Director, Global Strategic Operational Excellence

Founded in 1975, with its head office in Blackburn, England, PPE operates manufacturing facilities in the UK and the US, plus sales offices and Channel Partner networks across the US, Europe and Asia.

PPE manufactures high-performance O-rings and sealing components using advanced elastomer materials and precision designs that extend equipment life.

Seals are critical to the function of industrial systems, and PPE’s solutions are trusted in the most demanding environments.

Today, PPE offers over 200 elastomer grades used globally across industries such as oil & gas, chemical processing, food and pharma manufacturing, marine and power generation, aerospace, and semiconductors.

The company’s success is built on the continual development of new elastomer materials combined with exceptional levels of customer service and technical support.

Precision Polymer Engineering Ltd (PPE) is a leading provider of high-performance O-rings, technical rubber moldings and sealing solutions to a diverse range of industries around the world and are part of the IDEX Corporation. IDEX Corporation is an applied solutions provider serving niche markets worldwide. Key markets include process industry and infrastructure related applications, life science and medical technologies, industrial and municipal fire and rescue, and equipment associated with the retail dispensing of architectural paints and coatings.

From leak detection within water infrastructure to enabling the push towards personalized medicine, IDEX is a leader in creating enabling technology and improving business prospects for a diverse customer set across the globe.

Reporting directly to the President, this important role sits on the SLT and will create and deliver a strategic plan for the application of IDEX Lean Tools and methodologies linked directly to PPE’s strategic objectives – this individual will drive measurable results using 2 different skills sets:
Strategic Operations and Continuous Improvement. Strategic Operations will involve partnering with the organization to identify, justify, approve, plan and implement large scale operational improvements (e.g. expansions, vertical integrations, capability alignment, investments etc.) in a global setting. Additionally, this team member will be responsible for driving the adoption and utilization of the IDEX operating model and continuous improvement model. They will work closely with key company stakeholders to drive critical programs and activities across the company and will lead the process of engaging and empowering team members to identify, understand, and implement sustainable process improvements.

The role will also lead and drive the VIP (Value Improvement Program) globally.

The role will peer with Operations, R&D, Engineering, Finance and our Commercial Leads in the Semi-Conductor, Energy (Oil & gas) and Industrial sectors. The role will use the IDEX toolbox to drive operational improvements across Safety, Quality, Delivery and Cost through their teams located in Blackburn and Brenham. The role will provide hands on coaching and mentoring for the business functions and employees.

• Gains a solid understanding of the Company’s key initiatives, competitive priorities, accountabilities and ensures linkage of strategy and continuous improvement efforts with these goals.
• Act as a business partner with operations & functional management, to identify large, strategic, game changing opportunities to drive simplicity, scale and profitability.
• Support Operational projects through project plan development, results tracking and leading and coaching site leaders and their teams through project execution process.
• Utilize Lean, Practical Problem Solving and CI tools to lead the organization in data-based decision making and driving actions to generate measurable improvement driving behavioral change across sites through CI tools, methodology and coaching.
• Deliver effective Continuous Improvement training and coaching and programs to help increase team capability and awareness of the Continuous Improvement tools. The training should be…