Waverley
Operations & Supply Chain Director
Farnham
Posted about 23 hours ago
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Reporting to: Managing Director / Board
Location
Based in Farnham or Luton with travel required between both, plus to our curtain workroom in Alresford, near Winchester
Direct reports
- Factory Manager
- Curtain Workroom Manager
- Procurement Manager
- Production office assistant
- H&S manager (part time role to be filled)
Role
Full-time, senior management position
Role Purpose
The role will combine responsibility for two manufacturing facilities: a factory in Luton producing blinds and curtain tracks and a curtain workroom near Winchester, with overall responsibility for procurement, inventory and the wider supply chain.
The two key objectives will be to:
- Strengthen a culture of continuous improvement, building on the Lean manufacturing principles that have already been implemented and to develop appropriate performance measures to improve quality, productivity, efficiency and operational resilience.
- Lead Waverley’s procurement and supply chain strategy, ensuring robust purchasing and stock-management systems are in place while developing supplier relationships, identifying alternative sources and negotiating competitive commercial terms.
Key Responsibilities
1. Manufacturing & Operational Leadership
- Take overall responsibility for Waverley’s manufacturing operations across the blinds factory and the curtain workroom.
- Ensure appropriate production planning, capacity and resource are in place to meet customer requirements and agreed lead times.
- Develop greater visibility of operational performance through appropriate KPIs and regular operational reviews.
- Identify operational constraints and implement sustainable improvements rather than relying on short-term firefighting.
- Ensure both manufacturing facilities operate to consistently high standards of quality, productivity, organisation and housekeeping.
2. Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement
- Review existing manufacturing processes and identify opportunities to improve workflow, productivity, quality, lead time and capacity.
- Introduce practical Lean methodologies appropriate to a relatively low-volume, high-mix, made-to-order manufacturing environment.
- Develop and embed techniques including 5S, visual management, standard work, root-cause analysis, waste reduction and process improvement.
- Establish meaningful measures for manufacturing performance.
- Build a culture where employees at all levels are encouraged to identify problems and suggest improvements.
- Ensure that operational improvements become embedded processes rather than relying on individual knowledge.
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3. Quality
- Take overall operational responsibility for manufacturing quality.
- Develop effective systems for recording, analysing and reducing manufacturing defects, rework and waste.
- Ensure recurring quality problems are investigated using appropriate root-cause analysis and corrective actions.
- Work with the wider business to understand customer and project-related quality issues and ensure lessons are fed back into manufacturing processes.
- Develop a culture where quality is built into the manufacturing process rather than inspected at the end.
4. Procurement & Supply Chain
- Take overall responsibility for Waverley’s procurement and supply chain strategy.
- Review purchasing processes and implement appropriate systems for stock replenishment, purchasing approvals, supplier management and inventory control.
- Ensure appropriate stock levels are maintained to support customer service while avoiding unnecessary working capital being tied up in inventory.
- Develop greater visibility of stock usage, purchasing patterns and future requirements.
- Review Waverley’s supplier base and identify opportunities for alternative and secondary suppliers, improved commercial terms and cost reduction.
- Develop strategic relationships with key suppliers while ensuring Waverley is not unnecessarily dependent upon individual suppliers.
- Establish appropriate supplier-performance measures covering areas such as quality, cost, delivery and service.
5. Inventory & Materials Management
- Ensure robust systems are in place for ordering, receiving, storing and controlling raw materials, components, fabrics and finished goods.
- Develop appropriate stock policies, including reorder levels and purchasing parameters for key materials.
- Work with manufacturing and procurement to reduce stock shortages, emergency purchasing and unnecessary inventory.
- Ensure goods-in processes across Waverley’s locations are clearly defined and appropriately owned within the operational structure.
- Improve the accuracy and visibility of inventory information across the business.
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6. People Leadership
- Provide strong leadership to Waverley’s manufacturing and procurement teams.
- Build effective relationships with experienced, long-serving members of the team while positively challenging established ways of working.
- Develop the capabilities of the Factory Manager, Workshop Manager and Procurement Manager, setting clear objectives and holding them accountable for delivery.
- Create an environment of continuous improvement where change is introduced collaboratively but with clear expectations and momentum.
- Identify skills gaps, succession risks and training requirements within operations.
- Ensure that operational knowledge is documented and shared rather than being dependent upon individual employees.
7. Support to Sales & Projects
- Provide operational input into customer projects where manufacturing capability, capacity, lead times, materials or supply-chain considerations require senior operational expertise.
- Act as the senior escalation point for significant manufacturing, quality, procurement or supply-chain issues.
- Work closely with sales, project management and other areas of the business to ensure customer commitments are operationally achievable.
- Reduce the volume of day-to-day operational issues requiring senior management intervention by establishing clear processes, responsibilities and escalation routes.
8. Health & Safety
- Work closely with Waverley’s designated Health & Safety competent person/adviser to ensure manufacturing operations comply with the company’s H&S requirements.
- Ensure agreed H&S procedures, risk controls and corrective actions are implemented across the three Waverley premises (Farnham, Luton & Alresford).
- Promote a strong health and safety culture across operations.
- Note: The role is not intended to act as Waverley’s principal Health & Safety competent person; specialist responsibility for this is expected to be separately resourced.
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