Vice President Operations

Role Overview

GroupeSTAHL is an international leader in custom textile printing, operating as a manufacturer, distributor, and direct supplier. The Vice President of Operations for Europe is the most senior operational leader responsible for four manufacturing sites across the region within the company’s global network.

This position carries direct accountability for people leadership, safety, delivery, quality, and conversion cost performance across Europe. It is a practical, plant-focused leadership role rather than a desk-based staff role. The VP converts global process and product standards into dependable daily execution at each European site, manages regional capacity and workforce planning, represents Europe in the monthly S&OP process, and acts as the primary escalation point for operational issues in the region.

Performance in this role is measured by safety results, delivery reliability, cost control, product quality, and the strength of leadership talent developed at site level.

The European operating footprint covers the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, and Italy, so the role requires leadership across multiple labor markets, languages, regulations, and operational cultures while maintaining alignment with global manufacturing expectations.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead safety and EHS performance across all four facilities, building a zero-incident culture and ensuring compliance with relevant UK, EU, German, Spanish, and Italian health, safety, environmental, and employment rules.
• Run the regional safety review process and make sure every incident is properly investigated, with root cause analysis and corrective actions completed to the required standard.
• Drive regional performance against service, throughput, and conversion-cost targets, while owning the operating budget and P&L impact tied to conversion costs.
• Ensure every site uses strong daily management routines and clear escalation routes so issues are identified and addressed early.
• Coach and develop the four site Directors of Operations, strengthen the leadership pipeline, and support succession planning for site-level roles.
• Own regional workforce planning and staffing levels, and participate in annual performance reviews with input from the relevant Global Directors who set the process standards.
• Roll out the process standards, quality systems, and continuous improvement initiatives defined by the Global Directors.
• Resolve tensions between site-level realities and network standards, ensuring local operations follow approved standards and escalate any needed deviations for sign-off instead of changing them independently.
• Manage regional capacity and labor planning, including surge planning, seasonal fluctuations, and balancing demand across the four-site network.
• Represent Europe in the monthly S&OP cycle and negotiate cross-site load balancing with product-line Global Directors.
• Oversee cross-border manufacturing and material movement between the UK and EU in coordination with supply chain, trade compliance, procurement, finance, and tax teams.
• Make sure customs, VAT, post-Brexit trade issues, transfer pricing, and import/export compliance are built into operational decisions.
• Partner with product and functional Global Directors as the regional operating counterpart through a defined cadence of standards councils, S&OP, and quality reviews.
• Own the regional business relationship while leaving technical standards ownership with the relevant functional leaders.
• Support regional capital expenditure proposals by building business cases with product Global Directors and Maintenance & Reliability.
• Ensure approved capex projects are delivered on schedule and within budget.

Required Qualifications

• At least 12 years of progressive manufacturing operations experience, including a minimum of 5 years leading multi-site operations at regional or divisional level.
• Proven ownership of P&L or full conversion-cost-center accountability at regional or multi-plant scale.
• Hands-on experience managing manufacturing operations across several European countries, ideally including the UK, Germany, Spain, and/or Italy.
• Strong history of applying lean manufacturing, standard work, and quality systems across more than one facility.
• Demonstrated people leadership ability with a record of developing plant leaders and strengthening organizational capability.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, operations management, industrial technology, or a closely related discipline; an MBA or advanced degree is beneficial but not mandatory.
• Strong command of English is required; German, Spanish, or Italian language skills are highly desirable.

Preferred Background

• Experience in decorated apparel, heat transfer, printing, or converting manufacturing is an advantage.
• Prior work in matrix organizations where product and functional leaders define standards and site leaders execute them is preferred.
• Exposure to European labor relations, works councils, collective bargaining agreements, and multi-country employment practices is useful.
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or an equivalent continuous improvement credential is preferred.
• Experience with acquisitions, operational integrations, facility relocations, consolidations, or startup activity is valuable.

Additional Information

This role involves leadership across the United Kingdom and the European Union, so the successful candidate must be comfortable operating across different legal, trade, and employment environments. The position is fully onsite and is focused on hands-on manufacturing leadership.