UL - Director - Operations - South Asia

UNDERWRITERS LABORATORIES INC. (www.ul.com)

Founded in 1894, UL is a premier safety company with more than a century of proven history, leading the world in enhancing safe living and working environments, facilitating global trade and serving as a trusted source of information and knowledge. We employ more than 10,000 professionals who work in over 100 countries, and that number is growing.

UL's technical and subject-matter experts work within our five exciting businesses under one of the most recognized and respected safety brands in the world:

- Product Safety

Providing product safety testing and certification for global market access as well as inspection services to maintain certification.

- Verification Services

Offering quality assurance testing, inspections, audits and responsible sourcing services for a wide array of goods, including wireless protocol and digital security, performance testing and energy efficiency testing.

- Knowledge Services

Providing training, advisory services and software solutions that help make people and the companies they work for smarter, safer and more efficient and effective.

- Life & Health

Providing innovative and trustworthy solutions, whether it be a test report, certification, or regulatory compliance package, to the drinking water, food safety, and medical device industries.

- Environment

Offering independent assessment and certification, educational services and standards development focused on environmental claims validation, sustainable products certification, energy efficiency certification and advisory services.

We are proud of our role in public safety and work hard each day to help the world move forward - one safe step at a time. Together, we CAN make a difference....so if you'd like to make a real impact, make us your first choice!

DIRECTOR OPERATIONS & ENGINEERING, SOUTH ASIA

PRIMARY PURPOSE:

Responsible for overseeing the engineering project operations (process, systems & technical) within the South Asia region and is responsible for driving proactive change and positive influence following corporate objectives. Streamline and improve existing operations by implementing new procedures to assure operations efficiency. Develops the engineering capability and capacity for the South Asia Region while identifying the technical approaches to be used and the deliverables to be furnished from a long term perspective. Partners with Regional Leaderships, Commercial team, Corporate Strategy, Human Resources, Regional Engineering Directors, Engineering and Lab Management as well as other stakeholders (e.g. ProActive Customer Engagement (PaCE), Core Service Improvement, and operational Top Tier Customer Team) to ensure customer satisfaction and achievement of business objectives. The role will require high client facing delivery focus and ability to work in a matrix organization structure.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

- Establishes and maintains communication between global stake holders to facilitate achievement of operational goals within and between business units.

- Develops a competent operations team in the South Asia Region by overseeing the cross skilling, development, training and employee relations activities. Works with Regional Engineering Management to maintain an employee / team contingency and succession plan.

- Integrates continuous improvement concepts and techniques into all aspects of the job. Applies organizational policies and assures adherence to departmental procedures.

- Establishes UL as a thought leader in the safety science and strengthens UL’s reputation, participation and influence in the various industry association, media and committees in the South Asia Region. Encourages team thought leadership through participation in industry forums/ publishing papers etc.

- Manages the preparation of accurate cost analysis of all new projects. Looks for ways to drive a culture of cost optimization and resource utilization by building/ adjusting operations, engineering and lab capabilities and capacities.

- Resolves complex issues by serving as technical consultant.

- Coordinates business unit activities so they are fully aligned with corporate activities and objectives. Ensures high level of interaction with sales/ commercial teams.

- Integrates continuous improvement and Lean/Sigma initiatives and techniques into all aspects of the job and throughout the region.

- Motivates and encourages team to function as one entity and acts as a mentor to mid/senior level staff

- Performs other duties as required.

EDUCATION: BE/B.Tech from a top tier institute, PG in Operations management preferred

Black belt in six sigma preferred.

EXPERIENCE: Overall around 15 years including 5+ years in operations management

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES

- Has an advanced understanding of how decisions impact business results, management concepts such as effectively building a diverse team and collaborating and working in a matrix environment, managing the performance of direct reports, setting and managing budgets and planning and thinking strategically.

- Demonstrated ability to influence and negotiate skillfully in tough situations with both internal and external stakeholders in order to achieve desired outcomes without damaging relationships.

- Is a proactive and engaging leader with entrepreneurial skills required to help the industry succeed and grow.

- Demonstrates the ability to be flexible and engage with the team on multiple industry verticals such as Hitech, Power and Controls, Medical Devices etc.

- Effectively copes with and manages change for the team and organization. Has the ability to decide and act without having the total picture and comfortably handles risk and uncertainty.

- Demonstrates resilience and effectiveness with ambiguity by maintaining a high level of productivity in difficult and changing circumstances and making sound decisions without sometimes having the whole picture.

- Demonstrates strategic orientation, problem solving and critical thinking.

- Makes sound decisions in a timely manner and takes accountability for those decisions