Head of Supplier Development Manager

Thales people architect and deliver satellite-based systems that help position, connect and observe our planet, and push the boundaries of our understanding of planet's resources. Our systems are in orbit at 400 km, 20000 km, 36000 km and beyond to the edges of the solar system.

The Head of Supplier Development Manager (Ho SDM) is accountable to lead the team of TAS SDMs.

She/he contributes to the overall TAS competitiveness by developing a best-in-class supply base, improving Supplier On-Time-Delivery (OTD) and On-Conformity-Delivery (OCD).

She/he has to drive a breakthrough improvement in Supplier Performance. She/he is accountable to anticipate and mitigate supply delivery issues, as well as managing operational and structural risks.

She/he connects with the Global Thales SDM organisation, in order to contribute to the building of global processes and alignment of action plans on common suppliers with other GBUs and regions.

In his role, she/he is also responsible to operationally act as SDM for the most complex situations or critical suppliers. The main missions of a Supplier Development Manager are:

- Define with the highest level of expertise within the industry, the concrete short term performances transformation plan (OTD, OCD) at supplier site, ensuring sustainable improvements for TAS & all Thales entities when applicable
- Conduct change management at supplier to ensure long term improvement of supplier industrial maturity
- Influence the supplier on its innovation & strategy orientations vis a vis of TAS & Thales when applicable
- Coach the supplier organisation on the implementation of best in class supply chain & quality processes
- Act as an expert referent at group level for various supplier development tools & process, coach some Supplier Performance Managers and Execution Project Managers (SPM & EPM) in their implementation
- Operationally drive action plan implementation at supplier site, in the name of TAS & all Thales entities when applicable
- Be accountable and responsible for TAS on the achievements of the Supplier Performance targets, including for actions linked to internal processes improvements
- Create conditions of success to improve the business development with the selected suppliers
- Leverage an SPM network at entity level, to implement internal action plans & collect operational data

Supplier Development mission may also rely on performing independent assessments of the industrial maturity of TAS suppliers, in line with the strategy of the Global Category Manager (GCM), in order to identify findings, to be taken into account by suppliers through an improvement/risk mitigation plan.

The main mission of the Head of Supplier Development Manager is to contribute to the definition of the TAS Supply Chain developement roadmap and enable his team to:

- Implement performance recovery or industrial development plan (supply chain & quality) at supplier production sites: define and follow up detailed improvement actions
- Ensure right first time delievery of some specific New Product Introduction projects, on supplier's scope
- Provide a coordinated vision on New Product Introduction to suppliers, anticipate TAS technological roadmaps that could impact future supplier's performance
- When applicable, ensure the improvements of internal inefficencies affecting supplier performance
- Be the key interlocutor in case of qualifications needs (eg. new supplier introduction, new sites, engineering changes ). Perform supplier audits to support the Procurement strategy and Thales BLs/GBUs needs (IPCA)

Willingness to travel at supplier sites is a must (up to 80%).
- Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business Management or equivalent
- At least 10 years of experience in activities which have allowed to acquire sound skills and knowledge of Procurement, Engineering, Manufacturing & Quality.
- Experience in leading assessment or audits (eg. IPCA)
- Capacity to influence and convince at various stages of the organisations
- Capacity to work in a multicultural and international environment: languages and adaptability
- Capacity to adapt her/his communication according to the interlocutor: internal and external
- Capacity to address various levels and suppliers' styles
- Strong negotiation skills and the ability to persuade, influence and convince

Technical skills:

- APQP standard (EN9145)
- APICS, Production and Inventory Management
- 6-sigma and process improvement methodology, 8D (or 9S) and DMAIC
- Black Belt or Shaining accreditation
- Statistical Data analysis