Head of Ocean Processes & Systems

Purpose of the Position

Driving operational quality and EBIT conversion through lower unit cost:

• Reducing cycle times, reducing opex, centralizing processes to reap economies of scale and to reduce PE
• Driving process standardization and quality
• Articulating and prioritizing IT and process related demands at Cluster/Country level
• Enabling Ocean operations through training and support
• Developing the Super User Team in the Cluster/Country
• Project specific objectives as required, incl. contributions to global and regional initiatives

Key tasks & responsibilities

Management & Leadership:

• Lead the P&S team in the Cluster/Country by managing, coaching, and supporting Training Managers and Super Users
• Support Country PMs and Regional P&S in identifying and developing talents in the Cluster/Country

Process re-engineering, automation, and integration: Eliminate waste and non-value adding activities. Use smart and innovative IT solutions to automate manual processes; drive integration with business partners (internal and external) to eliminate redundant processing and drive data quality at the source.

• Support regional and corporate P&S in defining and improving process standards that enable quality, efficiency, and economies of scale as well as compliance with global and local regulations relevant for Ocean operations.
• Seek opportunities to improve productivity across the Ocean commercial and operational functions (incl. supervisor level)
• Work with Branches to identify optimization requirements and opportunities
• Work with Regional P&S and other Countries to advise, align, and prioritize
• Drive implementation activities into Branches (processes and tools)
• Own business cases for implementation and value realization at Cluster/Country level
• Promote and support a culture and discipline of Continuous Improvement
• Identify local process automation and business partner integration opportunities and evaluate business impact
• Work with Country PMs and Regional P&S to evaluate and prioritize opportunities
• Drive deployment of tools at country level, coach and support BU S&P Super Users as required
• Coach and support P&S Super Users in Cluster/Country as required

Governance, Quality & Standardization: Establish and enforce standards that drive quality, eliminate rework, and enable the industrialization of our processes.

• Work with Branch Managers and P&S Super Users to drive implementation of process standards
• Monitor adherence to standards, process quality and regulatory compliance within the country
• Provide country business processes and requirements to Regional Processes, Optimization and Governance Head
• Update and communicate country General Ocean Freight SOP
• Conduct audits in country organization towards compliance with Standard Operating Procedures
• Inform Regional Processes, Optimization and Governance Head on the changes of country regulatory compliance
• Validate and approve change requests for updates in country level ocean related master data
• Address / escalate sustained deficiencies with Branch Managers, Country PMs, and Regional P&S
• Guide and support Branch P&S Super Users as required

Tools and Enablement: Provide operations with the right tools and enable staff and supervisors to work effectively and efficiently

• Working closely with Super Users identify functional improvement opportunities
• Produce high quality business specifications; challenge end-users and Super Users to clearly articulate underlying business requirements across applicable business scenarios and evaluate business impact
• Work with Country PMs and Regional P&S to evaluate and prioritize opportunities
• Drive deployment of tools at country level, coach and support Super Users as required
• Execute UAT test cases under coordination of Regional P&S Manager/Team; organize UAT across Super Users in Cluster/Country as required

Organizational Restructuring: Re-think how we organize ourselves to deliver our services - from team to regional and global level. Drive economies of scale and economies of skills, sourcing activities at the right level and the right cost.

• Closely work with Country PMs and Regional P&S to identify & shape opportunities for leveraging economies of scale and skill, wage arbitrage as well as for improving role clarity
• Drive implementation of global, regional, and local process centralization initiatives
• Coach and support Super Users as required

Organizational learning, training, and operational support: Establish a culture of best- practice sharing, on-going learning, and constructively challenging the status quo. Leverage and promote a Continuous Improvement mindset and supporting methods. Provide the methods and materials to deliver consistent and current training to operations.

• Localize global training material where required, aligned with global standards
• Provide regular onboarding / refresher / skill-up trainings
• For major system deployments and global initiatives/projects provide process specific training beyond system functionality under guidance of Regional PSM; ensure onboarding of Super Users for new system
• Establish methods and tools for regularly assessing skill gaps and actions to address same within Ocean Freight Operations
• Actively contribute to knowledge and best practice sharing across the global P&S Team
• Contribute to creation and maintenance of Ocean training material
• Work closely with Country Product Management and P+O to develop local training solutions
• Act as first level of support issue resolution in area of expertise as part of a global expert network, embedded into global support process and model as maintained by Regional Ocean Training and Support Manager

Functional Knowledge

• Ocean Product specifically operational processes
• Continuous improvement methodologies
• Process management including process mapping
• Data analysis
• Project Management
• Ability to understand and evaluate Ocean P&L at Country and Regional level
• In depth understanding of drivers of EBIT conversion

Competencies:

• Result oriented with customer focus
• Self-motivated flexible and resilient
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to clearly and concisely present written and oral information
• High attention to detail and sense of accuracy
• Effective listening skill
• Capable to make informed decisions and to generate practical, timely solutions
• Interact with Country PM at eye level (accepted counterpart, ability to constructively challenge)

Required Experience:

• Minimum 10 years track record in large multi-national organizations with an emphasis on driving structural change in a global matrix organization
• Extensive experience in comparable function preferably in logistics & transportation sector especially Ocean Freight
• Leadership experience in managing cross-functional teams virtual communities & influencing senior level management and key stakeholders
• University degree in related technical / business areas

Professional Development, Work-life Balance