Vice President - Operations - Grand Rapids
Overview:
Role: Vice President – Operations (Automotive Production Facility)Location: Van Buren Township, Michigan (DTC – Detroit Technical Centre)
Job ID: 2024 - 2636
Salary: USD $200,000 - $220,000 plus benefits
Our vision is to create a safe and sustainable world.
Ricardo’s Performance Products division are seeking a Vice President of Operations to be the “on the ground” local leadership figure based at the Detroit Technical Centre. Initially responsible for 2025 delivery of outsourced construction and building readiness activities, converting the site to a fit for production equipment fit-out during 2026.
Role Overview- Responsible for managing site P&L, including operational expenditure and capital budgets.
- Leading all facilities and site management services for Ricardo Performance Products Inc in DTC.
- Act as the local liaison with on-site customer teams from an operations and site perspective.
- Be a trusted partner to other VP colleagues, who are largely based in the UK (with frequent US presence), supporting leadership and delivery of their workstreams.
- Local management of the conversion to a fully functional production facility.
- Overseeing construction, services and production-equipment third-party contractors to ensure delivery is on-time and within budget, in partnership with the VP colleagues.
- Support the recruitment of production, finance, supply chain and quality staff in conjunction with VP colleagues and the HR Director.
- Development of processes, procedures with a full P&L and balance sheet, in conjunction with the finance team.
- Leadership and management of Facilities, providing leadership on all site-related matters, including logistics, stores, site security, maintenance, front of house and provision and maintenance of all building services.
- Ensuring quality standards and compliance with regulations, e.g. building standards, health & safety.
- Engagement with US based third parties (parts/equipment suppliers, external test, warehousing, etc.) as required by programme/workstreams, in conjunction with and support of VP colleagues and the wider business.
- Proven leadership skills and managing operational and facilities team, third party contractors and outsource partners.
- Previous experience of developing/managing brownfield/greenfield sites in the US.
- Experience Managing an operational P&L and Capital programmes.
- Production experience.
- Proven experience of developing plans and delivering results in a fast-moving business environment.
- Experienced in technical project leadership and program management.
- The ability to collaborate with, and influence, internal and external stakeholders, and third-party contractors.
- Strong problem-solving, analysis and listening skills.
- Degree-qualified in relevant engineering discipline, or equivalent experience/Membership of relevant professional body.
Working here
You will be warmly welcomed into our workplace where every voice matters. We are diverse thinkers and doers, coming together to create a culture of inclusion. We will support you to find your place.
We will encourage you to use your passion and expertise to make a positive impact through the projects you work on. Your knowledge and desire to bring about change will be invaluable in helping deliver innovative solutions that support communities across the globe in becoming safer and more sustainable.
Work life balance
We offer flexible approaches to work, whether that is working from home, being in the office, or as a hybrid worker. We're happy to discuss flexible working arrangements. Wellbeing is at the core to our culture, allowing employees to flourish and to achieve their full potential.
Benefits
We want you to know how much you are valued. Your remuneration and benefits package will reflect that. You will receive a range of benefits which include support for your physical and mental health.
Diversity, Equality and Inclusion statement
We are an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, creed, gender identity. sexual orientation, pregnancy, or pregnancy-related condition, marital or parental status (IL only), height, weight, national origin, citizenship status, age, domestic violence victim status, arrest record or conviction record (MI only), genetic information, military or veteran status or disability, or any other classification protected by applicable federal, state, or municipal law.VEVRAA Federal Contractor.
Next steps
Once you have submitted your application a member of our Recruitment Team will be in touch. Please be aware that the timing can vary dependent on the volume of applications that we receive for each role and in some cases, we may start to review applications prior to the closing date.
Ricardo is a Disability confident employer please advise the recruitment team via recruit@ricardo.com if you require any adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment process.
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