Operations Graduates

Sika AG; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Sika AG invites graduates to join its two-year UK Graduate Programme designed to develop technical, analytical and leadership capabilities for operations. Through structured rotations you will experience end-to-end operations and lead projects in production, engineering, procurement, Health and Safety, sustainability and more.

You will gain real responsibilities from the start, deliver measurable improvements, and work with teams across sites to embed best practices.

Job description

What we offer you

We have multiple opportunities to join our two-year UK Graduate Programme. The programme is designed to develop the technical, analytical and leadership capabilities you will need to build a successful career in operations. Our ambition is to prepare high-performing graduates to progress towards a future operational leadership position. Through a series of structured rotations, you will experience Sika’s end-to-end operations, work alongside teams, and lead projects in areas including:

• Production and manufacturing
• Engineering and maintenance
• Procurement and supply chain
• Environment, Health and Safety
• Sustainability and energy management
• Data analytics and business intelligence
• Continuous improvement
• Automation and digitalisation

From the outset, you will be given real responsibilities and the opportunity to deliver meaningful projects with measurable outcomes.

Your role and priorities

Throughout the programme, you will support our Operations and EHS teams in maintaining high standards of safety, compliance and operational excellence. You will contribute to projects that improve how we operate today while helping us prepare for the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Safety and operational performance

• Drive continuous improvement in Health & Safety performance across all operations
• Proactively support Operations and EHS teams to create and maintain safe and healthy workspaces
• Help the business meet its legal, regulatory and moral responsibilities
• Identify, assess and implement opportunities to reduce risk and improve safety culture
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across different functions and locations to embed EHS best practice and promote a culture of continuous improvement

Sustainability and environmental improvement

• Support projects to reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions, waste and water usage
• Analyse environmental and sustainability performance
• Identify opportunities to make manufacturing processes more efficient and sustainable
• Support site-level delivery of wider sustainability objectives
• Help teams understand the environmental impact of operational decisions

Data analysis and business intelligence

• Collect, analyse and interpret operational data
• Develop dashboards and reports that support effective decision-making
• Identify trends, risks and improvement opportunities
• Turn complex data into clear and practical recommendations
• Support the development of consistent operational performance measures

Continuous improvement and operational excellence

• Review processes to identify waste, inefficiency and variation
• Support Lean and continuous improvement activities
• Work with operational teams to investigate problems and identify root causes
• Help implement and measure process improvements
• Share successful approaches across teams and sites

Digitalisation and automation

• Support the introduction of digital tools and automated processes
• Explore opportunities to improve productivity through technology
• Help teams adopt new systems and ways of working
• Contribute to projects involving emerging technologies and artificial intelligence
• Evaluate whether digital solutions have delivered the intended operational benefits

During each rotation, you will deliver defined projects and demonstrate how your work has added value to the organisation.

Your development

You will be supported by a mentor, operational leaders and colleagues across the business. At the start of each rotation, you will agree clear learning objectives and development priorities. Your development will combine hands‑on experience, formal learning, internal and external training, peer support and exposure to senior leaders.

• Operational leadership
• Data analysis and decision‑making
• Sustainability
• Project and change management
• Commercial awareness
• Problem‑solving and continuous improvement
• Communication, influencing and collaboration
• Projects

Projects you could work on

• Developing a dashboard to improve visibility of operational performance
• Analysing manufacturing data to identify productivity opportunities
• Reducing waste, energy consumption or carbon emissions at one of our sites
• Improving a production, procurement or supply chain process
• Supporting the implementation of automation or new digital technology
• Investigating the root cause of a recurring safety, quality or service issue
• Improving inventory performance and material availability
• Developing a business case for an operational investment
• Helping teams measure the benefits delivered by an improvement project