Head of Industry – Under Water Systems (UWS) | Lead & Transform

Thales Group; Templecombe; On-site; GBP 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical insurance

Cycle to work scheme

Annual bonus

Employee discounts

Paid volunteering day

Stocks and shares

Buying or selling annual leave

Job summary

Thales Group is seeking a Head of Industry for Under Water Systems to lead the end-to-end industrial delivery across planning, procurement, manufacturing, and logistics. You will shape industrial strategy, drive lean transformation, and oversee a large multi-disciplinary team to ensure on-time, high-quality production aligned with S&OP.

The role requires senior operational leadership in complex manufacturing and supply chains, with a proven ability to deliver improvements through Industry 4.0

Qualifications

• Senior operational leader with experience in complex manufacturing and supply chains.
• Strong expertise in lean manufacturing and industrial transformation.
• Proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams and drive change.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end industrial delivery, including planning, procurement, manufacturing, and logistics aligned to S&OP supply plans.
• Deploy industrial strategy, ensuring effective use of human, financial, and physical resources.
• Oversee supply chain, manufacturing, industrial engineering, and CI activities (total 300 headcount, 8 direct reports).
• Ensure successful industrialisation of new products from design through to production.
• Deliver performance against quality, cost, and delivery targets by optimising inventory, supply, and WIP.
• Drive adoption of Industry 4.0 and digital industrial technologies.
• Ensure effective use of industrial systems (ERP, MES, QMS).
• Lead change management and embed a culture of continuous improvement.
• Manage cost centre (~15M) and industrial throughput (c. 200M+).
• Ensure compliance with Health, Safety & Environmental standards.
• Represent industrial operations at bid and gate reviews, approving industrial solutions.
• Act as industrial lead within business domains, supporting proposals and programme delivery.

Skills

Lean manufacturing

Leadership

Change management

Communication

Industrial transformation

Education

Degree in Engineering or Manufacturing

MBA (desirable)

APICS or Green Belt (desirable)

Tools

ERP

MES

QMS

Job description

Thales Group is seeking a Head of Industry for Under Water Systems to lead the end-to-end industrial delivery across planning, procurement, manufacturing, and logistics. You will shape industrial strategy, drive lean transformation, and oversee a large multi-disciplinary team to ensure on-time, high-quality production aligned with S&OP.

The role requires senior operational leadership in complex manufacturing and supply chains, with a proven ability to deliver improvements through Industry 4.0