Purpose of employment

We are looking for a Regional Industrial Performance Director, (region East) to support factories in the Eastern region (Glass Mineral Wool and Rock Mineral Wool) as indicated below.

The Regional Industrial Performance Director, (region East) will be responsible for the implementation and oversight of Knauf Insulation’s industrial strategies in the regional plants, both the Glass Mineral Wool and Rock Mineral Wool facilities. 

This includes standardization and the optimization of the manufacturing processes for existing and new plants. 

The Director will also have oversight for strategic operations (the 5 year plans), strategic services, manufacturing plant budgets (output, plant cost report), projects, new investments (CAPEX), people and talent management, knowledge management, quality, safety and process improvement. 

He/She will facilitate and achieve company’s and manufacturing objectives in compliance with laws, company’s policies, and Knauf values.

Reporting to

The Regional Industrial Performance Director reports hierarchically and functionally to the Group Industrial Performance Director.

The position is based out any of Knauf Insulations Technical hubs: Belgium, the UK or Slovenia. 

50% of time travelling to the regional manufacturing plants based in EMEA will be expected to execute responsibilities in the most pragmatic way.

Missions and responsibilities

Working directly and closely with Group Industrial Performance Director, the mission and responsibilities include:

 Functionally managing all plant managers of the East region, currently 6 plants.
 Overseeing the manufacturing activities, costs, CAPEX investments and KPIs for efficiencies
 Aligned with strategy, deploying continuous improvement culture and standards as well as sustainability objectives and HSE requirements
 Coordinating all activities related to the regional manufacturing plants in term of production, organization according to the HR model structure, plant management, training, work instructions and best practice deployment
 Managing and optimizing costs for product manufacturing whilst maintaining the highest possible quality, health, safety, and other standards.
 Ensuring the budget is met (output and PCR cost)
 Supporting innovation and product development
 Ensuring Knauf Values, safety first and product & systems quality as per standard are deployed and met
 Participating at optimization manufacturing environment and standardization of the plants within the region
 Publishing weekly, monthly and quarterly reports

Main activities

Operation excellence

 Establishing, disseminating and maintaining best practices for manufacturing sites within the region
 Production line benchmarking, auditing, standardising and troubleshooting
 Implement plans for quality improvement, energy saving, waste reduction, operating efficiencies improvement and process enhancements
 Promoting the use of statistical tools for continuous improvement and sustainability
 With the support of the Digital Director implementing and optimizing tools and systems across the sites
 Fostering networking among plants, technical teams and other relevant parts of the business
 Promoting and coordinating technical knowledge within the region
 Organise specialist technical support to the plants of the region when needed

Capital expenditure

 Proposing capex plan and control plant capital expenditures
 Contributing to the scope of major expansion/rebuild as well as new plant projects in line with the Group Industrial Performance Director and in liaison with the Knauf Insulation Engineering & Process experts

People

Supporting the local plant and HRD teams with:
 The development of technical personnel, talent and succession planning
 Ensuring training, coaching and disciplines systems are in place
 Assigning accountabilities, monitoring and appraise job results, developing incentives
 Developing a climate for offering information and opinions; providing educational
opportunities

Qualifications and experience: required

 Minimum 7 years’ experience in plant manager position at senior level
 Engineering Master degree or Postgraduate Qualification, in either industrial process, mechanical engineering or science
 Strong Business Acumen of specific industrial and technical environment
 Management experience at a senior level
 Experience of communication and liaison with various stake holders and regulatory authorities
 Familiarity with the requirements Management standards, ISO Standards and HSEE
 Experience in a plant environment running 7/7

Qualifications and experience: Highly Desirable

 Know-how in manufacturing, industrial performance, safety, people management, quality standards, continuous improvement
 Working knowledge of insulation process and industry
 Experience in managing industrial safety risks in heavy industry
 Experience in skill matrixes, succession management
 Working knowledge of Continuous Improvement techniques
 Experience of international assignment, being exposed to different culture and environment

Required skills

 Passionate and motivated to drive manufacturing standards and performance
 Collaborative and leadership skills
 Ability to engage and communicate with and influence all levels within the organisation.
 Curious, desire to learn, to further develop
 Competent in digital tools and solutions
 Strong organisational skills: ability to handle several tasks simultaneously
 Team player with high degree of stakeholder focus (listening and questioning)
 Strong communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills
 Analytical skills, pragmatic and solutions oriented
 Open, flexible, listening and ability to work in multi-cultural team
 Excellent communication skills (written, verbal and presentation) at all levels
 Excellent negotiation / influence skills
 Good financial appreciation
 Ability to drive change in a multifaceted organizational structure
 Ability to travel without restriction
 Proven Mentor and Leader within the industry
 Computer literate on MS Office and Email
 Fluency in English (French, German is a plus)

Health – Safety – Environment – Energy -Quality

Every worker has the obligation to take care of his / her safety and health, as well as that of his colleagues, including subcontractors. The worker also ensures the respect of the Values, knows and respects the rules and contributes to the objectives of the site and the group with regard to HSEEQ. 

Any team leader needs to update the entity's HSEEQ indicators and actively participate in the improvement of the entity's HSEEQ indicators. He is also the guarantor of the respect of these rules with his team.

About Knauf Insulation

Knauf Insulation products save energy, cut emissions and make sure buildings are good for the environment and keep people healthy, safe and well.

With over 40 years of experience in the insulation industry, we now employ nearly 6,000 people across more than 40 countries. We have with 29 manufacturing sites in 15 countries.

Knauf Insulation (KI) is part of the Knauf Group, which employs about 40,000 people worldwide, operating more than 300 factories, generating sales in excess of 12.5 billion Euros.

The Knauf Group was founded in 1932 and is a family-owned company driven by the values of Menschlichkeit (Humanity), Partnership, Commitment, and Entrepreneurship.

These values and the fast-moving environment in which we evolve allows us to take initiative and implement new processes or structures, working together and taking care of the others. We have lots of opportunities inside the company who allows you to consider to make your career with us.

Our Belgian site in Visé is representing the biggest Glass Mineral Wool Plant in Europe and is location of Knauf Insulation Head Office. Today there is a strong focus on such topics, as sustainability, energy efficiency and waste reduction. Knauf Insulation brings one of the solutions to climate change and that’s why we are proud to be working as leader in the insulation industry.

In 2020 we launched our sustainability strategy For A Better World with a focus on four key goals: Put People First, Achieve Zero Carbon, Deliver A Circular Economy and Create Better Buildings. To ensure these words were translated into concrete action we set mid-term targets for 2025 that everyone can start achieving now.

** We encourage and welcome all applications **