Head of MEP- UK Air Dominance & Force Protection

About the job

Bolton

MBDA is a leading defence organisation. We are proud of the role we play in supporting the Armed Forces who protect our nations. We partner with governments to work together towards a common goal, defending our freedom.Salary: Circa £85,000 depending on experience

What we can offer you:

• Bonus of up to 49.5% of base salary
• Car allowance of £680 per month
• Pension of maximum total (employer and employee) contribution of up to 14%
• Annual salary review
• 25 days annual leave (plus holiday purchase)
• Fantastic site facilities, including subsidised meals, free car parking and gym on site at Stevenage
• Excellent career progression and development opportunities

Dynamic (hybrid) working: We trust our people to agree, within their teams, where and when they can be most effective. Our Dynamic Working policy allows individuals flexibility around the hours they work and where they work. Typically for this role you will work 2-3 days on-site.

The opportunity!

An exciting opportunity has arisen in the Major Equipment Procurement (MEP) function for MBDA UK. MEP focus on the sourcing, contracting and supply of custom high value / high complexity sub-systems and supporting new technology acquisition needed to deliver world-leading defence capabilities for our home Nations and their Allies. We are also responsible for developing and maintaining long term, open, collaborative and commercially robust business relationships with Suppliers who are designing and delivering sophisticated sub-systems and unique services for MBDA and its Customers.

We are seeking a Head of MEP UK who will be responsible for leading a large MEP Team in the development of procurement strategies and execution of commercial arrangements with our major suppliers to deliver our Prime Contract obligations in support of MBDA UK's Air Dominance & Force Protection Programme missions and weapon systems (products inc. ASRAAM, CAMM, CAMM-ER, Land Ceptor and Sea Ceptor) for multiple Customers (MBDA's domestic nations and export).

You will also hold responsibility for MEP UK's footprint within the export business winning environment forging effective relationships and developing strategies supporting procurement win themes and transfer of technology delivery models in support of our export campaigns across the MEP UK portfolio of responsibility.

This role will suit someone who is able to develop senior Collaborator relationships (internal and external) to deliver MBDA UK's business objectives and ensure potential and current Suppliers' capabilities are suitably aligned to meet these needs.

As a senior business leader in this role, you will have, or develop, a broad knowledge of the programme and capability needs in which your allocated equipment and services reside including a thorough understanding of current and potential Suppliers' technology capabilities, business environment, cost baselines and programme timeline drivers. Primary focus being in the production life cycle

Using this knowledge, you will bring robust and innovative procurement strategies to the business that support our needs for delivery of our current programmes and support to associated future campaigns and programmes underpinned by new ways of working with our Suppliers and internal Collaborators in response to our company transformation and improvement initiatives. Within the MEP Group dynamic you will work across the MEP organisation to support alignments and advantages to be shared across France, Italy and Germany.

You will need to build effective links, at all levels, across the business to bring this varied picture together that will be key to grow our business and deliver externally-sourced equipment and services at a driven price, on-time and on-quality.

• Handling an MEP team of Procurement Executives, Managers and Officers for your Programme areas to deliver all relevant aspects of the business and transformation plans;
• Being a focal point for MEP Supplier production programme delivery leading activities to ensure maximum benefit for MBDA in terms of important metric adherence, supplier improvement plan delivery and governance of the production community establishing a robust and beneficial working relationship with all relevant internal functions inc. Manufacturing, ISP-E and Quality Assurance.
• Be a key part of the Programme leadership team providing the relevant procurement voice and influence for your programmes of responsibility;
• Lead and influence key internal collaborators across the business building collaborative relationships to give the procurement agenda credibility and visibility;
• Developing and implementing strategies to deliver maximum business advantage in line with business plans in a high value/high risk and sophisticated political environment;
• Ensuring MBDA's commercial position is protected and improved where possible at all times;
• Ensuring taut financial controls, maximising commercial benefit to MBDA including developing and delivering cost reduction and avoidance strategies;
• Leading business relationships with suppliers of highly sophisticated equipment applying a focused Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) framework in vital engagements;
• Seeking ways to continually improve our suppliers to be hard-working and implementing improvements and accepting transformation initiatives and delivering against them;
• Supervising the health of the suppliers, identifying risks and opportunities and mitigating and exploiting as appropriate;
• Ensuring our suppliers perform in accordance with their contractual obligations delivering to programme in line with project requirements within authorised budgets and technical requirements;
• Ensure compliance with company guidelines by adoption of best in class procurement practices and sharing standard process across procurement;
• Promoting standard process procurement techniques, governance and functional excellence;
• Provide your team and the broader procurement teams with help and guidance through a mixture of direction and coaching (as considered appropriate) ensuring effective performance reviews and personal development plans are undertaken in a timely manner to maximise the development of individuals in the team.

What we're looking for from you!

• An enthusiastic, proactive and adaptable individual able to deal with changeable, ambiguous and sophisticated scenarios throughout the contract lifecycle whilst remaining motivated and calm.
• An ability to understand customer needs and business drivers and convert this into, and optimally deliver, procurement strategies and sophisticated business arrangements in satisfaction of our programme needs.
• A natural communicator with excellent communication skills, with experience in driving multi-functional teams and delivering to challenging timescales.
• Strong relationship leadership skills that demonstrate an ability to manage a team and influence key collaborators with sincerity and credibility.
• An individual who is flexible and adaptable – there will be some international travel as part of the role.
• Substantial experience in a senior Procurement, Commercial or Supply Chain related role (minimum 10 years), ideally in a Defence, Aerospace or similar contracting environment.
• Proven evidence of innovation and implementation of standard process in a Procurement or Supply Chain context.
• Ideally, degree qualified in a business field, relevant procurement or supply chain accreditations or equivalent experience.

Our Business!

We respect new perspectives and experiences, and we value our collaborative ways of working. We are committed to growing and supporting diversity in our workforce and ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity to reach their potential. MBDA is proud of our employee-led networks, examples include: Gender Equality, Pride, Menopause Matters, Parents and Carers, Armed Forces, Ethnic Diversity, Neurodiversity and more…

We recognise that everyone is unique, and we encourage you to speak to us should you require any advice, support or adjustments throughout our recruitment process. We also welcome applicants who are looking for flexible working arrangements.

Follow us on LinkedIn (MBDA), Twitter (@MBDAcareers), Instagram (lifeatMBDA_UK) and Glassdoor or visit our MBDA Careers website for more information.

Please Note: MBDA UK Limited requires all employees to achieve the required medical and national security clearance for their role. Further restrictions and/or limitations relating to nationality and/or rights to work may also apply. As a minimum and after offer stage, all successful candidates will need to undergo HMG Basic Personnel Security Standard checks (BPSS), which are managed by the MBDA Personnel Security Team.

Due to the nature of our business, this particular vacancy requires the applicant as a minimum to be a British Citizen or a Dual UK national with British citizenship and capable of achieving the clearance levels mentioned above.

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