Smart Manufacturing Director (MES)

About the Company
Our client is a well-established multinational manufacturing group with production operations on several continents. It supplies critical components and solutions to customers in a range of high-growth industrial and technology sectors. The group is in the middle of a large, company-wide digital transformation, and smart factories sit at the center of that strategy. This role offers the chance to shape that agenda at group level, with real influence and direct access to top leadership.

About the Role
A world-renowned multinational manufacturing company is seeking a (Senior) Director of Global Manufacturing Systems & Smart Factory to define and drive its enterprise-wide MES strategy. You will create a standard MES blueprint that can be reused at every plant, then guide its implementation across factories in different countries. You will also make sure shop-floor systems stay reliable around the clock, backed by a support organization that covers every time zone. Working closely with senior management, solution partners and engineers in several regions, you will be a key driver in modernizing how the group's factories run.

Responsibilities

• Set the long-term direction for MES and smart factory initiatives group-wide. Decide what stays standard and what each plant can tailor, and design how MES connects with business systems (ERP, PLM, WMS) and with machine-level controls (equipment automation, PLCs), following the ISA-95 reference model.
• Run multi-country MES implementation programs from start to finish so they deliver the agreed quality, timeline and cost. Balance staffing when projects run in parallel, using both in-house engineers and outside specialists, and keep backup coverage between regions.
• Build an always-on support organization that hands work off between regions and time zones, with clear first-, second- and third-line escalation paths to restore production quickly after outages.
• Introduce ITIL and SRE disciplines, including controlled change releases and structured incident reviews, so that system updates do not disrupt manufacturing. Hold MES software providers and service partners accountable through contracts and round-the-clock service-level targets, and draw clear lines between project work and ongoing support.
• Grow and lead a multinational MES organization (skills development, shift and rotation planning, succession). Brief the governance board and senior executives regularly on progress, performance metrics, resource constraints and risk.

Requirements

• Substantial leadership experience in MES / smart factory programs, including standardized MES solutions rolled out across multiple plants or countries.
• In-depth knowledge of ISA-95 and of linking manufacturing execution with enterprise applications (ERP, PLM, WMS) and equipment-level automation.
• Proven experience running mission-critical, 24/7 manufacturing systems using ITIL and/or SRE practices (tiered incident handling, change control, incident reviews).
• Experience negotiating and managing MES software and service providers, including SLA setting and performance oversight.
• Track record leading teams spread across regions and time zones and reporting to executive-level stakeholders. Fluent professional English is required.