PMO Manager

The Organization

Finlays is a leading independent business-to-business supplier of tea, coffee, and botanical solutions to beverage brand owners worldwide. The group has established itself as a reliable, responsible, innovative, and sustainable producer with a deep knowledge and passion for its products. Sustainability is pivotal to the group's success, and it lies at the heart of what Finlays does and stands for.

Finlays is a subsidiary of the Swire Group, which is a diversified conglomerate, headquartered in London. Finlay Tea Extracts (K) Ltd., one of Finlays Business Units, is embarking on an ambitious growth plan to enable energy security and sustainability as well as expand production to meet the requirements of our customer base. This development requires a highly motivated project management team to lead and execute capital projects that support a lean and productive manufacturing operation.

The new role will lead the early-stage development of a PMO within Kericho, Kenya. The PMO Manager will create and oversee the project management process including governance, team leadership, monitoring, prioritization, communication, and quality control. The PMO Manager should have a proven track record of successful project delivery, an ability to improve project management practices, and substantial team leadership experience. The development of the PMO will include establishing world-class project management methodologies, standards, and tools. The role will also, at times, lead complex capital projects that implement new technologies or processes for the business. Projects will be in collaboration with other off-site engineering service providers and may require travel.

We invite applications for the position of PMO Manager at our Kericho operations – Finlay Tea Extracts (K) Ltd., Saosa Factory (also referred to as FTEK).

Minimum Requirements: Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant Engineering discipline with broad applied experience across the fields of chemical, mechanical, electrical, and controls engineering.

• Project Management Qualification or equivalent experience 3-5 years.

• Working within a food or FMCG manufacturing environment will be an advantage.

• Knowledge of and experience in World Class Manufacturing or similar, and a track record of achieving change within that environment will be an advantage.

• Knowledge and experience in Health and Safety and Quality Assurance systems, especially within the food industry will be an advantage.

Skills

• Strong leadership, influencing, and advocacy skills.

• Ability to influence from a distance and without the benefit of direct line management authority.

• Excellent communication skills - both verbal and written (e.g., written reports, presentations, etc.). Fluency in English is essential.

• Advanced Microsoft Office 365 abilities.

• Root cause problem-solving ability.
  

• Proven skills in working with multi-disciplinary teams.

• Performance management & coaching of others.
  

Application Procedure

If you meet the requirements of this position, please apply, including a detailed CV, your postal, e-mail, telephone contacts, and the names and addresses of three referees. Your application, clearly indicating the position you are applying for, should reach us not later than 10 June 2024.

The Organization

Finlays is a leading independent business-to-business supplier of tea, coffee, and botanical solutions to beverage brand owners worldwide. The group has established itself as a reliable, responsible, innovative, and sustainable producer with a deep knowledge and passion for its products. Sustainability is pivotal to the group's success, and it lies at the heart of what Finlays does and stands for.

Finlays is a subsidiary of the Swire Group, which is a diversified conglomerate, headquartered in London. Finlay Tea Extracts (K) Ltd., one of Finlays Business Units, is embarking on an ambitious growth plan to enable energy security and sustainability as well as expand production to meet the requirements of our customer base. This development requires a highly motivated project management team to lead and execute capital projects that support a lean and productive manufacturing operation.

The new role will lead the early-stage development of a PMO within Kericho, Kenya. The PMO Manager will create and oversee the project management process including governance, team leadership, monitoring, prioritization, communication, and quality control. The PMO Manager should have a proven track record of successful project delivery, an ability to improve project management practices, and substantial team leadership experience. The development of the PMO will include establishing world-class project management methodologies, standards, and tools. The role will also, at times, lead complex capital projects that implement new technologies or processes for the business. Projects will be in collaboration with other off-site engineering service providers and may require travel.

We invite applications for the position of PMO Manager at our Kericho operations – Finlay Tea Extracts (K) Ltd., Saosa Factory (also referred to as FTEK).

Minimum Requirements: Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant Engineering discipline with broad applied experience across the fields of chemical, mechanical, electrical, and controls engineering.

• Project Management Qualification or equivalent experience 3-5 years.

• Working within a food or FMCG manufacturing environment will be an advantage.

• Knowledge of and experience in World Class Manufacturing or similar, and a track record of achieving change within that environment will be an advantage.

• Knowledge and experience in Health and Safety and Quality Assurance systems, especially within the food industry will be an advantage.

Skills

• Strong leadership, influencing, and advocacy skills.

• Ability to influence from a distance and without the benefit of direct line management authority.

• Excellent communication skills - both verbal and written (e.g., written reports, presentations, etc.). Fluency in English is essential.

• Advanced Microsoft Office 365 abilities.

• Root cause problem-solving ability.
  

• Proven skills in working with multi-disciplinary teams.

• Performance management & coaching of others.
  

Application Procedure

If you meet the requirements of this position, please apply, including a detailed CV, your postal, e-mail, telephone contacts, and the names and addresses of three referees. Your application, clearly indicating the position you are applying for, should reach us not later than 10 June 2024.

Capital Projects

• Work with HoDs to ensure all capital initiatives and proposals are in line with the strategic business plans.

• Manage a team of project managers and project engineers to achieve the yearly project budget.

• Coordinate, compile, and develop the capital budget for each year for FTEK.

• Is responsible for Senior Stakeholder Management, Program Management, Governance, and Delivery of all Project Objectives.

• Plans and directs all project resources.

• Ensures effective interdisciplinary coordination across all business functions, in particular through regularly scheduled meetings.

• Supervises the challenges of project deliverables and approves the critical documentation.

• Participates in Risk Management for all stakeholder concerns.

• Ensures that project activity is compliant with project milestones. Alert project stakeholders in case of unforeseen variation and suggest mitigation measures if needed.

• Ensures that the project's final dossier is properly prepared and filed; and that lessons learned for projects are clearly identified and shared to all stakeholders.

Process Improvement Projects

• Responsible for a high level of problem-solving, with a particular focus on current underperforming processes and methods. Through leadership, approach, and application, initiates value engineering and best practices to deliver immediate and sustained solutions to resolve identified areas of inefficiency and underperformance.

• Continues to build an effective working relationship with Operations Management Teams, Engineering Teams, and Continuous Improvement (CI) teams by providing technical advice and exploring opportunities to make improvements to current work practices with internal and external stakeholders.

• Supports Project Leads on smaller capital projects and other business projects.