeping business processes agile, smart and able to respond quickly to the pace of change.  Accordingly, your track record will include experience of end-to-end supply chain management and lean operational excellence which have driven efficiency and achieved optimum performance.

The Role:

• Lead the Operations Excellence function across a cluster of countries.
• Responsible and accountable for delivery of the agreed global agenda and value of Operational Excellence initiatives within the cluster.
• Ensure that the Operational Excellence agenda is aligned to support the business needs in each country within the cluster.
• Responsible for the Operational Excellence input to new business tenders and proposals
• Supports effective start-ups and implementations by providing resources, advice and guidance.
• Seeks commercial opportunities from promoting Operational Excellence initiatives with customers.
• Communication responsibility - to business, to customers, to employees.
• Represent the Operational Excellence agenda as a key member of the cluster senior leadership team.
• Working closely with senior colleagues in Safety, Quality, Compliance, Sustainability and HR you will be responsible for Operational Excellence across all elements of our client’s operations.
• Lead the Operational Excellence function by example, supporting the cluster senior leadership and management teams on their journey towards Lean thinking            
• Fosters a lean thinking, continuous improvement culture and relentlessly seeks opportunities for improvements on all levels within the organisation.            
• Maintains close relationship with customers from the business development phase through the customer life cycle.
• Ensures accurate management reporting from operational sites, utilising this management information to make recommendations for continuous improvement and take mitigating action.                            

The Ideal Candidate:

• University degree/Master’s degree educated in Engineering, Logistics, Business or similar
• Track record gained within a global multinational, best in class, matrix corporate environment.
• Current or very recent experience within an Operational Excellence role in APAC or Europe would be particularly advantageous.
• Previous experience of operational line management in a supply chain and logistics environment, with a strong emphasis on warehousing, will be essential to success.
• Industry sector experience could be industrial, automotive, retail, FMCG manufacturing or third-party contract logistics.
• Must demonstrate excellent and successful change and programme management experience in a culturally diverse and dynamic growth/transformational corporate environment.
• Solid understanding of the operational excellence function
• Excellent project and programme management skills ideally with a project management qualification.
• Strong leadership capability with gravitas.  Capability to deliver a compelling vision and to inspire, motivate, empower and facilitate change through direct and indirect teams. 
• Strong commercial acumen and financial capability familiar with partnering with commercial/sales teams and working closely with clients from tender to implementation and beyond. 
• Excellent experience and track record of implementing Lean methodologies and a continuous improvement.  
• Strong influencing skills and credibility with senior stakeholders, confident strategists, highly adept at presenting compelling business cases for change and improvement to board level.
• Diplomatic and mature with excellent listening skills, able to quickly assimilate a situation, analyse the data and facts and prepare a compelling plan of action taking account of all opportunities and risks.
• A fantastic team leader with the ability to work effectively and deliver successfully via direct and indirect teams within the Operational Excellence network within the organisation. 
   

MAINTENANCE MANAGER - HEAVY ENGINEERING & PROCESSING ENVIRONMENT

“Exceptional career development opportunity for an Engineering Graduate, with track record of excellence in maintenance management to join market leader at strategically important production & processing facility.”

C£45-50000 + Car/Allowance and Excellent Benefits 

Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire

Our client is a world leader, with a £multibillion turnover and plants on virtually every continent.  Its investment in the latest heavy engineering and processing technology ensures its reputation as one of the world’s most sustainable corporations.

As part of its policy of continuous improvement and development they are seeking an ambitious Engineering Graduate who is very keen to take the next step into a Maintenance Management role at a strategically important site.

Reporting to a recently appointed and highly experienced Plant Manager, the Maintenance Manager will lead a small team of electricians and mechanical fitters, ensuring that plant equipment and maintenance systems are maintained, developed and improved within a manufacturing and Continuous Improvement environment and culture.  

