Food Manufacturer – Director, Information Technology

Founded in 1912, our client is a privately held Canadian company headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario. The company specializes in Roasted Coffee & Dry Tea Packing, and is a leading coffee and tea manufacturer, supplying North America’s largest retailers and foodservice chains with quality coffee and tea in hundreds of unique roasts and blends.

An established leader in the private branded coffee and tea markets in Canada and the United States, the company also manages alliance relationships with a growing list of brand partners and manages its own stable of brands. Today, the company operates 3 manufacturing facilities in Canada and one in the U.S.

Scope of Position

Reporting to the CFO & VP, Shared Services, the Director, Information Technology will provide the technology and information management vision and leadership while directing the planning, development and implementation of information systems to support the company enterprise-wide information technology (IT) program. This will include core back-office functions such as financial systems, data processing, computer services, network communications and management information services to drive competitive advantage and achieve strategic goals and objectives.

The successful candidate will lead a cross-functional team of 28 IT professionals committed to leveraging technology solutions that measurably improve the competitiveness and growth prospects of our client business across North America.

Priorities

• Enhance collaborative relationships with functional leaders across the business based on an understanding of key business priorities.
• The enterprise applications team also assesses the ongoing performance of systems and works closely with the user community to resolve performance issues and identify ongoing enhancements to capability.
• Plan and manage IT assets to assure the ongoing stable and secure operation of key business systems and communication capabilities.
• Optimize vendor support and negotiate effective pricing and contractual agreements in line with overall company objectives.
• Ongoing assessment and management of IT operating costs with a view to driving continued productivity improvements, IT operating efficiency and effectiveness.

Key Performance Deliverables

In light of the identified responsibilities, the following arespecific deliverablesthat the position is designed to achieve:

• Evaluate current KPIs: recommend appropriate changes to, implement, report regularly on and improve eg. expenses, product costs, lead times, safety and client service.
• Instil continuous improvement and service delivery culture of excellence and accountability within operations
• Team work – Effectiveness in working with the sales, finance and product development teams to achieve the business objectives.
• Client satisfaction – delivery of a quality product that meets or exceeds client requirements
• Expense control – Meet or exceed approved budgets or forecasts.
• Employee Relations – employee churn, grievances, productivity, satisfaction etc
• Reporting – On-time accurate monthly reports and forecasts.

Accountabilities

1.Strategy and Planning

• Develop annual IT operating plan aligned to the corporate goals and objectives.
• Ongoing assessment and updating of IT strategies as an enabler of overall business strategic plans, including the optimization of existing capabilities and the assessment of new technology enablers.
• Partner with key stakeholders including the CFO and the ERP Project Leader to assess, optimize and communicate the company’s long term systems/technology roadmap.

2.Performance

• Develop/monitor IT performance scorecard to measure and communicate KPI’s and operational performance metrics that link directly to the annual operating plan commitments.
• Develop and lead IT project teams to ensure on time, on budget, on scope delivery of planned commitments.
• Establish and lead ongoing business review processes to provide high transparency to performance against agreed objectives for the IT function.
• Communicate and manage the balancing of ongoing technology risks and opportunities to optimize business performance in the context of operational and strategic objectives.
• Ensure the identification, communication and deployment of clear goals and targets to align and engage all IT team members.

3.Collaboration and Business Partnering

• Partner with internal business and functional leaders to clarify business objectives, identify technology enablers and accelerate overall business performance against established goals and objectives.
• Lead vendor relationships and contracting with all IT suppliers in order to optimize costs, quality and performance against established objectives.

4.Organization Development

• Identify opportunities for improving processes and mentoring personnel to become high performers in their functional areas.

Preferred Experience / Education

The following indicates specific industry, academic and functional experience/qualifications that are important to the successful achievement of the identified responsibilities and performance deliverables.

• 10 to 15 years of broad-based manufacturing, operations, engineering process management, process improvement and related experience within the food, beverage or pharmaceutical sector.
• Experience in implementing best practices in operations, quality systems, and engineering
• Significant change management, business transformation experience within mid-sized and private businesses.
• Take charge orientation.
• Experience in striking a balance between substantive yet measured change that moves the organization forward without risking its future.
• Complementary business experience that can be leveraged in the current role and for future growth opportunities.
• A track record of success distinguished by having cultivated positive working relationships with staff, peers and superiors.
• Project management experience beneficial.
• Excellent communication and analytical skills.
• Strong leadership abilities.
• A dynamic and self-motivated person with structured working style who can achieve results without much supervision.
• A competitive compensation package which shall include a base-salary, performance-based variable pay, and comprehensive benefits will be offered to the successful candidate.

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