Product Lead

at  Bakkavor

WHAT WE DO.

We’re the market leader in the UK fresh prepared food industry - supplying meals, salads, desserts, pizza and bread to leading grocery retailers including Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.

ABOUT YOU.

You’re somebody who is an experienced leader, perhaps as a portfolio manager, a delivery lead, a product manager or similar. We’re seeking an experienced leader with experience of finance (ERP), warehousing and logistics. Your IT knowledge and skills will be exceptional, with a proven track record of successfully delivering IT projects.
You’ll possess excellent stakeholder engagement skills. You’ll be someone who listens, and offers opinion and guidance in a coherent, constructive, and persuasive manner. Business stakeholders and colleagues will value your opinion. You’ll be decisive and pragmatic; someone who is able to solve complex problems at pace, and in a collaborative way.
In business systems you’ll have the opportunity to make a real difference to the business as we work together towards our shared objectives.

We’d like to see.

• Extensive experience in major IT-enabled change delivery
• Strong knowledge and skills in core business processes and operations
• Experience in the FMCG/CPG industry is preferred
• ERP experience, with breadth and depth across ERP systems
• Understanding of Agile, Scrum, and Kanban project management methodologies
• Proven team leadership and project delivery team capabilities
• Ability to drive high-quality delivery at a fast pace, managing risk appropriately
• Experience working with 3rd parties and/or system integrators
• Good understanding of the design, build, test, and deploy stages of major IT project delivery
• Excellent relationship management, strong influencing, and communication skills

ABOUT THIS ROLE.

This is a new role created to help us drive forward our business system applications. As Product Lead, you’ll be responsible for the delivery of multiple projects, product enhancements, supplier management and will help drive operational performance of key systems in all areas of our business, including finance, electronic data interchange, warehousing, logistics and procurement. In addition, you’ll work with colleagues in IT, solutions architects, the PMO, key business stakeholders and partners to build product roadmaps, highly impacting options appraisals and proposals for change.
It’s essential that Bakkavor’s key business systems continue to run smoothly, to expected service levels agreements and support our fast-paced FMCG business. This role includes the management of a team of established professionals to help achieve these objectives.
It’s an exciting time to work in Bakkavor Group IT; we have an ambitious ERP replacement programme in flight, where we’re working to move from existing arrangements to the SAP S4/Hana ERP solution, it’s likely your role will require interaction with this programme so your analytical approach will be invaluable in helping Bakkavor navigate these changes.
You’ll be seen as a functional area leader in business systems that fosters an environment that challenges conventions and continuously seeks innovative opportunities. You’ll lead by example by mentoring and managing a team of IT professionals to deliver high-quality strategic solutions through the full project management lifecycle.

KEY ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES.

• Design and implement effective IT application and integration solutions meeting requirements and standards.
• Act as a trusted advisor, building and maintaining relationships with IT leaders and business executives.
• Develop a clear understanding of business needs and ensure cost-effective IT service delivery.
• Respond with agility to changing business priorities.
• Collaborate with external vendors and partners, managing relationships and ensuring high-quality service delivery.
• Evaluate proposals and oversee vendor performance.
• Work with third-party solutions providers and developers for technical configuration/customisation.
• Ensure solutions meet customer needs and provide a great user experience.
• Work with support organization to troubleshoot incidents and escalations, providing resolution to break-fix issues.
• Resolve complex issues and manage user relationships and delivery.
• Proactively reduce support work volume by identifying and improving common/recurring issues.
• Engage with business units, IT teams, and other stakeholders to understand requirements and gather feedback.
• Manage expectations throughout the delivery cycle and communicate progress effectively.
• Work with IT senior leadership on service portfolio and governance to prioritise resources.
• Leverage influencing and negotiation skills to enable cost-effective and innovative shared solutions for business goals.