About the role:

This role will suit a decisive, visible and hands-on operational executive who is equally comfortable setting a long-term national strategy and working alongside site leaders to remove barriers to performance.

You will lead a team of seven direct reports and @ 120 indirect, including production leadership, across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland - together with national procurement and logistics, warehouse, safety and quality leadership.

Your remit will be to align and optimise the national manufacturing footprint, build leadership depth and create an operating environment that delivers safely, reliably and profitably for customers.

Key priorities will include:

• Providing national operational leadership across three manufacturing facilities, creating consistent standards, accountabilities and performance expectations.
• Translating business strategy into practical annual operating plans across capacity, labour, production, supply chain, inventory, maintenance, capital and site priorities.
• Building a proactive, safety-first culture, with robust WHS, quality and environmental systems, risk controls, incident investigation and corrective-action disciplines.
• Improving customer outcomes through stronger production planning, schedule attainment, DIFOT performance, lead-time reduction, throughput and quality.
• Leading Lean and/or Six Sigma-based operational excellence initiatives to improve flow, eliminate bottlenecks, reduce waste and lift labour efficiency.
• Owning operational budgets, forecasts and performance reporting; identifying variances, taking corrective action and delivering sustainable productivity and cost improvements.
• Developing capital-expenditure and plant-improvement plans, including automation, equipment, layout, maintenance strategies and investment business cases.
• Strengthening the effective use of ERP systems and master data, including BOMs, routings, planning parameters, inventory controls and performance reporting.
• Developing, coaching and retaining a high-performing national operations leadership team, with a focus on management capability and succession.
• Identifying and mitigating operational and business-continuity risks, including supply disruption, labour constraints and critical-equipment failure.

About you:

You are an experienced manufacturing leader with the strategic perspective, financial acumen and leadership maturity to operate effectively at executive level.

You understand the discipline required to run a complex, multi-site, make-to-order manufacturing environment and have a demonstrated record of lifting performance without compromising safety, quality or customer experience.

You will ideally bring:

• A Bachelor’s Degree in engineering or a related technical discipline; an MBA or postgraduate business qualification will be well regarded.
• More than 10 years’ manufacturing-operations leadership experience, including exposure to make-to-order production environments.
• At least five years’ experience in a senior operations or comparable leadership role.
• A proven track record in leading multi-site manufacturing or operational environments.
• Demonstrated success embedding continuous-improvement practices using Lean, Six Sigma or similar operational-excellence methodologies.
• Strong financial and commercial capability, including operational budgeting, forecasting, investment assessment, cost control and productivity improvement.
• Experience with ERP-led manufacturing processes, including BOMs, routings, planning and inventory controls; Microsoft Dynamics AX, SAP or comparable systems experience will be highly regarded.
• A strong working knowledge of WHS, quality, compliance and risk-management requirements in a manufacturing setting.
• The ability to lead through influence, develop strong cross-functional partnerships and build trust with stakeholders at every level.
• Clear, credible communication skills, sound judgement and an unwavering commitment to integrity and professionalism.