Director of Operations, Europe

About the Role

The Director of Operations for Europe will oversee the manufacturing activities across GroupeSTAHL's European facilities located in the UK, Spain, Germany, and Italy. This position requires a hands-on leader who will drive operational execution, continuous improvement, and alignment with global manufacturing standards. The role demands regular travel to manufacturing sites across Europe (approximately 30-50% travel) and can be based in Germany, Italy, Spain, or the UK.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead safety and environmental health and safety (EHS) initiatives ensuring zero-incident culture and compliance with UK, EU, German, Spanish, and Italian regulations.
• Oversee operational performance by managing KPIs related to service, quality, productivity, and conversion costs, ensuring robust daily management systems across all sites.
• Coach and develop site operations leaders while promoting accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
• Implement lean manufacturing, operational excellence, and quality improvement programs and standardize best practices regionally.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain, Planning, and Global Operations for capacity planning and support regional Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes.
• Coordinate manufacturing and material flow across the European network, managing compliance with customs, VAT, import/export and post-Brexit regulations.
• Support capital projects including facility expansions, equipment upgrades, and automation initiatives ensuring projects meet safety, schedule, and budget requirements.

Qualifications and Experience

• 10+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing operations, including 3-5 years leading multi-site operations within Europe.
• Proven expertise in operational KPIs, cost control, quality systems, continuous improvement, and lean manufacturing techniques.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Industrial Technology, Supply Chain, or a related discipline.
• Fluency in English required; proficiency in German, Italian, or Spanish preferred.
• Experience in decorated apparel, heat transfer, printing, converting, textiles or related manufacturing sectors is an advantage.
• Familiarity with European labor relations, works councils, and collective bargaining is beneficial.
• Lean Six Sigma or equivalent continuous improvement certification is desirable.
• Experience in facility expansions, consolidations, or footprint optimization projects and working in matrix, multinational organizations.