Senior Director of Distrubution Centre Operations Europe

Location: This is a hybrid role, offering a combination of being able to work remotely and from our European Distribution Centres and offices – there will be some travel involved across our European business.

The Opportunity

This role sits within the RS Supply Chain organisation, a core enabler of our customer promise and business growth. The Supply Chain team ensures products are available where and when our customers need them — safely, efficiently, and sustainably. It’s a great place to work for those who thrive on collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Our teams are passionate about delivering operational excellence, leveraging digital technologies, and driving initiatives such as automation, Lean improvements, and sustainability projects that make a real difference to customers and other internal stakeholders.

What You Will Be Doing

To provide strategic and operational leadership for RS’s EMEA Distribution Centres (Germany, France), ensuring the safe, efficient, and cost-effective delivery of service excellence across the regional network. The Senior Director of Operations Europe is accountable for a c.£50m operational budget and c.£6m in capex, leading a diverse, multi-country team to deliver sustainable performance, capacity creation, and long-term business growth. The role fosters a high-performance culture grounded in safety, inclusion, collaboration, and continuous improvement, while ensuring alignment with regional business priorities, regulatory requirements, and customer expectations across mainland Europe.

Key responsibilities include:

• Full accountability for operational performance, service delivery, and cost management across mainland Europe Distribution Centres.
• Lead, coach, and develop high-performing, diverse, multi-country teams, fostering a culture of safety, engagement, and accountability.
• Own the mainland Europe Distribution Centres strategy — designing and executing operational plans that enable capacity, capability, and scalability to support regional growth.
• Drive Continuous Improvement and Lean methodologies to reduce Cost to Serve, enhance productivity, and share best practices across the global DC network.
• Ensure robust operational governance across safety, regulatory compliance, quality, and environmental performance in multiple jurisdictions.
• Lead major transformation initiatives, including automation, digital systems integration, and network optimisation across the mainland Europe logistics footprint.
• Build and maintain constructive relationships with Works Councils and employee representative bodies across mainland Europe, promoting open dialogue, transparency, and collaborative engagement.
• Partner closely with EMEA Senior Leadership and functional leaders to align Operations with commercial, financial, and ESG priorities.
• Represent mainland Europe Operations at executive and global forums, influencing strategic decision-making and group-wide initiatives.
• Champion Diversity & Inclusion, employee wellbeing, and community engagement as integral parts of operational success across the region.
• Build strong partnerships with key stakeholders including: EMEA Supply Chain Operations, Finance, People, Transport and Inventory Management, ESG and HSE functions, Regional Sales, Product Management, and P&SM.

How I make a difference in this role

• Deliver measurable improvements in service, efficiency, and cost performance while ensuring high safety and compliance standards.
• Lead a culture of empowerment and accountability, driving engagement and talent development across both sites.
• Create long-term operational capacity and capability to support business growth and customer satisfaction.
• Act as a visible, values-driven leader, promoting integrity, inclusion, and collaboration across teams and regions.
• Shape and influence strategic direction of operations at both UK and group level, ensuring alignment with RS’s purpose and growth ambitions.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Proven senior operational leadership within large-scale, multi-site international distribution or manufacturing environments.
• Strong track record of P&L management, budget accountability, and delivering cost and service improvements.
• Expertise in supply chain strategy, logistics optimisation, and continuous improvement.
• Experience leading complex transformation programmes, including automation, technology enablement, and cultural change.
• Demonstrated ability to engage and influence senior executives, peers, and frontline teams.
• Skilled in strategic workforce planning and capability development to support future business needs.
• Strong employee relations experience within work councils or highly regulated environments.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate strategy into operational delivery.
• Resilient and composed under pressure, with a data-driven, solution-oriented mindset.
• Consistent demonstration of RS values: Accountability, Passion, Integrity, Innovation, Collaboration, and Aspiration.
• Strong experience working within matrix organisations, collaborating across functions and geographies to align operational priorities, influence decision-making, and deliver business outcomes.

Desirable Skills & Experience

• Experience within a global distribution or high-service B2B environment.
• Knowledge of digital operations, automation technologies, and warehouse management systems (WMS).
• Understanding of ESG and sustainability practices within supply chain operations.
• Formal qualification or strong working knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, or Operational Excellence methodologies.
• Proven success in leading cultural change and large-scale transformation across multi-site teams.

Desirable Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent qualification in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, or Operations Management.

• Evidence of formal leadership and people management training or significant equivalent experience.
• Certification in Lean, Six Sigma, or Continuous Improvement.

We Are RS

We’ve been solving industry problems for over 80 years. We turn the ‘what ifs’ into the ‘why nots’, the impossible into the possible.

Our purpose? Making amazing happen for a better world.

We offer service and product solutions to over 1.2 million customers globally, shipping a parcel every 2 seconds to over 130 countries. With over 800,000 stocked and 3 million unstocked products, we’re a trusted partner to the world’s leading industries.

We’re looking for curious, driven, and empathetic professionals to join our journey. People who think differently, act with purpose, and want to make a real impact. 

Rewards

Our Reward Strategy Philosophy is designed to offer market competitive base salaries and provide all of our people the opportunity to participate in a short-term incentive, enabling them to share in the success of the Company.

Our total reward package is more than just the cash; our recognition and benefit offering provide the opportunity for us to recognise, reward and enable the wellbeing of our people at all stages of their journey with RS. Our rewards and benefits vary by country, but include:

• Financial - pension/retirement; life assurance; salary finance (payroll deduction loan scheme)
• Wellbeing - medical plans; health screening; critical illness; disability insurance; holiday / paid time off; employee assistance programme; discounted gym/health club membership
• Lifestyle - transportation assistance schemes (e.g., cycle to work, travel loans, car leasing); onsite catering/lunch vouchers; retail discounts
• Spotlight – our global recognition programme provides a platform to highlight and recognise people role modelling our values

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Ready to Make Amazing Happen?

Join c. 9,000 colleagues and help us shape the future of our industry. Whoever you are, wherever you are — it all starts here.

Apply now and make RS a part of your journey.

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