Operations Lead Greece & Balkans

📋 Description

• • As an Operations Lead for Greece & Balkans at Brambles Limited, you will be instrumental in driving operational excellence across a critical region. Your primary mission is to lead and manage subcontractor plant operations, ensuring consistent and high-quality delivery in production, quality, safety, sustainability, and cost efficiency. This role is field-based, requiring regular travel within Greece and the Balkans, offering a unique opportunity to shape and optimize supply chain operations in a dynamic international environment.
• • You will be the linchpin for Business Excellence, focusing on delivering significant cost efficiencies and enhancing operational effectiveness. This involves ensuring strict adherence to all Operations Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) across all Service Centres, covering handling, storage, inventory management, scrap processes, inspection, and subcontractor evaluation. A key aspect of your role will be managing the cost entitlement model, understanding and influencing both fixed and variable costs, including raw materials and productivity.
• • Your responsibilities extend to achieving stringent handling and production/quality capability requirements. You will play a crucial role in optimizing storage capacity and planning for expansion to support the overall plant network flow and Sales & Operations Execution (S&OE) / Integrated Business Planning (IBP) processes. This includes the strategic sourcing and effective management of external collaborators and subcontractors.
• • Driving Operational Excellence will be a continuous effort, fostering a Lean and Continuous Improvement culture. You will actively utilize PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycles and Value-mapping techniques to identify root causes of issues, drive effective problem-solving, and generate innovative solutions.
• • In the realm of Technology & Digital, you will collaborate closely with the Process Engineering team, acting as a plant operation expert to identify potential risks and propose improvements in design and operational conditions. You will oversee the successful implementation and accomplishment of new digital projects rolled out into the plants, such as COLT and Continuous Diagnostics, with support from central expert leads.
• • You will partner with Supply Chain Excellence (SCEx), Engineering, and Digital teams to meet qualification and verification targets, and to continuously improve processes measured by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like Perfect Order Percentage (PR%) and Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF).
• • Enhancing Customer Experience through superior quality and service is paramount. You will conduct regular audits of conditions and processes according to the quality management system and product standards, ensuring all accountabilities are met. A significant part of this will involve coordinating action plans to reduce quality complaints and supporting the Global Quality team as a subject matter expert, particularly for timber products.
• • You will ensure strict compliance with NIMF (International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures) / ISPM15 requirements, while simultaneously optimizing yields and processes. Assuring product availability and efficient plant handling/turnaround performance is critical to meeting Delivery In Full On Time (DIFOT) / Customer In Full On Time (CIFOT) targets.
• • Supporting business growth through enhanced customer value is a key objective. You will collaborate with Commercial teams to drive business expansion into new markets and/or the introduction of new products, taking the lead on all necessary trials. You will also support the implementation of strategic initiatives like Fleet Management Systems (FMS) and Logistics Management Systems (LMS), acting as the primary contact for vendors.
• • You will provide essential support for Plant Network Optimization (PNO) initiatives, including potential plant relocations and the establishment of new sites.
• • In People & Partnerships, you will implement best practices and drive behavioral changes within subcontracted operational sites to ensure high Safety and Quality standards and foster autonomy. This includes training plant personnel on Standard Work and Safety procedures and conducting regular audits.
• • You will be responsible for preparing plant visits for Brambles Leadership teams, shareholders, and key customers, ensuring a seamless and informative experience.
• • Safety & Risk mitigation is a core responsibility. You will act as the main contact for subcontract plants concerning the Global Health & Safety (H&S) team, ensuring full compliance with CHEP's H&S& Risk Policy and conducting safety procedure audits.
• • You will facilitate the communication of safety alerts and best practices, drive the safety and risk improvement program, and support the Business Continuity Planning (BCP) process. Ensuring compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements and responding to information requests will also be part of your remit.
• • Finally, you will champion Decarbonisation through sustainability enhancements, promoting the company's decarbonisation strategy and enabling its deployment through subcontractors. This includes initiatives such as zero waste to landfill, energy monitoring, solar panel implementation, and the adoption of electric forklift trucks (e-flts).