Head of Operational Transformation

Aurubis

Europe, Multiple Locations

The Head of Operational Transformation is responsible for the governance of the Aurubis Operating System towards operational excellence. She/he drives implementation and further development of the Aurubis Operating System in close alignment with related group functions and local Continuous Improvement teams. Integrating technological innovations and digitalization is a key aspect for future-proof operational excellence. In addition, structuring the buildup of Operational Excellence capabilities Aurubis-wide and developing a high-performing team of Operational Excellence Managers to support the sites as business partner.

The following sites can be considered for this position: Hamburg, Lünen or Emmerich am Rhein (Germany), Pirdop or Sofia (Bulgaria), Beerse or Olen (Belgium), Berango (Spain) or Avellino (Italy).

Your Tasks

lead an international team of operational excellence managers and jointly drive implementation of our Aurubis Operating System towards tech-enabled operational excellence;
drive change across sites and through all organizational levels, support operations and business process improvements through digitalization – in terms of technology, methods and desired performance behaviors;
encourage digital operational excellence through the application of lean and six sigma principles, further build and implement our Aurubis Operating System plus corresponding system structure;
deliver AOS site assessments to derive further potential towards continuous improvement practices and structures, and jointly with sites ensure development towards higher maturity and an embedded collaborative improvement culture;
provide overall group governance for quality, improve group quality processes, focusing on assurance and control;
identify focus areas of improvement and specific improvement potentials in production processes and related performance management activities and link initiatives to operational and financial KPI results;
manage a portfolio of improvement programs/projects, drive deployment of key strategic initiatives across Aurubis’ international production sites and engage in different roles - methodology expert via change facilitator to project manager;
actively promote hand-in-hand cooperation and knowledge-sharing, cross-site and cross-department;
support the development of your team members towards becoming effective as business partners for the organization and preparing their mid-/ long-term transition to other leadership or expert roles within Aurubis;
liaise with the management teams of the different production sites regularly to retrain proper focus, ensure alignment, and prioritize customer support requests;
communicate across the full range of stakeholders, from shop floor to Executive Board, to obtain buy-in for change and safeguard access to required resources and subject matter expertise;
strengthen and expand connections with external industry and research partners for best practice exchange;
facilitate organizational learning and act as internal trainer for Lean, Six Sigma and digital transformation.

Your Profile

technical or business master’s degree or diploma (college/university), e.g. in industrial, chemical engineering or a comparable field of study;
5+ years of practical experience in continuous improvement and digital excellence implementation, cross-functional projects and cross-site initiatives in an international multi-site setting and 5+ years’ experience as certified black belt with proven track record of driving black belt projects, training and coaching green belts, ideally in similar industry;
digital transformation experience from strategy to implementation, with solid technical knowledge;
pronounced structured and conceptual problem-solving combined with strategic and entrepreneurial thinking;
“bridge builder” mentality with a passion for connecting and empowering people, wholehearted team worker;
target-focused, reliable and persistent method of working when dealing with obstacles;
excellent communicator from shop floor to senior management with outstanding presentation and facilitation skills;
ability to self-reflect and strong willingness to further develop yourself;
ability to quickly acquire comprehensive knowledge of technical production, maintenance and quality processes;
leadership experience, as a lateral and/or disciplinary leader, and experience in benchmarking are advantageous;
business English skills; German, Bulgarian or other language of Aurubis network beneficial;
travel up to 50 % in compliance with the current Aurubis travel guidelines.