Vice President of Own Brand Products, Quality & Business Development

Working Arrangement: Hybrid 

Location: UK/Europe 

About RS Group Across the industrial design, manufacturing and maintenance worlds, we’re the digital destination for product and service solutions to help our customers with the maintenance, repair and operation of their businesses.

We provide global access to an unrivalled range of over 750,000 stocked industrial products. Each day our team of experts deliver solutions to resolve our customer’s challenges across design, procurement, inventory and maintenance. We consistently strive to deliver the best possible service to all of our customers and challenge ourselves to provide a seamless procurement experience.

We are one team. We deliver brilliantly. We do the right thing. We make every day better. These are our values. They unite our c.9,000 global colleagues and differentiate us from our competition. They are a mix of how we work today and how we must step up for the future. Most importantly, it is one set of values shaped by our people, for our people.

RS Group has developed a new strategy, which positions us as first choice for customer, suppliers, people, and communities. Our strategic priorities are:

• Acquire, develop and retain high value customers

• Expand and curate our product ranges

• Grow through value added solutions • Improve our supply change and operational capabilities

• Drive margin optimization • Accelerate our strategy through M&A

Together, we can make great things happen. Aim for amazing and beyond.

We are RS PRO. RS PRO is the own brand of RS. The RS PRO brand was launched in 2016 as a one-stop shop for industrial supplies. Now, it serves over customers in 31 global locations.

With over 80,000 products across all industries and 1400 technologies, we have the largest offering in the RS portfolio of products. RS PRO provides customers with a brand that they can trust, at the price and quality they expect.

Our culture is paramount to our success, ensuring we have the right people in the team and a diverse views in the way we think and see the world is essential to how we operate.

About the role

Role Purpose Your purpose is to ensure the execution of the RS PRO strategy and refine, build, and improve upon the category management and product strategy, including Quality and business development plans to strengthen and secure growth. Accelerating the NPI execution and removing barriers to the onboarding process will be important to success

As a key leader on the RS PRO senior leadership team, there is an expectation to challenge, support, and innovate with your peer group, collaborating with your peers to optimise our collective potential and adding your skill set to the mix, to offer a ‘One Team’ blended excellence.

Your decisions will be data-led with the support of data scientists, who will guide your decision-making analysis to help you accelerate faster. RS PRO lead with customer, Product, technology, and supplier data in everything we do.

You will have targeted KPIS in Revenue, growth, and share of sales whilst achieving overall RSPRO strategy success across multiple metrics aligned to the overall RS PRO strategy and 5-year plan.

You will own and refine RS PRO global processes, and Candance for RS PRO Product, Business Development, Quality, Compliance, Sustainability and Ethics.

You will be people-led, with an excellent background in producing highly performing teams and individuals. Maintaining and advancing our culture is part of who we are. At the same time maintaining our high engagement scores across the RS PRO team and beyond

Responsibilities

• You will be responsible for 3 key areas, Product, Quality, and Business development.

• Products – You will have two heads of department 11 category managers and 2 assistant category managers. Responsibilities include the acceleration and execution of over 10k quality new products per year. You will use data to guide the product road maps and remove barriers to execution to allow for continued execution of quality/volume NPI.

• You will lead the product management of the business globally, ensuring products are returning strong ROI and the range of over 80k products is optimised fully and performing.

• Business development – Your leadership requires simplicity and effectiveness strategies that can be scaled, ensuring this small team of 3 managers, who are supporting on a global level can lead by leveraging the RS PRO team assets and services. We have strong growth aspirations and must glide through market condition challenges leveraging our ‘Value choice and quality’ brand position.

• The Quality, Ethics, sustainability, and compliance part of the role is supported by a team of 3 engineers, 3 experts, and a ‘Head of’ role, this function is further supported by regulations backbone from the group. Our products are backed by warranties/ quality assurance programs and perceived as not essentials, but quality alternatives at a value the customer expects to pay. This focused team requires support to ensure they can evolve and grow to support customer demands globally in the future.

• Building trust and collaborating across regions will be vital, you will communicate and work closely with Managing directors across the EMEA region and support your peers in the Americas and APAC regions.

• Evolve the product/category management team through improved processes and working methods, support group harmonisation, and improvements.

• Analysis of data to allow for a deep understanding of why we are winning/ growing and why we may face challenges are vital to pivoting the resources accordingly and creating new strategies to optimise growth.

How I make a difference in this role

• Be solution orientated.

• Be commercially astute • Lead with confidence, not ego

• Considering diverse perspectives

• Be data led in decision making.

• Create operationally astute strategy plan

• Optimise ROI and revenue and margin gain.

• Simplify complex processes.

• Bring your team on the journey with you.

• Develop talent.

• Enhance and build on the great culture we have.

Candidate Requirements Essential Skills & Experience

• A minimum of two of the following background areas and a good understanding of all –

o Product,

o Category Management,

o Supplier Management

o Sourcing

• Strong all-round experience which includes two of the following.

o Finance/ P&L management,

o Business development,

o Legal

o Sales

o Brand Management

o Continuous improvement

o Quality

o Economics

o Data analyst/ Data science

o Compliance

o Ethics

o Consultancy background

• Experienced in creation of writing strategies and execution.

• Strong operations skills

• Ability to take strategy plans and deploy into operationally strong growth drivers.

• Excellent public speaking and presentation skills • Currently operating at Director or Senior level Desirable Skills & Experience

• Continues improvement or consultancy background would be desirable.

• Multilingual is an advantage in this global organisation, but not essential.

• Experience or understanding of Brand management, business development is advantageous but not essential.

• Experience of P&L management Essential Qualifications (Must be evidenced at offer stage)

• No educational qualifications necessary, experience and behaviours are more important.