Company Description
Valeo Foods Group is an international foods company, with operations across various European markets and two central offices in Dublin and London. The Group is led by a Group Executive Team, composed of the CEO and CFO, Functional Directors and the Managing Directors based in the various countries where the Group operates.
Valeo Foods Group is one of Europe’s leading producers and distributors of ambient consumer foods, with a wide European operational footprint, and presence in North America. Valeo has successfully expanded through acquisitive and organic growth since formation in 2010. Today the group has a turnover of ~1,5BN, operates from 27 manufacturing sites and offices across 6 country divisions, with a total workforce of 4,500 employees.
The coming years for Valeo will be about exciting transformation to leverage the Group size opportunity to accelerate future growth. This will include continuing to grow the Group’s commercial portfolio organically and through further acquisitions within our strategic growth categories. Importantly, it will also see Valeo Foods integrate the businesses in a more optimal way to extract synergies and enhance capabilities for future growth.
Job Description
Role Context
The Senior Continuous Improvement Manager plays a pivotal role in enhancing operational efficiency, productivity, and quality across Valeo Foods Group through the implementation of Lean and continuous improvement methodologies. Focus of the role will be both existing footprint as well as the scope of future M&A.
This role involves leading operational improvements, analysing current processes, identifying areas for improvement, and developing strategies to optimize workflow and reduce waste. The Senior Continuous Improvement Manager collaborates with cross-functional teams to drive sustainable improvements and foster a culture of continuous improvement within the manufacturing facilities. It is expected that the role will have both functional responsibilities (subject matter expertise) and geographical responsibilities (number of manufacturing sites).
This role will be instrumental in the deployment and validation of strategic improvement projects across the organisation in line with the manufacturing strategy.
Key Responsibilities
- Process Optimisation
- Structure and facilitate high impact improvement projects.
- Conduct thorough analyses of current manufacturing processes to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and areas for improvement.
- Utilize data-driven approaches and statistical methods to assess process performance.
- Deployment of effective and sustainable solutions.
- Continuous Improvement Strategies:
- Design and deployment of Valeo standard manufacturing model using Lean and continuous improvement methodologies to enhance overall manufacturing efficiency, reduce costs, and improve product quality.
- Introduce Lean, Six Sigma, or other relevant methodologies to streamline processes.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Collaborate with production, engineering, quality and finance teams to gather insights and input for process improvement opportunities.
- Facilitate cross-functional workshops and Kaizen events to encourage teamwork, generate improvement ideas and deliver sustainable change.
- Data-Driven Decision-Making:
- Collect, analyse, and interpret data to make informed decisions regarding process improvements.
- Effectively use data to shape thinking and prioritise problem solving.
- Implement management control and reporting tiered meetings and supporting infrastructures.
- key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor and measure the success of improvement initiatives.
- Training and Development:
- Provide training and support to employees at all levels on Lean and continuous improvement methodologies, tools, and techniques.
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement by promoting employee involvement and engagement.
- Change Management:
- Effectively communicate proposed changes and improvements to all stakeholders.
- Manage resistance to change and ensure a smooth transition to new and improved processes.
- Documentation and Reporting:
- Maintain detailed documentation of process improvements, changes, and their impact.
- Prepare regular reports on key performance indicators, project status, and improvement initiatives.
- Create mechanisms to obtain and share best practice across the business.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree, HND, HNC or equivalent in engineering or a related field.
- Proven experience in continuous improvement within a manufacturing environment.
- Strong knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, or other continuous improvement methodologies.
- Analytical mindset with proficiency in data analysis tools.
- Good mechanical systems interpretation and understanding.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Able to influence at all levels across the organisation.
- Able to visually bring stories to life with compelling presentation skills.
- Can demonstrate coaching and situational leadership capabilities.
- Project management experience.
- Minimum 3 years’ experience with a senior management position.
- FMCG background within Food Manufacturing.
- Strong Power BI / Tableau / Excel capability.
Additional Information
Candidate Personality
- Hands-on, pro-active, and practical, solution-oriented approach.
- Comfortable and flexible with ambiguity, resourceful, resilient, can work in a pressured environment at high pace.
- Connects easily with diverse international audience.
- Natural networker, constantly shares and adopts best practice.
- Can do attitude, fun to work with, enjoys supporting a team.
- Takes pride in delivering great work and outcomes.
- Displays passion for the business and its brands.
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