The focus is safety first and zero harm and as Maintenance Manager you will champion and proactively promote this safe working ethos amongst your team and contractors.   You will lead the daily management of a production critical maintenance department including spares inventory and warehouse management on a processing/production site which operates on a 24/5 basis.  Assets include: shredding and crushing equipment, motors and sensors, mobile/materials handling equipment for transportation of material across the site, packaging and palletising equipment.

Therefore, our client is seeking an Engineering professional (mechanical and/or electrical) with a recent track record of engineering and maintenance team leadership gained within a “best in class”, quality focused, processing and production operation.
  
The Maintenance Manager will lead an experienced and competent team of mechanical and electrical engineers and will work with the Production Manager and cross functional colleagues in implementing all maintenance operations, mechanical, electrical and process control across inspection, planning, scheduling, execution and improvement phases. The objective will be to deliver a culture of continuous improvement and proactiveness not only within maintenance operations but also safety and health, environmental compliance and plant reliability. 

Our client is seeking a high potential who is already adept at working to stringent KPI’s and performance indicators. Successful candidates will be able to evidence excellent people development, managing engineering maintenance team performance via regular reviews, training, coaching and mentoring whilst also recognising potential with a view to succession planning.  

Maintenance and budgetary planning experience will be essential as you will be a key member of the site leadership team.  You will also be an excellent problem solver, structured, systematic and logical. 
 
The ideal candidate will possess a strong technical engineering and maintenance background gained within heavy processing sectors such as cement, aggregates, minerals or steel.  

The Role

• Develop a high-performing engineering and maintenance team with a culture of delivery and continuous improvement through effective leadership and management to deliver operational excellence.
• Ensure compliance with all relevant statutory legislation and the internal company Safety, Health and Environmental Standards.
• Drive improvements in plant equipment availability and performance, including costs, through the implementation of engineering maintenance best practices across the whole site. 
• Own, develop and evolve the site’s engineering maintenance strategy, implementing a common maintenance platform.
• To monitor and ensure implementation and delivery of engineering maintenance procedures, initiatives and controls across all areas of responsibility.
• Liaise between functions to ensure team work, consistency, co ordination and best practice to eliminate losses from poor practices or communication and to expedite learning.
• Develop annual maintenance budgets for the site, highlighting operational constraints and the value adding performance that Maintenance can make.
• Ensure the application of defect elimination/Pareto/root cause failure analysis to all losses and be responsible for the recommendation/implementation of solutions.
• Management of the established site maintenance, planning and cost reporting systems to maximise their potential to the organisation.
• Keep abreast of and apply where appropriate new condition monitoring technologies, maintenance improvement 'tools' and processes.
• Support the development of engineering staff by defining, and where necessary, providing training in activities that support maintenance improvement and coaching.
• Define and implement KPI’s to monitor the performance of all maintenance employees and contractors.
• Apply and communicate the engineering and maintenance improvement strategy for the site including proactively supporting cross functionally to ensure maintenance practices are adopted and implemented.

The Ideal Candidate:

• University degree educated in Engineering. Must understand both engineering and business management principles. 
• An appreciation of a wide variety of engineering disciplines i.e. electrical, mechanical, process control and optimisation will be critical to success and credibility in this role.
• Master’s degree/other post graduate CPD highly advantageous.
• Your engineering & maintenance team management experience will be from very high safety culture, heavy engineering processing environments. Cement, aggregates, mining and minerals or steel/metals industry would be particularly interesting sectors.
• Consistent industry career history including existing or recent experience as a Maintenance Engineer or Coordinator, Maintenance Shift Team Leader or Supervisor/Manager, Maintenance Planner, Reliability and Asset Supervisor or Manager or other similar Maintenance Engineering leadership role.
• You will possess a demonstrable track record of engineering maintenance team leadership, motivation and development, working closely with HR to produce competency matrices, training plans, talent identification, coaching and mentoring.
• Experience using continuous improvement techniques will be critical to success.  Change and project management experience will therefore be highly advantageous.
• You will have experience of preparing and managing maintenance engineering budgets.
• Excellent project management skills are essential as you will play a key site lead role in terms of capital expenditure projects.
• A high level of IT literacy is essential i.e. Microsoft Excel and maintenance management and process control systems. 
• You will be an excellent communicator both in written and verbal format with executive presence, gravitas and technical and professional credibility.
• You will be an adept at engaging at all levels from the maintenance team to senior management and cross functionally, with well-honed persuasion and influencing skills.
• Resilient, driven, results focused personality - a high achiever.

