Director IT, Manufacturing Applications & Shop Floor

Manufacturing Applications & Shop Floor Experience Leadership Role

The role is accountable for the overall strategy, delivery and performance of Manufacturing Applications & Shop Floor Experience platforms across the company. The objective of the role is to provide reliable, modern technologies for manufacturing sites across the globe to enable 24x7 operations improving the daily experience for shop floor employees in operator, supervisor, maintenance and quality roles. In turn, elevating the performance of the plants.

Responsibilities include selecting technologies to fulfill business capabilities, leading development, configuration and Level 3 support. This role executes transparent IT processes for full solution lifecycle and drives continuous improvement in solution performance, reliability, compliance, and efficiency. Proactively drives solution usage and simplification with digital product managers and IT business partners. Develops and executes solution roadmaps that align to business strategy and enable improvement in plant KPIs. Continuously studies Clarios operations and external benchmarks to build manufacturing expertise. This position manages team members and delivers via outsource partners located across the globe. The role is based in a corporate headquarters but is expected to spend significant time at manufacturing, distribution and recycling facilities.

This role combines business strategy and industry best practices to recommend application technology that is strategically aligned and business value focused. Works with cross-functional product teams and IT business partners in translating business need into actionable products and project improvements. Ensures successful plan, build, test, and run of integrated Manufacturing Systems capabilities and services. Drives continuous improvement to stabilize / rationalize existing manufacturing application landscape and plan necessary upgrades to remain in support.

As a member of the Global Applications leadership team, this role needs to set the appropriate tone at the top. The position requires a leader who leads by example, is competent, confident, perseverant, inspirational, influencing, disciplined and dependable. In addition, this individual needs to be highly collaborative, a strong communicator and continuous improvement minded. The ability to deliver while anticipating issues and thinking strategically is required.

The position requires a demonstrated ability to manage a diverse portfolio of requests, quickly mediate between competing priorities, and work effectively with IT colleagues, contractors, and business management both within and across reporting relationships, business units and geographic regions.

Finally, this leadership role is responsible for the management, development and engagement of its people, including the hiring of staff, their instruction, coaching and evaluation.

Duties :

Application Strategy & Portfolio Management

Proactively engage with Operations leaders, IT business partners, applications team peers and external partners to create and evolve the Manufacturing Applications & Shop Floor Experience strategy for the enterprise. Ensure continuous advancement of business capabilities while simplifying the technical landscape over time. Manage a portfolio of current, compliant, supported manufacturing applications and platforms the business can rely on. Research and experiment with new technologies to inform strategy and roadmaps.

Shop Floor Experience

Working with Operations leadership and regional IT business partners, establish feedback mechanisms to understand the technology use cases, journeys and pain points within the manufacturing shop floor environment. Use this to inform roadmaps and investments. Acting as a digital catalyst, propose new technologies and user experiences that eliminate pain points and improve the daily experience on the shop floor. Bring the "art of the possible" to modernize the shop floor in line with Clarios' Future Factory ambitions.

Application Delivery "BUILD"

Lead the technical design, development, testing and implementation of manufacturing applications & shop floor experience platforms, ensuring utilization of solution development lifecycle management processes, inside both agile and waterfall initiatives. Provide internal and external staffing to meet the needs of the approved PoC, product and project portfolio along with small enhancements.

Application Transition & Resiliency

Plan for and manage the transition of all new manufacturing applications and application changes to the central application support "RUN" team. Ensure proper stability of new solutions for successful transition to steady-state operations. Provide 24x7x365 Level 3 application support services for all manufacturing services. Responsible for maintaining and testing system compliance, user access, security role design, application data backups and recovery in line with overall Clarios application practices. Hold team members accountable for proper, timely support of systems and restoration of service. Lead root cause analysis of failures and ensure implementation of permanent corrective actions.

Team Management

Responsible for hiring and professional development of staff. Selects, develops, coaches, and reviews associates / employees and contingent workers. Conducts interviews, individual performance and development plan reviews, other supervisory interactions and proposes salary increases. Foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation displaying Clarios company values.

Vendor Management

Acts as primary contact with Manufacturing Application(s) account teams to understand application provider strategy and roadmap, licensing and escalation paths as needed. Work with procurement to achieve best platforms at best cost.

Departmental

Researches and recommends system development priorities, project estimations, resolves procedural problems, assists with formulating departmental policy and procedures, recommends new or revised standards, procedures, and policies around areas of responsibility. Participates in budgeting and long-term planning, implements long-term plans, uses non-traditional / creative approaches to problem-solving, recommends new or revised standards, policies, etc. in areas of responsibilities.

Typical Responsibilities :

Strategy & Portfolio Management

• Define and lead the Manufacturing Systems workstream within the Clarios Future Factory strategy. This includes internal and external study and benchmarking, industry relations and bringing the outside-in software perspective.
• Lead the specification of current and desired state Manufacturing Applications & Shop Floor Experience landscape, identification of gaps to desired state, research and selection of new technologies.
• Maintain application roadmaps, monitor lifecycles and drives overall Manufacturing Application & Shop Floor Experience portfolio management.
• Investigate and propose techniques to improve resiliency and reduce cost within the Manufacturing applications landscape.

Shop Floor Experience

Application Delivery "BUILD"

Application Transition & Resiliency

Vendor Management

Team Management