Digitalisation Manager

Position Overview

• A leading organisation within the manufacturing and engineering industry is seeking an experienced and strategically driven Digitalisation Manager to lead its Group-wide digital transformation and business systems portfolio.
• The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring that Enterprise Resource Planning ERP systems, business intelligence platforms, integrations, automation technologies and approved Artificial Intelligence AI tools are reliable, secure, standardised and aligned with measurable business objectives.
• This senior management position requires extensive experience in manufacturing ERP systems, Material Requirements Planning MRP, Bills of Materials BOMs, production processes, business intelligence, data governance, digital project management and business process improvement.
• The role will lead the Group's business systems portfolio in collaboration with Finance, Operations, Engineering and relevant IT and cybersecurity stakeholders.
• The ideal candidate will combine strong technical expertise with strategic leadership, project delivery capabilities and commercial awareness to drive sustainable digital improvements across the organisation.

Key Responsibilities Digital Transformation Strategy & Leadership

• Lead the Group's digitalisation and business systems portfolio.
• Develop and implement digital transformation initiatives aligned with business priorities and operational requirements.
• Establish clear technology priorities that support measurable business outcomes.
• Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, productivity and business performance through digital solutions.
• Drive the standardisation and optimisation of business systems across the Group.
• Collaborate with Finance, Operations, Engineering and IT stakeholders to identify digital improvement opportunities.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend practical, commercially viable solutions.
• Ensure digital initiatives are supported by appropriate governance, resources and accountability.
• Balance innovation with security, operational reliability and long-term sustainability.
• Provide strategic direction and leadership for digitalisation activities.

Manufacturing ERP & Syspro Governance

• Govern the manufacturing ERP environment across the organisation.
• Oversee ERP functionality relating to:
• Material Requirements Planning MRP.
• Bills of Materials BOMs.
• Manufacturing routings.
• Inventory management.
• Production planning and processes.
• Procurement.
• Sales.
• Finance interfaces.
• Ensure ERP systems support manufacturing operations and business requirements.
• Oversee ERP access controls, configurations and application security requirements.
• Manage ERP upgrades, maintenance and application lifecycle activities.
• Identify opportunities to improve ERP functionality, reliability and efficiency.
• Support standardised ERP processes and consistent system usage across business units.
• Coordinate ERP support activities with internal resources and external service providers.
• Ensure appropriate controls are maintained throughout the ERP environment.
• Support continuous improvement in manufacturing ERP capabilities.

Data Governance & Information Protection

• Implement and maintain the Group's data governance plan.
• Establish and enforce data ownership and accountability requirements.
• Implement appropriate data classification standards.
• Govern approved data storage, transfer, access and sharing practices.
• Ensure appropriate data retention, backup and recovery controls.
• Protect organisational information through effective confidentiality and security measures.
• Establish data quality monitoring and governance procedures.
• Ensure appropriate escalation of data-related incidents and risks.
• Collaborate with business process owners to improve data management practices.
• Promote consistent data governance standards across business systems and operational functions.

Data Accuracy, Integrity & Master Data Management

• Implement and maintain master data standards.
• Establish appropriate data validation rules and controls.
• Monitor data accuracy, completeness and consistency across business systems.
• Implement integration controls and reconciliation processes.
• Develop exception reporting mechanisms to identify data discrepancies.
• Establish data quality monitoring and improvement processes.
• Identify recurring data integrity issues and recommend corrective actions.
• Collaborate with business process owners to address source data quality concerns.
• Ensure business process owners retain accountability for source data accuracy, definitions and approvals.
• Support reliable information for operational, financial and management reporting.

Artificial Intelligence & LLM Governance

• Implement and administer the organisation's approved AI and Large Language Model LLM governance framework.
• Maintain approved AI tool and use-case registers.
• Ensure AI technologies are used only following appropriate approval.
• Enforce permitted data usage and information protection requirements.
• Ensure AI-generated outputs undergo competent human review.
• Maintain appropriate evidence retention and monitoring controls.
• Establish incident escalation procedures relating to AI and LLM usage.
• Govern AI-enabled automation through clearly defined authority and action limits.
• Ensure AI automation includes appropriate exception handling, change control and rollback arrangements.
• Implement and test suspension mechanisms for AI-enabled processes.
• Ensure human accountability remains in place for AI-assisted decisions and activities.
• Evaluate AI opportunities based on business value, risk, security and operational requirements.
• Support controlled implementation of approved AI initiatives.

Digital Project & Portfolio Management

• Lead multiple concurrent digitalisation and business systems projects.
• Manage projects from initial concept and business case development through implementation and post-implementation review.
• Define project objectives, scope, requirements and deliverables.
• Develop project plans, timelines and resource requirements.
• Control project priorities, budgets, dependencies and risks.
• Coordinate project activities across internal teams and external service providers.
• Oversee solution design, testing and implementation activities.
• Ensure projects are supported by appropriate change management and user training.
• Monitor project performance against approved objectives.
• Track business benefits and implementation outcomes.
• Conduct post-implementation reviews to identify improvement opportunities.
• Escalate project risks and delivery constraints where required.

Business Process Improvement & Automation

• Work with business process owners to map and assess existing operational processes.
• Identify inefficiencies, duplicated activities and unnecessary manual work.
• Evaluate process control gaps and improvement opportunities.
• Recommend appropriate workflow and automation solutions.
• Implement approved business process improvements.
• Ensure automation initiatives support operational efficiency and control requirements.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to standardise processes where appropriate.
• Monitor the effectiveness of implemented process improvements.
• Promote continuous improvement through practical digital solutions.

Business Intelligence, Reporting & Data Integration

• Govern Power BI or equivalent business intelligence platforms.
• Oversee the development and maintenance of dashboards and management reports.
• Ensure reporting solutions use approved business definitions and data sources.
• Establish controls over data models, calculations and reporting logic.
• Ensure calculations and reporting outputs are traceable and accurate.
• Govern data integrations and interfaces between business systems.
• Implement appropriate source-to-report controls