In return our global multinational client offers a very competitive salary and benefits package, plus the opportunity to make a real difference to a market leading operation at an exciting stage of its continued growth and development.
 

PLANT GENERAL MANAGER 

“Excellent transformational change management role for Chemical Engineer/Engineering professional with track record of people development, engagement and continuous improvement in an Industrial Processing Environment.”

North

C£Very Competitive + Car Allowance, Bonus & Benefits & Relocation Assistance

Commutable Locations: Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, West Midlands, Shropshire, Greater Manchester, Humberside

Our client is a global market leader within the industrial processing sector and operates a number of plants in the UK.

Due to dynamic growth our client is now seeking an Engineering degree educated Plant General Manager to take the lead at three strategic sites located.  Candidates currently working within the heavy engineering/industrial processing industries would be particularly interesting.  

This is a high-profile leadership role, focused on ensuring continuous improvement of health and safety and operational efficiency.   You will manage a highly experienced and loyal team, further developing and instilling a zero-harm culture, and the technical competencies and behaviours required to achieve and sustain world class standards for the manufacture of our client’s product which is exported globally and utilised for a wide range of industry applications.  

The successful candidate will therefore demonstrate a high profile and visible leadership style, and a track record of transformational change management and people development, engagement and motivation against a backdrop of a “best in class”, operational development programme. Ideally this experience will have been gained within a blue-chip multinational environment renowned for its world class/leading edge standards in terms of operational performance, people development, change management and leadership - an "employer of choice".

The ideal applicant will possess current and previous site leadership and manufacturing operational management experience gained within a fast-moving, lean processing, high customer service focused heavy engineering/industrial processing environment will be a prerequisite. The sites are unionised so excellent, well-honed ER skills are essential.

The Role:

The primary purpose of the roles is to be responsible for optimizing labour; safety on site; material and equipment resources to maximize production capability and meet customer expectations with excellent quality and service. We are seeking people with experience of turnaround/transformation, people development, technical skills transfer, retention and management as part of a talent development and succession planning programme, continuously improving and developing such operations as the sites take on increased customer volumes both in the UK and in the export market.

The Ideal Candidate:

• Must be University degree educated in Engineering – Chemical Engineering would be particularly advantageous.
• Consistent career history in blue chip multinational environments
• High profile leadership experience in a Plant/Site Operations. Worked at Plant/Factory Manager Level.
• Track record of people development, technical skills transfer, retention and management, employee engagement, change and continuous improvement leading to best in class OEE and safety standards
• Experience in Project Management, business and systems analysis highly advantageous but people management, development and succession planning within a long established and highly skilled processing environment will be critical to success.
• Plant, Site or Factory multi functional operations leadership experience must have been gained within heavy industrial processing sector 
• Experienced Lean or Continuous Improvement champion with track record of excellent team development and engagement to deliver continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated experience of cross functional and multi-level interaction and working in a matrix organization.
• Ideally experience of working within high volume / target driven manufacturing environment.
• Led & achieved results in UK or pan-European, multi-single site, managing cross functionally within blue-collar sites. 
• Experience of leading and managing employee relations at a senior level through continuous improvement within best in class operations.
• Proven skills and capabilities in leadership, communication, capability, collaboration and problem solving.
• Excellent experience of the Budgeting process and CAPEX business case approval process.
• Project Management qualification highly advantageous.
• Knowledge and use of Lean/Six Sigma.
• PC Literate. Particularly strong Excel skills.
• Resilient, driven, results focused personality -  a high achiever.