Basic Job Functions:

The operations manager drives and manages projects and support for existing equipment on the production floor for strategic partners of the Manufacturing Enterprise Systems group. This includes global manufacturing, quality, reliability, and research/technology. Directs solutions involving data systems, shop floor processes, and manufacturing-related software. Responsible for ensuring timely response to manufacturing IT issues as well as identifying and implementing proactive measures to minimize downtime.

 

Experience:

· Minimum 6 years of related work experience

· 3 - 6 years of team lead or supervisory experience or 1 year of management experience

Education:

· Bachelor’s degree in IT or related field or equivalent years of work experience

 

Required Skills:

• Proven Organizational and Managerial skills.

• Successful leadership of software development projects and processes using Agile methodologies

• Software development experience with Microsoft .NET/C#, SQL Server, and Team Foundation Server

• Excellent understanding of computer operating systems and software applications.

• Excellent understanding of enterprise data systems

• Demonstrated success in application support and IT change management

• Expert-level ability to understand and translate business strategies, capabilities and needs into high-level solution requirements

• Proven employee and customer relations skills.

• Excellent understanding of proper budgeting, planning and forecasting of projects

 

Essential Functions & Responsibilities:

Primary Responsibilities:

· Oversee local MES operational development activities to support business objectives and service level agreements. Ensure resourcing and throughput of critical incidents and prioritized change requests as identified by business teams and program managers. Implement remediation strategies identified by the problem investigation process within specified timeframes.

· Coordinates the activities and development of the Global MES Support Team members, including on-call rotations and escalation procedures.

· Ensures timely resolution of internal customer service requests assigned to team.

· Directly involved in implementing and supporting new equipment data collection and process changes for R&D and manufacturing initiatives.

· Maintains the focus of team programs and key change requests and communicates the status of each (both internally and externally if applicable).

· Interfaces with solutions/project teams to ensure smooth support hand-off of new or modified applications and verifies that operational objectives are considered during development.

· Interfaces with other company and supplier representatives and maintains a relationship with the Manufacturing, Engineering, and Quality communities.

· Ensures adherence to all safety and environmental procedures and good housekeeping standards.

· Responsible for fostering collaboration with other departments, open communication, and team building.

· • Honors commitments to strategic partners

 

Key Competencies:

· Reviews information systems for compliance with legislation and specifies any required changes. Responsible for ensuring compliance with organizational policies and procedures and overall information management strategy.

· Takes responsibility for understanding client requirements, collecting data, delivering analysis and problem resolution. Identifies, evaluates and recommends options, implementing if required. Collaborates with, and facilitates stakeholder groups, as part of formal or informal consultancy agreements. Seeks to fully address client needs, enhancing the capabilities and effectiveness of client personnel, by ensuring that proposed solutions are properly understood and appropriately exploited.

· Sets direction and leads in the introduction and use of techniques, methodologies and tools, to match overall business requirements (both current and future), ensuring consistency across all user groups.

· Conducts business impact assessment to identify how the changes from the "as-is" processes, systems, and structures to the "to-be" processes, systems and structures impact specific organizations and roles. Outlines how the organization structure, jobs, teams and roles need to change to enable the future business processes. Aligns existing jobs/organizational structures to new processes.

· Develops and maintains one or more defined communication channels and/or stakeholder groups, acting as a single point of contact. Gathers information from the customer to understand their needs (demand management) and detailed requirements. Facilitates open communication and discussion between stakeholders, using feedback to assess and promote understanding of need for future changes in services, products and systems. Agrees changes to be made and the planning and implementation of change. Maintains contact with the customer and stakeholders throughout to ensure satisfaction. Captures and disseminates technical and business information.

· Conducts job analyses, prepares job descriptions and person specifications, and prepares selection and evaluation criteria for candidates. Manages recruitment campaigns. Locates and selects possible agencies and other suppliers, negotiating terms and conditions, and placing orders with them, ensuring that all obligations are met in accordance with the agreed terms and timescales. Reviews candidate details, manages selection processes, and ensures that account is taken of relevant statutory or external regulations, standards and codes of good practice.

Ensures that all relevant parties are informed of the results of interviews and other decisions, and assists in the negotiation of terms and conditions of service.

· Determines the required outcomes for learning or development, from organizational development needs and the training strategy. Mentors assigned practitioners, ensuring alignment with predetermined statements of required development outcomes. Assists each practitioner with the creation of development plans based on the outcome statements. Ensures that each practitioner records evidence of progress. Validates practitioners' records at the end of each cycle of planned development, to ensure that achievements and enhanced capabilities are recorded and referenced to the outcome statements. May contribute to practitioners' performance appraisals.

· Monitors and manages IT expenditure, ensuring that all IT financial targets are met, and examining any areas where budgets and expenditure exceed their agreed tolerances. Assists with the definition and operation of effective financial control and decision making, especially in the areas of service, projects and component cost models and the allocation and apportionment of all incurred IT costs.

· Organizes requirements into appropriate categories. Advises on different procurement routes to acquire services and products. Gathers information and uses appropriate techniques to assess benefits and options and make decisions about the most appropriate route of procurement e.g., open market or collaborative framework. Uses knowledge of supplier markets to inform specifications. Evaluates and selects suppliers based on the specification and evaluation criteria. Adapts terms and conditions to reflect the scale of the requirement and encourage good performance. Collects and collates data to support collaboration.

· Acts as the routine contact point between organization and supplier. Collects and reports on supplier performance data.

· Oversees the organization’s promotional/selling activities to one or more clients, to ensure that such activities are aligned with corporate marketing objectives. Approves medium-scale proposals to clients. Negotiates with client representatives at senior levels on both technical and commercial issues. Ensures that organizational policy and strategy is adhered to. Provides informed feedback that contributes to promotional strategy and to product development.

 

 

Please note: potential candidates will meet the education and experience requirements provided on the above job description and excel in completing the listed responsibilities for this role. All candidates receiving an offer of employment must successfully complete a background check, pre-employment drug screen, and any other test that may be required for the role.

 

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement: First Solar Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) that values and respects the importance of a diverse and inclusive workforce. It is the policy of the company to recruit, hire, train and promote persons in all job titles without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a driving force in the success of our company.