Manufacturing Operations Product Manager

Chivas Brothers; Brentford; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading spirits manufacturer in Brentford is seeking a Manufacturing Operations Product Manager to oversee the product strategy and roadmap, engaging with cross-functional squads to drive value realization. The ideal candidate possesses strong knowledge of manufacturing functions and experience in product management. This hybrid role offers numerous health and lifestyle benefits and a commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Benefits

Private medical insurance

28 days’ annual holiday

Employee share incentive plan

Access to staff shop discounts

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of manufacturing and production functions.
• Experience in managing IT projects/programs/products.
• Deep strategic planning capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Steer the strategic vision and roadmap for product family.
• Manage demand and backlog for EPICs effectively.
• Drive product vision and track value and ROI.

Skills

Strategic planning

Product management

Stakeholder management

Agile mindset

Communication skills

Job description

Manufacturing Operations Product Manager

Your Manager: Manufacturing and Production Portfolio Director

Team: Global Tech

Location: Chiswick, London. We operate a hybrid working approach, which allows you to manage your time between home and office.

We are Pernod Ricard, a leading company in the global spirits industry with over 19,000 employees globally. We own 16 of the world’s top 100 Spirits Brands and hold one of the most prestigious and comprehensive brand portfolios in the industry with 240 premium brands available in over 160 countries, including: Absolut vodka, Ballantine’s, Chivas Regal, Royal Salute, and The Glenlivet Scotch whiskies, Jameson Irish whiskey, Martell cognac, Havana Club rum, Beefeater, Malfy and Monkey 47 gins, Malibu liqueur, Mumm and Perrier-Jouët champagnes.

In the UK, Pernod Ricard is made up of 4 businesses:

• Pernod Ricard UK, which markets, sells and distributes our products in the UK
• Chivas Brothers, the largest brand company in the Group, responsible for the production and management of our award-winning Scotch whisky portfolio
• Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail, the global and EMEA home of the group’s duty free, air travel and cruises business.
• The Absolut Group, the brand owner of our global white spirits portfolio, whose Gin brand unit and Business Acceleration team sit in London.

Our global Tech team operates in an agile manner within a dynamic product organisation. Immerse yourself in a collaborative environment where innovation thrives, and your contributions will play a direct role in shaping the path of our cutting-edge products.

You will be working as part of the Manufacturing & Production team who are responsible for all products covering Manufacturing & Production, including areas such as Quality, Research & Development, Product Life Management, Operations, Optimisation, Sustainability & Responsibility and Spirit Management.

This role will be responsible for our solutions under Manufacturing Operations, covering areas such as Operations (Bottling Planning, Scheduling & Execution, Plant Maintenance, etc), Optimisation (Digital Twins, etc), Sustainability & Responsibility and Spirit Management (Spirit Manufacturing & Production).

Your unique contribution

The responsibilities encompass steering the strategic vision and roadmap for mid and long term within the Product Family. This includes ensuring comprehensive coordination across multiple squads dedicated to the Product Family, and effective value realisation to the business.

Demand Management: Collect, qualify and assess demands coming from the Global Business Process Owners and the Tech Function itself. Ensure that local needs are effectively captured and arbitrated, in collaboration with proximity teams.

Backlog Management: Contribute to EPIC demands, review and be appointed as EPIC Owner, perform EPIC Analysis and contribute to Portfolio backlog review, prioritisation and arbitration, allocate Features to Product Owners and contribute to their prioritisation and integration to Portfolio Synchronisation Backlogs

ITFM: Provide Product roadmap and backlog, squad’s resource needs forecast, oversee overall funding of my scope, perform variance analysis and provide justification, Track Product’s ROI and costs

Product Lifecycle Management: Drive Product Vision and roadmap through Product Framing Analysis and EPIC/Features definition and prioritisation. Work with vendor engagement officers to define editors’ roadmap. Define and track value, Product value generation and related investment.

Who you’ll be working with

Internally, you’ll work with the Product Portfolio Director, Domain Proximity Lead, Product Owner and Resources Lead

Externally, your contacts will be External Vendors (product selection, implementation, maintenance & support)

Your blend of talent

This position could be right for you if you have:

• Strong knowledge of the functions
• Deep strategic planning capabilities
• Strategic thinking & value-driven mindset (roadmap creation, product vision articulation, value monitoring…)
• Experience in Product Management and people management, preferably within a multiple-teams structure
• Strong communication & stakeholders management skills (customer centricity…)
• Good industry knowledge and insights into key challenges for the domain/family
• Experience in managing roll-out plan of IT projects/programs/products
• Understanding of agile mindset & practices

Our mix of benefits

For your health, we offer private medical insurance, critical illness cover and an optional healthcare cash plan and dental insurance.

Our lifestyle benefits options include 28 days’ annual holiday, your employee pension, share incentive plan, family care, season ticket loans, free mortgage advice, payroll giving and more!

You can access lots of gifts & discounts, including an allowance each year to spend on our brands in our staff shop and employee discounts from a range of high street retailers.

We have regular events in our very own office bar, employee-run networks, a culture of flexibility and trust and a variety of tools and resources to help you focus on your wellbeing and mental fitness.

We’re committed to diversity and inclusion. People are at the heart of everything we do at Pernod Ricard and are the foundation of our collective spirit as ‘Créateurs de Convivialité’. We promote diversity and inclusion throughout our business and supply chain.

We will assess your application for this role based on your skills, experiences and achievements, not your gender, age, ethnic or educational background or any other such factors.

Similarly, if you would like to discuss opportunities for flexible working or require accommodations or support to complete our application process, please let us know.

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all qualified candidates.