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Head of Supply Chain

Employer
Searchlight Electric
Location
Manchester, Greater Manchester
Salary
£Competitive package
Closing date
24 Oct 2021

View more

Specialist Area
Import & Export, Procurement, Supply Chain
Sector
Retail
Contract Type
Permanent
Hours
Full Time

Job Details

The Organisation

Founded in 1945 by the late Sir Sidney Hamburger, Searchlight Electric Limited remains a family-owned business, led by the 3rd generation Managing Director, Daniel Hamburger.

Searchlight has grown to be a leading supplier of decorative and contract lighting to over 50 markets worldwide and sold through multinational chains, wholesalers, specialist lighting stores and websites across the globe.

Headquartered in Manchester, UK the business designs and supplies over 5000 modern and traditional lighting products via its warehouse and distribution facilities in the UK and mainland Europe, as well as direct to market deliveries from its network of factories across the Far East via its dedicated sourcing and QC teams.

Background to the Role

Due to continued growth and expansion, Searchlight Electric are eager to bolster their capability by appointing a Head of Supply Chain. This brand new appointment will be tasked with improving the overall strategic capability of the function and ensuring there is a robust, effective and agile process place that meets the needs of the business as they continue to grow and expand.  

The Role

Reporting directly to the Managing Director, the Head of Supply Chain position is a new role within the Searchlight business, bringing together the functions of sourcing and supplier management, logistics, stock control and operations under one head in order to provide end to end visibility, management, and control of the end to end supply chain process. Areas of focus will include:

  • Consolidation of existing factory network and implementation of a tiered supplier strategy incorporating key and secondary suppliers, contracts, and terms of supply
  • Identification of new factories and sources of supply across the Far East that will add value, capacity, capability and supply security
  • Analyse supplier performance against agreed key performance indicators and drive continual improvements in OTIF, lead time and MOQ’s
  • Implement new systems that provide total visibility throughout the supply chain and allow proactive order progressing and on time in full delivery of orders
  • Implement accurate and consistent product/packaging specifications to ensure production consistency, quality and compliance to market standards
  • Implement and manage QA/QC processes and teams throughout the supply chain to ensure quality standards are met
  • Oversee and manage inventory levels utilizing the Slimstock system to maximize customer service levels whilst controlling working capital and minimizing slow-moving and obsolete stocks.
  • Implement sales/stock forecasting to improve production lead times, product life cycle, service levels and financial planning
  • Create, implement, and manage effective new product critical paths to reduce speed to market and ensure on-time product launches
  • Work with 3rd party logistics companies to ensure on-time and cost-effective movement of goods (inbound and outbound)
  • Introducing new processes and structures to meet the new demands and requirements emanating from Brexit and the Covid pandemic
  • Management of a team of 11 individuals

The Candidate

The successful candidate will be an experienced procurement professional with extensive experience and demonstrable track record of delivering improvements, across the supply chain within a B2B and/or B2C business importing goods from the FE and shipping around the world. It is likely you will have developed your best practice approach and expertise in an established multi-national business and further developed your career within an SME environment.

Key skills and experience sought:

  • Candidates must be able to demonstrate with recent experience of dealing with and managing Chinese suppliers. It is essential that you have feet on the ground experience of visiting and vetting existing and new suppliers in China.
  • Understanding and experience in both import and export of goods across the world including WTO terms of trade
  • Deep understanding of the supply chain process with a clear focus upon the critical success factors/key performance indicators necessary to measure and drive business improvement
  • Experienced in Far East sourcing with evidence of implementing a coherent tiered supplier strategy that delivers improved lead times, MOQ’s and/or margins
  • Systems driven and computer literate ideally with experience in implementing and using Microsoft Dynamics, Power BI, Slimstock and specialist supply chain/order fulfilment software
  • Experience of lean techniques, Six Sigma, Kaizen are an advantage
  • Demonstrable success in delivering key projects on time and to budget
  • Ability to develop strategy but with the drive and enthusiasm to ‘roll up the sleeves’ and successfully implement and bring the team with you on the journey
  • Strong analytical skills and attention to detail
  • Excellent communicator across the organisation (written and spoken) with Mandarin/Cantonese an advantage but far from essential
  • Team builder and team player
  • Driven and self-motivated with the ability to work on own initiative
  • Experience in working with a family business preferable

How to Apply

The preferred method of application is online at www.berwickpartners.co.uk/81695

Company

Founded in 1945 by the late Sir Sidney Hamburger, Searchlight Electric Limited remains a family-owned business, led by the 3rd generation Managing Director, Daniel Hamburger.

Searchlight has grown to be a leading supplier of decorative and contract lighting to over 50 markets worldwide and sold through multinational chains, wholesalers, specialist lighting stores and websites across the globe.

Headquartered in Manchester, UK the business designs and supplies over 5000 modern and traditional lighting products via its warehouse and distribution facilities in the UK and mainland Europe, as well as direct to market deliveries from its network of factories across the Far East via its dedicated sourcing and QC teams.

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