Head of New Product Introduction & Data Governance in Manchester

Location: This is a hybrid role, offering a combination of being able to work remotely and from any of our UK Offices (Manchester, Corby or London Kings Cross).

Contract Type: Permanent

The Opportunity

Managing a team of 20 NPI and data governance professionals across our UK and Riga Offices, the Head of NPI and Data Governance will provide strategic and operational oversight to:

• Ensure supplier data is onboarded efficiently, and advise and lead the business in its cross-functional system, process and data model requirements, with a continuous improvement mindset, to increase product speed to market and product growth capability.

What You Will Be Doing

• Leading business transformation to deliver improved Supplier product onboarding using digital technology to create advanced automated product introduction processes.
• Proactively manage the product lifecycle process from product introduction through to discontinuation.
• Responsible for data governance and delivery of accurate product data to protect customers and minimise business risk. The product data created supports all channels to market to aid customer research and buying decisions.
• Introducing appropriate levels of automation and digital solutions to enable scalable growth of the RS product range whilst reducing the cost to serve.
• Reduce the time to market <7 days to ensure we have market leading launch plans and achieve high quality data and content standards.
• Drive continuous improvement in product launch and lifecycle management, through the proactive use of data and insight to manage internal and external stakeholder performance and improve the quality of inputs.
• Lead and develop a high performing team and CI culture.
• To work with solutions architecture and IT to bridge the gap between business and technical understanding, to deliver a to-be technical architecture for product introduction and maintenance that is flexible enough to deliver on an evolving content strategy for the next decade.
• To provide thought leadership and counsel to introduce content briefing, standards management, and acquisition capability both internally and with suppliers to a level beyond the current industry standard.
• To lead and drive understanding of the cost to serve NPI, its net performance both commercially and against adherence to the purposes set out in the category and market strategies.

What You’ll Bring

• High technical competence with extensive digital know how and knowledge of enterprise level Content systems (PIM, DAM, CMS and ERP).
• Strong leadership capability and experience of large-scale business change and transformation.
• Proven track record of process design and process re-engineering.
• Excellent strategic thinking capability and ability to execute plans through the team and 3rd party partners.
• Experience of managing large offshore partners and relative supplier performance using KPIs and leading QBR process.
• Ability to work proactively and collaboratively with a large, diverse mix of internal and external, global stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and data driven mindset.
• Excellent knowledge of continuous improvement methodology and application.
• Budget responsibility including - managing overhead costs and £multi-million NPI sales and multi-million customer views.

We Are RS

At RS, we are making amazing happen for a better world. As a global product and service solutions provider, we help industrial customers operate more efficiently and sustainably. Operating in 33 markets, we support around one million customers worldwide with more than 875,000 stocked products, access to over five million additional products, and a range of service solutions designed to help businesses thrive.

What sets us apart is our people. More than 8,500 colleagues around the world bring technical expertise, digital innovation, and a customer first mindset to everything we do. Guided by our values – We are one team, We deliver brilliantly, We do the right thing, and We make every day better, we're creating an environment where our people can grow, contribute and make a meaningful impact.

Join us and help make amazing happen.