Manager, Materials Strategy & Operations

In this position... 

The team currently is building, deploying, and governing with mechanical controls for the 3-5 year strategic action plans which are aligned to the top level SD X-matrix for the annual improvements. This MP&L Business Process Strategy Manager will be responsible for developing the direct and indirect teams to support the cross-functional requirements of executing the MP&L industrial transformation objectives.

This leader will be a boundaryless leader that goes across the end-to-end value stream and partners with all groups to deliver the best outcome. The self-less leader will help develop the next generation leaders and upskill the talents across the key principles as outlined by the Ford Production System. 

Their core expertise will be in materials management, demand and supply planning, inventory management, logistics, new software systems and technologies deployment, and operations management. The individual is able to understand business and financial acumen to help make the trade-off decisions from key initiatives and business value drivers.

What you'll do...

• MP&L Business Process Strategy Leader will deploy, govern, and KPI performance
  • Build a clear vision, deploy standard business processes, select the right metrics - that are external in nature and give an end-to-end view supply chain and where we are making tradeoffs.  Determine levers that can be "pulled", prioritize the results into actionable projects, and get buy-in to ensure optimal execution of the improvement projects.
• Lead MP&L Global industrial system transformation
• Collaborate with Regional and Plant Manufacturing teams to identify Global "High Hurts/Strategic Supply Chain Initiatives" to progress on One Ford Behaviors, processes, and procedures.
• Design of the process ensuring logistics/materials optimization for product planning and launch, serving both Powertrain and Vehicle Operations.
• Serve across MP&L teams for Operational Supply Chain support.
• Identify, analyze, and document current state processes across various global locations.
• Develop and implement standardized, best-practice processes to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance quality with improved customer delivery
• Lead process improvement initiatives using methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, or other relevant frameworks of the Ford Production System.
• Evaluate and recommend process improvement technologies and systems; with additional focus on AI productivity
• Work with IT to implement and maintain process-related software and applications.
• Continued enhancement of Supply chain process integration with Global Product Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and external Suppliers for comprehensive process improvements.
  • Engaging manufacturing MP&L early in plant/supplier discussions is critical to getting stakeholder buy-in
• Required to work closely with each Region to align existing strategies and reinforce Manufacturing Supply Chain commitment to global organization & process efficiency.  Facilitate regional teams to drive towards common processes.
• Fully support Global MP&L team; focus can be placed on the work that will make the greatest difference.  Support comes in the form of secondary research, document creation, and project support – community building
• Lead Regional Benchmarking efforts on Global Supply Chain topics (ex. ERP/EDGE app utilization, Business Value Stream, Material Handling, Inventory, Logistics, etc..)
• Facilitate University and Industry Research along with Ford plant’s best practice on key Global Supply Chain performance

You'll have... 

• A Bachelors Degree in supply chain management, engineering, or digital systems
• 10+ years of experience in an industrial manufacturer 
• Experience inside ERP and Edge Applications
• Deep understanding of the Business processes and production systems
• Preferred candidate will have experience inside-outside of the automotive industry and bring a technical mind-set. They will be well connected in the tech space and be able to benchmark our practices to premier companies.
• Can translate technical requirements in the day to day operations environment.
• The successful candidate will be skilled at navigating a large, matrixed environment, and legacy business process that will be transformed to eliminate waste
• They will be a team player, adept at building relationships and adapting to a strong culture (the “Ford Family”).
• Disruptor in the functional spaces.

Even better, you may have...

• Masters Degree supply chain management, engineering, or digital syst