Career

Chemring Group PLC (European Division)

Chemring Group PLC is a global group of companies that specializes in the development and manufacture of energetic material products, countermeasures and security systems for the defence market. The position holds responsibility for the overall quality management, strategy and the delivery of lean six sigma improvement programmes across six business units operating at twelve sites across Europe. Primary responsibilities included:

• Member of the Divisional Executive accountable for profit and loss performance
• Business strategy and market analysis to determine overall quality and business improvement strategy and business improvement roadmap
• Developer and owner of the divisional business management system including Strategy, Sales & Marketing, Programme/Project Management, Engineering, Quality & Operations
• Quality and business improvement strategy including collaborations with the British Quality Foundation (BQF), HSE Executive and supplier network. Currently the chair of the judging panel of the BQF for the UK Excellence Awards
• Capability strategy and management to meet business plans
• Market segmentation analysis and supply chain structure
• Manufacturing Strategy including Manufacturing & Automation Roadmap
• Product quality and certification
• Safety incident investigation and crisis management
• Establish and develop business improvement processes for operational improvement
• Implementation of systems engineering methodologies and practices
• Development of lean / six sigma methodologies and implementation in engineering & operations
• Organisational strategy including inter-company trading, common organisation structures, roles and responsibilities
• Derivation and monitoring of KPIs and metrics to determine overall divisional performance in Order Winning, Sales, Quality and Business Improvement
• Lean and Six Sigma and Quality staff management, skills, training and development
• Interim Divisional Programme Director (six months)

The primary business of Chemring European Division is in the field of energetic materials and their applications; therefore a considerable aspect of the role is involved with ensuring product quality. Market segments served include Munitions & Missiles, Pyrotechnics and Explosive Ordnance Disposal / Counter-IED. The role includes mechanical systems, electrical/electronic systems, software engineering and chemistry of energetic materials including high explosives, propellants and pyrotechnics.

Rolls-Royce Marine Division, Derby, UK

This position held responsibility for the development and implementation of productivity improvement programmes to enable the efficient delivery of Nuclear Reactors, Valves, pressure vessels and other ancillary equipment to the UK MoD across three manufacturing sites. The role involved the management of a team of Quality & Business Improvement Engineers, qualified to Black Belt level and the development and implementation of improvement processes across a range of departments and disciplines.

• Business improvement project management including schedule, budget and risk management
• Engineering team management, recruitment and training
• Technical methods and processes
• Engineering process development
• Lean six sigma capability development

Rolls-Royce Marine Division, Derby, UK

This position held responsibility for the delivery of a sustained improvement programme in all areas of the business including overhead reduction, improved processes and manufacturing productivity improvements. Developed and managed a team of improvement specialists and engineers across a wide variety of disciplines including design, development, manufacture and supply chain. This included line management, appraisals, individual development plans and training.

• Specialist team management and performance
• Systems engineering implementation
• Negotiation and agreements with Trade Unions (grievances reduced from 20 to 1)
• Contract negotiation with MoD, including move from “cost plus” environment to “gainshare” environment
• Liaison with Nuclear Inspectorate and ISO certification bodies for ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001

Education and Qualifications