James Walker

Core Process Owner - Operations and Technical
Remote Working (travel to JW locations as required)
About James Walker
James Walker is part of the James Walker Group of Companies, who are a successful global Industrial organisation supplying high performance sealing products and solutions. With state-of-the-art material technology skills, the James Walker Strategic Business Unit (SBU) of the James Walker Group specialises in the provision of sealing solutions (elastomers, polymers, composites, engineering plastics, high nickel alloys).
Our worldwide group of companies has operations, sales and service entities across Europe, Middle East, India, Australia, New Zealand, SE Asia, South Africa and North and South America
Your Role
The Core Process Owner for Operations and Technical safeguards the integrity, coherence and strategic alignment of the end-to-end operating model and the core solutions that enable it. The role provides leadership across manufacturing, operational process and technical design, ensuring that proposed changes support business outcomes, site needs, enterprise architecture and the business’s vision.
The role chairs the Design Authority and provides a single, consistent mechanism for the review, challenge, approval and escalation of process, data, functional and technical design decisions. Working with Core Process Leads and IT teams, Change and site representatives through the triangle approach, the role ensures that proposals are sufficiently developed, evidence-based and assessed for end-to-end impacts before decisions are made.
The Core Process Owner for Operations and Technical is accountable for maintaining an accurate end-to-end view of the value chain, business processes, manufacturing and operational requirements, data and management information flows, applications, integrations and technical dependencies. Particular attention is given to gaps, interfaces and decisions that span process areas, operational sites or technology components.
The role provides functional leadership and line management to the Core Process Owners within scope. It engages closely with operational sites and technical teams to ensure that approved designs are practical, integrated, supportable and capable of successful adoption and transition into business as usual.
Key Responsibilities
Process &amp; Design Ownership
<ul>
<li>Own the integrity of end-to-end manufacturing and operational processes and enabling solutions.</li>
<li>Chair the Design Authority, ensuring decisions are clear, evidence-based and aligned to business, operational, compliance, quality, security and support requirements.</li>
<li>Set and uphold design principles, acceptance criteria, decision rights and escalation routes.</li>
</ul>
Data Governance and Data Quality
<ul>
<li>Oversee end-to-end data flows, ownership, quality, migration and cutover controls.</li>
<li>Champion the Programme Data Governance framework and ensure business, site, data and technical teams understand their responsibilities.</li>
</ul>
Continuous Improvement &amp; Quality of Design
<ul>
<li>Identify opportunities to simplify, standardise and improve manufacturing and operational processes.</li>
<li>Ensure timely impact assessments and maintain complete, controlled and governance-aligned process, requirements and design documentation.</li>
</ul>
Cross Functional Collaboration
<ul>
<li>Bring together manufacturing, operations, solutions, architecture, data, cyber security, testing and change teams to deliver coherent end-to-end designs.</li>
<li>Resolve or escalate cross-process and cross-system issues, particularly across planning, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, procurement and finance.</li>
<li>Assure alignment across reporting, ERP, MES, shop-floor equipment, interfaces and enterprise standards.</li>
</ul>
Site Engagement &amp; Ways of Working
<ul>
<li>Engage manufacturing and operational sites to ensure designs reflect practical requirements, controls and readiness needs.</li>
<li>Provide oversight and challenge for end-to-end testing, pilots and operational acceptance.</li>
<li>Identify and escalate operational, technical and readiness risks, and lead and develop the Lead Manufacturing Business Analyst.</li>
</ul>
Programme Delivery Support
<ul>
<li>Provide senior manufacturing, operational and technical design leadership to programme planning, prioritisation and issue resolution.</li>
<li>Ensure training and business readiness materials reflect approved processes, controls and responsibilities.</li>
<li>Assure delivered solutions meet approved requirements, standards and acceptance criteria, with decisions traceable through build, test, deployment and handover.</li>
</ul>
About you
Skills and Experience
<ul>
<li>Significant experience leading manufacturing, operational and technical design within complex transformation or ERP-enabled change</li>
<li>Strong expertise in end-to-end process design, requirements definition, solution assurance and design governance</li>
<li>Extensive experience working across manufacturing operations, enterprise applications, data and technical teams in a complex multi-site environment</li>
<li>Proven experience chairing design forums, making or facilitating cross-functional decisions and managing design escalation</li>
<li>Strong ability to translate operational and manufacturing needs into clear process, functional, data and technical design outcomes</li>
<li>Credibility with operational leaders, engineers, architects, data specialists, delivery teams and site stakeholders</li>
<li>Strong analytical, systems-thinking, problem-solving and decision-making capability</li>
<li>Ability to challenge constructively, manage competing priorities and reach proportionate decisions while maintaining collaborative relationships</li>
<li>Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to explain complex design matters to non-technical stakeholders</li>
<li>Good understanding of ERP and manufacturing technology, including MES, shop-floor data capture, integrations, PLC connectivity, reporting and enterprise architecture</li>
<li>Experience of ERP testing, integration assurance, operational acceptance and transition into business as usual</li>
<li>Experience in assessing non-functional requirements including performance, resilience, security, supportability and maintainability</li>
</ul>
Qualifications
<ul>
<li>Significant experience in manufacturing or industrial sectors, preferably within a complex multi-site organisation</li>
<li>Degree or equivalent experience in manufacturing, engineering, operations, information systems or a related discipline; relevant Lean, Six Sigma, architecture, ERP or change certification is desirable</li>
</ul>
Application End Date: 14/10/2026

Core Process Owner - Operations and Technical

Core Process Owner - Operations and Technical

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