Senior Production Manager

Thales is a global technology leader with more than 83,000 employees on five continents. With over 7,500 people in the UK, operating across defence, space, aerospace, and digital security, we help build a future we can all trust. Thales supports the security and stability of our nation by providing extraordinary technology to our customers, as well as delivering social value to the UK with our products and services.

Our Opportunity

The Senior Production Manager focuses on execution, on their team and on continuous improvement.  They are also responsible for the performance of the Autonomous Production and/or Repair Unit in terms of quality/cost/timeframes, in accordance with the proper application of professional standards and safety and HSE standards. In addition, they are in charge of managing and coordinating the staff within their area of responsibility.

Location:

Belfast

Main activities:

• Ensures the functional management of the entire ecosystem within its scope.
• Animates their teams, develop their skills to increase their autonomy,
• Animate the support functions allocated at the pace of production (Supply Chain, Process Engineering, Lean & Performances),
• Ensure the maintenance of standard costs, propose areas for improvement, pilot the improvements provided to the support functions
• Set up and animate the Team Leaders,
• Ensure adherence to the customer’s expected/daily production plan (Repairs), anticipating industrial risks, while maintaining the quality of the products delivered.
• Ensure adherence to production/repair costs.
• Optimise production/repair and investigative WIP by taking steps to improve productivity and reduce rework.
• Manage the workload/capacity balance and human resources with a view to overall efficiency and employee well-being through daily management and appropriate communication.
• Participate in supply reviews.
• Develop the skills of their team in light of the challenges they face, identify and manage skills development needs on the team (critical skills and versatility).
• Promote and implement the LEAN transformation approach (Gemba, FCTL, Andon & KAIZEN).
• Ensure rigorous application of standards and generate ideas for continuous improvement.
• Manage performance through a standardised management process (AIC) integrated into the site management process.
• Set priorities and make decisions as needed to correct deviations.
• Coordinate the DOJOs.
• Manage efforts to develop autonomy within their APRU, with help from the support functions.
• Ensure that actions to promote competitiveness are coherent with regard to preparing the MYB.
• Ensure the safety of employees

Cross-functional Activities:
• Participate in cross-functional improvement initiatives led by the support functions.
• Participate in validating standards established by the support functions.
• Provide standard costs and lead times for basic operations to the planning and quoting functional areas.
• Coach employees and promote the identification and deployment of best practices with the aim of improving or creating new standards.

Soft Skills:

• Line management, non-line management and management by influence
• Know how to listen and mobilise resources in a context of mutual respect.
• Share information out of a desire for transparency.
• Foster growth in others and in themself.
• Enlist and empower others, promote diversity and show empathy.
• Ability to gain the support of the support functions
• Building trust

Technical skills:

• Practice of analytical and problem-solving techniques (FMECA, PDCA, etc.)
• Technical knowledge of products and their manufacturing or repair processes
• Knowledge of supply chain principles and principal flows
• Knowledge of industrial management control and the MYB process
• Implementation of continuous improvement tools (Gemba Walks, 5S, just-in-time, PDCA, etc.)
• Use of digital tools/dashboards to manage their activity (analyses, decision support, etc.)

What We Can Offer

We are committed to giving you opportunities to be your best. We believe in embracing the passion and potential of our people, and to achieve this we offer market leading training, development and experiences, along with the opportunity to be mentored and coached by some of the smartest minds in the industry. We hire from within as our first priority, so you will have a myriad of opportunities within our diverse, global organisation.

If you are interested in this role, we would encourage you to have informal chat with the Talent Acquisition Partner.

Thales is an equal opportunities employer and diversity and inclusion are integral to the success of Thales.

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At Thales, we ensure equal opportunities, pay and working conditions for all. The benefits we offer include private medical insurance, buying or selling annual leave, cycle to work schemes, employee discounts, paid volunteering day, stocks and shares, annual bonus and much more depending on the role. Read more about our benefits here.

We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued for who they are and the unique strengths they bring. Discover more about our programmes, employee networks, wellbeing policies, and inclusive features here.

If this role isn’t quite right for you, we encourage you to join our talent community where your details will be shared with our recruitment teams for other potential opportunities. Join the Talent Community here.

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