Head of Strategy Deployment & Execution - EMEA

Head of Strategy Deployment & Execution
Locations: UK (London, Corby or Manchester), France (Beauvais), Germany (Frankfurt) or Italy (Milan)

Hybrid working, with international travel as required.

RS Group are a global leader in supplying the engineering world with products and solutions to meet the challenges of customers across 36 countries worldwide.  We provide over 800,000 in-stock and over 3 million unstocked products to more than 1.2 million customers. 

1. We are one team. 
2. We deliver brilliantly. 
3. We do the right thing. 
4. We make every day better.

These are our values, that unite over 9,000 of our global colleagues and differentiate us from our competition. 

Our Strategy Realisation Office (SRO) for EMEA, is currently looking for an experienced delivery and commercial management leader who can work collaboratively across the different markets and functions to support the execution of our strategy and oversee the delivery on major regional strategic projects.

The Role:

The Head of Strategy Deployment and Execution is responsible for planning, deployment, and execution of the region’s strategic initiatives. This role involves collaborating with various teams to ensure alignment with organizational goals, driving value creation, and ensuring the successful execution of key projects and initiatives.

This role reports into the Senior Director of EMEA Delivery and will be part of the SRO Leadership Team, managing a team of professional project managers. It requires a passionate and driven commercial and change leader who can influence, drive, and embed change across the region and the wider organisation. 

Key objectives include:

1. Developing best-in-class deployment and execution capability.
2. Delivery oversight ensuring projects are delivered to agreed scope, time and cost in accordance with declared quality and benefit targets using defined controls, processes and support tools.
3. Supporting the Strategic Portfolio – planning, prioritisation, and Business Case development
4. Attracting and developing talent for a high performing team
5. Removing barriers which prevent successful delivery.

Responsibilities:

1.Leadership:

• Provide guidance, support and coaching to team members involved in strategy deployment and execution.
• Confidently and objectively challenge senior stakeholders to ensure alignment between plans and strategic outcomes.

2.Strategic Planning and Execution:

• Develop and execute the regions strategic plans and initiatives, aligning them with overall organizational goals.
• Oversee the execution of key initiatives, ensuring they are delivered on time, within budget, and with the expected outcomes.

3.Value Realization:

• Focus on driving value and benefits realization for the region.
• Identify and exploit value from new technology and capabilities to achieve benefits.

4.Risk Management:

• Monitor and assess the progress of strategic initiatives, identifying potential risks, and implementing corrective actions when necessary.

5.Performance Metrics:

• Develop and implement performance metrics to measure the success of strategic initiatives.
• Provide regular reports to senior leadership on the progress and outcomes of strategic initiatives.

6.Stakeholder Collaboration:

• Work effectively with stakeholders at all levels to determine key actions, outcomes, and success measures required to meet strategic objectives.
• Stakeholders include Regional, functional and market leadership teams, Delivery professionals, Finance, and project teams.
• Foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement among team members involved in strategy execution.

How I make a difference in this role

• Being a strategic and analytical thinker who see’s value creation beyond financial performance, you are obsessed with driving value and benefits realisation for the region.
• You are laser focused on the key actions that must be taken, and by who, to exploit value from new technology and capabilities to achieve benefits.
• Your previous experience working with senior stakeholders means that you are confident and objective when challenging them to align plans and strategic outcomes.
• Equally you are comfortable working closely and in the detail with delivery teams to clearly define and track clear execution plans required to meet business case benefits.
• A key part of this role is effective collaboration and alignment with cross-functional teams, fostering a culture of teamwork and innovation.
• You will be leading, coaching, and developing a team of project managers ensuring they have clear OKR’s and have regular personal development conversations.

Essential Skills & Experience:

• Track record of delivering large scale change programmes and projects for a global company resulting in successful outcomes and benefits.
• Demonstrable experience of Strategy Realisation and working in line with an SRO focused function.
• Strong understanding of strategic deployment with the ability to define Key Performance Indicators and create plans to meet targets.
• Leadership and domain knowledge with demonstrable experience in roles related to strategy deployment and execution and project management.
• Business acumen: Understanding how businesses operate, including market dynamics, financial principles, and strategic planning.
• Market Awareness: Knowledge of market trends, competitor activities, and customer needs to make strategic decisions.
• People skills: coaching, mentoring, motivating, and developing talent to create a purpose led high-performance culture.
• Experience with tools and techniques used to visualize strategic alignment and benefits realization (e.g., Hoshin Kanri, Value Tree, Benefits Mapping, Business Case Creation).
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex concepts into actionable plans.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively with stakeholders at all levels to determine key actions, outcomes, and success measures to meet strategic objectives.
• Professional qualifications in Project Management as a minimum e.g. APM, PRINCE2 Practitioner level (desirable is Programme Mgt – MSP or equivalent and Change Mgt – PROSCI or equivalent)

We are RS Group.

At RS we’ve been solving engineering problems for over 80 years: big ones, small ones, easy and difficult ones. 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. We send out a parcel every 2 seconds, to over 130 countries. We provide over 800,000 in-stock and over 3 million unstocked products to more than 1.2 million customers.  

We want people like you, as you are curious about things, you like doing things differently and also in a human way with empathy. Because that’s exactly how we partner with people – our customers, suppliers, colleagues and communities – to solve problems.  

We’ll also invest in your development and wellbeing – because building a more diverse and inclusive culture, being ethical, responsible and committed to our Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) action plan is at the heart of everything we do. 

Come and join us and over 9000 employees worldwide – and we’ll help you to think big, do more and unleash your brilliance, so you do amazing things too.

#LI-JD1
#LI-HYBRID