Head of Operations at Zola Electric

Job Description

• The Head of Operations is responsible for managing day-to-day operational support of the business within the country of operation. This includes providing oversight of procurement management, fleet management, property, and the management of logistics and manufacturing operations encompassing importing, exporting, distribution, transportation, warehousing and inventory management. Lean principles and mindset as well as high quality and cost awareness is essential.
• The Head of Operations identifies, sponsors and leads projects to continuously improve quality, reduce costs, improve efficiency.

Job Responsibilities

• The Head of Operations supports the Managing Director in the preparation and implementation of annual Business Plans and to champion Health & Safety compliance across the business in the country of operation.
• Participate in strategic meetings to contribute to the development of the annual country and operations strategy and business plan.
• Develop implementation plan of Operations Strategy in collaboration with the team and monitor implementation therein.
• Liaise with Director of Group Logistics and Manufacturing, preparing the annual country strategy and business plan, in consultation with the Managing Director.
• Monitor implementation of Business Plan and provide feedback to the Managing Director on progress and challenges.
• Budget and cost targets planning to fulfill targets with high focus on cost saving.
• fully responsible for accurate inventory reporting in the whole country, including reduction of lost damaged inventory in forward and reverse logistics.
• Oversee the movement of products into the country and distribution to warehouses and service points, encompassing the importing of systems and components, buildup of kits, in-country distribution and reverse logistics.
• Oversee the process of product removals, completeness of reverse logistics kits,  and product refurbishments.
• Oversee inventory management to ensure optimized inventory levels and safekeeping of stock, lean stock keeping in risk areas out of national warehouse.
• Oversee clearing, importation and duty/tax management; closely manage any changes on tax/duty and escalate any changes.
• Implement formal root cause and corrective action programs when quality issues arise in warehouse and manage repair workshop and provide input to Group team regarding serial defects.
• Implement continuous improvement programs team to optimize repair quality, service levels and warranty cost.
• Develop and maintain a procurement policy for use in-country and develop the monthly procurement plan in consultation with the Procurement Manager.
• Monitor the provision of an efficient and safe fleet management service to the business.
• Lead negotiations of contract terms and conditions with service providers and monitor the performance of service providers and monitor property lease process from end-to-end.
• Act as custodian of Health & Safety through the management of the Health, Safety, Environment and Quality Management System (HSEQMS) in compliance with regulations and legislation.

Requirements

• B.Sc./M.Sc. degree in Manufacturing, Logistics, Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain Management or equivalent.
• 10+ years of experience in a manufacturing and logistics environment, of which 5 years is at a management level country department head/lead).
• 13+ years of experience in a senior leadership role on country level.
• Lean Six Sigma training, project management courses and soft skill training.
• Ability to operate without high level of supervision, builds up teams,  and having  continuous improvement and quality mindset.
• Knowledge about import/export, transport routes, warehousing and distribution network.
• Experience in business planning, procurement, facility management and fleet management.
• High level of logistics know how from planning over import/export to warehousing and in-country distribution till the customer.
• Knowledge of key IT systems (Google Suite, ERP, etc.), procurement processes and procedures and property lease.
• Local knowledge of transporters, the modes of transport and of import/export flow
• Understanding of the local business environment and Health & Safety regulations and legislation.
• Knowledge of the relevant legislation pertaining to the country.
• Leadership, analytical and problem solving skills.
• Customer focused team player.
• Self-motivated with a continuous improvement mindset.