Digital Manufacturing Director

Knauf stands for opportunity. We know that opportunity looks different to each person and we are proud that we see opportunity in everyone. This exciting role within Knauf Insulation in the Central Technical team could be the perfect next opportunity for you to build a unique career, in a values-led culture with a clear purpose of making tomorrow a home for all of us. As a Group we are a global manufacturer of construction materials and our 41,500 team members in 90 countries across 300 sites provide a huge opportunity for anyone with ambition and energy. We value everyone's contribution equally and we ask that you bring your whole self to work, to enrich the business further, as together we achieve more in a safe and inclusive environment.

Knauf Insulation (KI) is proud to be part of the Knauf Group. We have a 40-year heritage in manufacturing insulation and have big plans for the future. Our global reach in 40 countries continues to grow and we are looking for passionate, ambitious people to join our 6000-strong team and help us achieve our goals. We are all led by the same core values and believe in the powerful potential of large companies to have a positive impact on the world. 

In the Factory 100 program, Knauf Insulation has set clear ambitions regarding its future digital manufacturing capabilities and is now recruiting a successor for the position of Digital Manufacturing Director to be located in one of our Central Technical Hub in EMEA or US and reporting to the Group Technical Director.

• Can you manage a digital development program?
• Can you understand the manufacturing needs and processes?
• Can you build digitalization roadmap?
• Can you be a leader and oversee transformation through a complex organizational matrix?

The main purpose of the KI Digital Manufacturing Director is to create, adapt and implement the KI manufacturing digitalization program, aligned with Knauf Group strategy, using the Group tools to develop solutions that fulfill KI EMEA and NA business/manufacturing needs. This priorities and goals of this program will be defined by the Industrial Performance directors of both EMEA and North America (NA) regions.

The aim of the digital manufacturing program is to increase the manufacturing process stability, the production lines operating time, enable process standardization with support on remote, facilitate access to data and data interpretation for production and support teams, enable remote production control, provide recognizable & reliable manufacturing data.

Leading the Digital Committee he / she ensures project governance with business case driven decisions for POC’s, POC’s assessment and improvement, controlled roll-out to other plants. He / she will also ensure that solution development resources are efficiently managed between EMEA and NA regions. He / she has a special focus on standardization and scalability.

The scope includes plants OT architecture, unified naming system for data, data governance, artificial intelligence, tools supporting the manufacturing such as model based control, automatic job changes, vision, soft sensors. The Digital Director will take the responsibility for each of these scopes in Knauf Insulation, while ensuring that what will be implemented in KI will always remain aligned with the Knauf Group infrastructure, data architecture, and selected digital tools. Machine automation and auto-guided vehicles is not included in this scope.

• Manage the KI digital development team.
  
• Create, update and communicate a KI multi-year digital roadmap, based on state-of the art and pragmatic solutions, as well as the stages and timing to implement them.
• Ensure tools and solutions standardization across KI, enabling efficient and cost driven scale-up and updates.
  
• Align this roadmap with the IP directors ,IP digital and Process Development teams, EMEA and NA, and PNE.
  
• Ensure that digital projects governance is well in place in KI, including business case driven decisions, POC and POC validation and formal hand-over of rolled out solutions by the users.
  
• Lead the KI Digital Committee, plan the meeting agendas and follow-up on decided actions
  
• Ensure that KI manufacturing digital development are allocated to projects that have been approved by the KI Digital Committee.
  
• With his team deliver data management, artificial intelligence, model based control, automatic job changes, vision, soft sensors projects, from POC until roll-out, being supported by the IP digital teams for the implementation in KI plants.
  
• Manage the KI digital capex and the digital development team budget.
  
• Work in close collaboration with KI Procurement to negotiate and manage Digital supplier contracts.
  
• Lead the KI Digital Committee, and represent KI for the Knauf Group digital manufacturing developments, tools validation, data structure definition.
  
• Contribute to the Group plant architecture definition, ensure that this architecture is well implemented in KI, for existing and new plants.
  
• Ensure adherence to Knauf Group tools or clearly justify any KI specific deviations.
  
• Contribute to Knauf Group data structure and governance.
  
• Align on OT priorities with PNE, follow-up cross charges to KI.
  
• Align with Knauf Group Artificial Intelligence standards.

We are interested in you as a person; your attitude, behaviors and values. As long as you have the willingness to learn anything you need for the role that you don't already have, we'd love to speak to you. We're looking for someone who is a leader, capable to share their vision clearly and who can lead change.

Qualifications and experience required:

• Strong background in digital tools, data management, Artificial Intelligence and IT infrastructure.
• At least 10 years of experience in an industrial sector with previous experience in creating and implementing a digital transformation in a manufacturing environment.
• Project management and transformation projects experience.
• Physically located on one of the KI Central Technical hubs.
• GMW and / or RMW process experience is an asset

Required skills:

• Strong leadership skills, creating team members engagement, ownership and accountability
  • Good communicator and coordinator
  • Agile in matrix and multi-cultural organizations
  • Organized and independent
  • Languages: Fluent in English. (French, Dutch or German is an asset)

As this is a central, international position, the package and associated benefits will be those of the contract's host country. Our common criterion was to build a comprehensive salary package that stands out in the market.

On top of that, a dedicated time for personal development and potential for leadership training will be provided.

We appreciate that your time is precious and applying for a new job can be a lengthy process - so we have committed to replying to your application within five working days.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion (D&I) reinforces our Knauf Insulation values of Making Tomorrow a Home for all of us. We are committed to creating a workplace where we all can thrive, whoever we are, and inspiring a culture of inclusion and innovation that will drive future business success. We do our best to make sure being at work feels like home. To learn more about our business and culture go here (Our values (knaufinsulation.com))

If there are any other ways that you need to receive this job information, please contact us on dany.wolf@knaufinsulation.com