Head, Digital Manufacturing

Confidential Jobs; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Jobs is seeking a Head of Digital Manufacturing to lead the development of digital manufacturing products across paper, palm oil, and energy sectors. The role drives the digital platform with AI/ML, vision-based quality control, and advanced planning capabilities for multiple units worldwide.

The candidate will oversee product lifecycle, partner with data scientists and engineers, and champion data-driven decisions to optimize performance and outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a relevant field.
• Experience with process manufacturing or factory operations in pulp/paper/palm oil/chemicals.
• Product management experience with focus on Industry 4.0 or digital products.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills across cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end product development lifecycle from ideation to launch.
• Understand business users from senior management to operators and map workflows.
• Propose software and digital solutions addressing user pains and underlying concerns.
• Drive digital transformation by organizing conversations with data scientists and engineers.
• Use data analytics to improve product performance and decision making.

Skills

Product management

Digital Manufacturing

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in software engineering, process or systems engineering, or a related field

Job description

As a Head, Digital Manufacturing you will be responsible for developing digital manufacturing products as part of the group’s Digital Manufacturing Platform – which encompasses extensible, modular and scalable digital and data product offerings that can be offered to our multiple business units in paper, palm oil and energy, across four continents.

The Digital Manufacturing Platform will build products and solutions that are relevant to the business that could include advanced process automation with AI/ML, predictive maintenance, computer vision-based quality control and advanced planning and optimisation.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Product Development: Lead the end-to-end product development lifecycle, from ideation to launch, ensuring that the digital products meet internal customer needs.
• Business User research: Understanding the business user from senior management at our mills and factories down to the operator, including their processes, workflows and user experience.
• Technology Solutioning: Understand the user needs and propose the right software and digital solutions to meet their needs. Not taking their needs literally, but taking the pain points and user stories and refining them to address the underlying concern.
• Taking ownership: Driving the digital transformation process which includes probing the businesses on different ways of working, organizing and facilitating conversations with data scientists and software engineers to manage trade-offs and unblock obstacles.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilize data and analytics to make informed product decisions, optimize product performance, and identify areas for improvement.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in software engineering, process or systems engineering, or a related field. MBA or advanced degree is a plus.
• Proven experience and understanding of process manufacturing, chemical Engineering or factory operational experience, especially in the pulp, paper, palm oil or chemicals industry.
• Product management experience with a focus on Industry 4.0, digital products or technology solution architecture.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across cross-functional teams.
• Strong interest in data science, software development or sensors and IoT. Technical proficiency is an advantage but not essential.