Business Unit Director

Our client is a growing £80m high end manufacturing business with around 600 employees in the UK. They design and manufacture for science, medicine and industrial markets with a high emphasis on high performance, quality and durability.

A division of the Group has a requirement to appoint a Business Unit Director, a new addition to their senior team. The post holder will hold P&L responsibility, oversee the production and operational activities onsite and be a main point of contact for key customers, globally. They will be adept at managing business growth, developing both new and existing customer relationships to ensure the future growth and success of the division.

The successful candidate will be an experienced engineer or physicist who has developed their career in business management. They will have a relevant senior management background in the manufacture of highly technical products, preferably but not necessarily to PhD level/MBA.

KEY ACCOUNTABLITIES

• Responsibility for the production and operational activities on site, ensuring the Company’s performance objectives are surpassed.
• Motivating and leading manufacturing, engineering and supply chain teams to deliver World class performance.
• Working with others across the business and other group companies, to ensure that customer expectations are exceeded.
• Developing new and existing customers for the future success of the Business, acting as the main point of contact for key customers, supporting relationships both technically and commercially.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

• A member of the Divisional Leadership Team, actively contributing to the formulation and delivery of division wide strategy, as agreed with the colleagues.
• Seek continuous improvement in areas of responsibility and more generally.
• Strategic leadership and oversight of the manufacturing, engineering and supply chain ensuring high standards of execution of engagement.

KEY EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Experienced engineer or physicist; a graduate calibre person who is strongly pragmatic in approach.
• Strong ability to communicate fluently in written reports and spoken presentations to an international customer base, on both a technical and business level.
• A determined individual with the desire to achieve success through managing others and continuously communicating with customers.
• Strategic thinker, able to readily move between `big picture` and immediate priority.
• Instinctively commercial in approach, able to understand a range of business issues.
• Strong customer focus.
• A mindset committed to continuous improvement.
• Excellent communication skills with the confidence and gravitas to operate as a leader and external ambassador for the business.
• Collegiate and diplomatic in approach to working with operational teams at all levels.
• Analytical skills and comfort with complexity.
• Ability to work under own initiative and without direct assistance.