Operations Manager, Debica

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THE OPPORTUNITY – DEBICA PLANT

Opened in 1939, Goodyear’s Debica plant has enjoyed almost 85 years of rich history. Having enjoyed steady growth and modernization during the early years, the plant experienced major transformation in the 1990s, when Goodyear acquired a majority stake in TC Debica (1995) and invested $170m over the following 10 years.

Today, our Debica plant is one of the largest tire production sites in the world, it is the largest within our EMEA portfolio and second-largest plant globally. We employ almost 3,000 people in Debica and enjoy a long relationship with the local community and remain one of the largest employers in the region.

Our Debica plant is a highly diversified site, manufacturing products across our range of Consumer and Commercial tire brands including Goodyear, Dunlop, Fulda, Sava, Debica and Kelly; this provides a huge amount of complexity in terms of specifications, SKUs as well as volume. The plant serves the domestic and export market and is one of Poland’s largest exporters, serving customers internationally. Major export markets include Germany, Luxembourg, Turkey, USA, Canada and France.

Click HERE to learn more about the history and background of our Debica plant.

Debica is one of the highest performing sites in our portfolio; there is a high level of competition and pride in the culture, the people like to win and are KPI driven. Despite this performance, there is a continuous improvement mindset and Goodyear’s local leadership remain passionate about continuing to drive performance, growth and improvement at Debica.

The Operations Manager role in Debica is a fantastic opportunity for someone to learn the business in one of our largest and most complex sites, build credibility and deliver on performance opportunities that would position them well for future advancement and growth.

We are seeking a high-performing, agile and people-focused leader to be the Operations Manager in Debica. This role will be well suited to someone with a safety mindset, strong LEAN understanding and application and people development skills. This person will manage more than 2,200 Associates on site, through a team of 6 direct reports. S(he)will report to the Plant Director

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Primary Goals

• Plan, organize and direct the plant operations. Responsible to deliver results that meet safety, quality, customer service, innovation and cost criteria while operating within company policy and local laws. Deploy the EMEA & Debica Plant strategy to operational actions and ensuring production process flow smooth execution, involving the use of Plant Optimization standards / pillars tools.
• Provide vision and direction to the Plant Leadership Team. Create the strategy, set challenging goals and drive AOP (Annual Operating Plan) performance indicators for the plant, assuring cost effective and customer-oriented operation. Drive communication and cascading down of goals and objectives throughout the entire organization.
• Manage the efficient cooperation between units and work on common target point between business, quality, engineering & other support functions by best utilization of Plant Optimization pillars on each level of organization. Deployment and follow-up of targets, objectives from Plant, Unit and MU level (coach daily teams to achieve desired targets. Coach leaders and drive further implementation of Org Construct principles through the Manufacturing Units and HPT’s.
• Initiate plans and processes which minimize manufacturing costs through effective utilization of people, equipment, materials, and capital while achieving deliverables and meeting customer's needs.
• Lead Health, Safety, Environmental & Sustainability compliance and sustain a culture where "Safety" is considered embedded as a value within the daily operating cadence.

Key Operational Responsibilities

• Participate in Plant priorities development as the key member of core PLT.
• Supervise the plant priorities and initiative, actions & projects distribution and alignment between MU's --> HPT's & support functions providing service for managed HPT's.
• Supervise the development & execution of  the KPI’s mapping to MU & support functions from plant A3’s.
• Coordinate alignment of all actions and projects between MU’s and support functions.
• Facilitate the PO pillar utilization for tactical & operation actions executed by MU’s.
• Supervise the staffing fulfillment & focus on CSD pillar utilization for production processes.
• Supervise the flow definition in line with "perfect path" principles (Flow Pillar) as introduced by plant projects
• Facilitate the use of DMS to deliver the ticket and execution of corrective actions using DMAIC methodology.
• Facilitate the WPO/DEC/RE pillars utilization to enable plant tickets delivery consistency.
• Facilitate the FI pillar utilization by every MU and support Quality pillar implementation for defined machines.
• Managed the development of best trade-off for each outsourcing project. Ensure the maintaining competency regardless outsourcing project.
• Focus on automation opportunity within production processes.
• Own the PEC pillar within tire production environment and facilitate the subcommittees utilization.
• Participate in negotiation with key contractors and managed the daily cooperation with them. Participate in daily contacts with Unions during regular meetings & on the floor cooperation. Manage the cooperation with regional teams on focused projects.

Communications & Reporting Lines

• Critical lines of communication in the plant and locally include direct reports, the Plant Leadership Team (PLT) and Unions (collaborating with HR Manager).
• Critical external stakeholders include regional manufacturing teams, regional supply chain & logistics organization and the TC Debica SA Management Board. As a core member of the Plant Leadership Team in Debica, you are expected to uphold the company values and behaviors, acting always as an ambassador and senior representative of the company.

KEY EXPERIENCES

• 10-15+ years manufacturing experience in a complex plant environment.
• Excellent people and team leadership capability; experienced in building high performing teams, developing talent for the organization as evidenced by advancement and success of team members. Able to inspire and drive change in the organization.
• Strong track record in changing the operational excellence/continuous improvement culture within an organization. In possession of excellent LEAN/operational excellence credentials.
• Demonstrated track record if leading measurable improvements in safety, quality, productivity, production and service. (Safety and Quality Champion).
• Experienced working in a large multinational company, working with a mix of functions, corporate processes, policies and stakeholders.
• Bachelor Degree in Business, Industrial Management, Engineering or equivalent field of study required. Master’s degree in business or technical discipline would be advantageous.
• Polish & English Language Skills Required.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS & COMPETANCIES

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills; agile leader with an ability to rapidly adapt to changing business conditions.
• Strong organizational skills; able to formalize structure around timelines, critical milestones and tracking mechanisms.
• Strategic, independent and progressive thinking.
• Through effective communications skills, able to present ideas and information clearly and persuasively to a wide range of audiences (shopfloor to executive management), explaining the story behind the numbers.
• Candidates will be passionate, credible and have a winning mindset that drives organizational performance and success.
• Highly visible, servant leader.
• Develops team members through coaching and feedback on results. Shares personal knowledge and experience. Moves decisively on performance problems.