Manufacturing Excellence Manager at Unilever

Main Job Purpose: 

The Manufacturing Excellence Manager is responsible for driving manufacturing excellence across a number of factories, by overseeing the implementation of World Class Manufacturing (WCM) and coordinating the WCM activities.  S/he also builds a regional/cluster WCM master plan, providing WCM coaching , developing and managing WCM skill, and delivering WCM training in Manufacturing and potential within the Supply Chain.

The Manufacturing Excellence Manager has a direct impact on Manufacturing performance which includes but is not limited to Productivity, Reliability, Cost Improvement, Safety and Quality. S/he would interact directly with Sourcing Unit Directors and their teams, functional experts within the business and external consultants and agencies to align on business objectives and deliver projects/initiatives. This role reports to the Africa Manufacturing Excellence Director.

Key Accountabilities:

• Develop and drive WCM programme deployment, including external audits and Awards Management
• Co-ordinate the self-assessment in preparation for external audits
• Establish a common approach for implementing WCM in the factories, providing coaching, supporting training activities and providing effective knowledge and best practices transfer across the sites.
• Maximize WCM similarities and synergies within the plants, developing action plans for
• Provide direct support for the implementation of site improvement plans
• Research and  exploit new continuous improvement tools available in the market, including a strategy for digital manufacturing as an enabler

Professional Skills:

• University degree essential – Engineering 
• WCM/TPM/Lean Philosophy training

Experience Required:

• 10 years experience in manufacturing, ideally FMCG
• Plant manager/ factory/ operations manager experience
• Appropriate functional / technical expertise.
• Strong WCM/TPM/Lean background is required
• Strong leadership skills
• Continuous improvement experience

Stakeholders:

• Sourcing Unit Directors
• Factory Managers (including support functions)
• Category Technology Directors/Managers
• Category Planning Directors/Managers
• VP SC Category