Industrialisation Director

*ABOUT NOTPLA
*

Notpla is a VC-backed, London start-up whose ambitious mission is 'to make packaging disappear'. It is leading the way in developing biodegradable packaging, made from seaweed and plants, to produce a range of home compostable products and reduce unnecessary plastic in the environment.

The Company’s first product “Ooho” is a flexible packaging for liquids that biodegrades in 4-6 weeks, or can even be eaten, and has been used to distribute Lucozade at the London Marathon, to provide ‘edible cocktails’ at festivals, and to replace ketchup sachets for Just Eat. The company is also developing other products that will soon be launched, including a liner for boxes and a film to replace plastic wraps, all of which will also be home compostable and biodegradable in nature.

Notpla is both the name of the company and the material that makes our packaging so sustainable. Our R&D team spans across chemistry, engineering and design to develop new materials and new manufacturing technologies that can solve the plastic crisis. Innovation lies at the intersection of these multidisciplinary skill sets and we foster a collaborative and proactive attitude to problem solving.

Our innovative solutions might have gone viral on social and been seen by a billion people but don’t get us wrong, we’re all about impact and delivering on our promise of a world free from single use plastic packaging.

Notpla is made up of a tight-knit team of highly talented, deeply passionate people who are excited by the opportunity to challenge the world, are not afraid of doing things differently, and are truly committed to putting an end to our plastic pollution problem. If you are ready for an opportunity to jump in, tackle challenges head-on, contribute to a world-changing solution and have a bit of fun along the way, then we would love you to apply!

*ABOUT THE ROLE
*

We are seeking a passionate, driven and entrepreneurial Industrialisation Director to lead and support the Notpla Engineering and Chemistry team. The Industrialisation Director will work with the Executive team and support the operations, manufacturing and development efforts across all the product lines of Notpla (Ooho, Coated cardboard and Flexible films). We anticipate demand in manufacturing capacity to increase significantly in the next 12 months and are looking for someone to drive the strategy of this scale up.
The industrialisation director will be responsible for scaling up manufacturing processes, developing operations and continuously bringing to scale the new materials, products and processes coming from the R&D team.
The selected individual will be responsible for standardization of manufacturing processes equipment and product lines. Primary functional responsibilities include supporting the manufacturing capacity and strategy. Additionally, managing and supporting the operations in the introduction of new products, processes and technology to accomplish flawless launches.
This position will lead the Engineering and Chemistry teams and take a leadership role in coordinating and developing appropriate training and development plans with peer groups. A strong team player, the Industrialisation Director will work closely with the different R&D teams to ensure objectives are met.

*Essential Functions:
*

• Manage industrialisation of Notpla product lines
• Successfully manage scaling up manufacturing processes (from lab to pilot to large scale)
• Identify external manufacturing partners, evaluate their potential and establish relationships
• Manages deployment of an industrialisation process to deliver flawless execution of new product launches and scale ups.
• Evaluate sustainability credentials of different technologies and continuously optimise industrial setup for minimal environmental footprint
• Lead, support and grow the engineering and chemistry teams
• Support development and deployment of next generation products materials and equipment with a focus on standardization to leverage agility and flexibility.
• Evaluate in house vs external manufacturing strategies and make recommendations to the team based on capital requirements, lead times and complexity involved.
• Develop a shared vision of the industrialization agenda and associated technology roadmap and development backlogs.
• Continuously optimise cost and quality of our products to ensure maximum commercial success.

*Required Skills:
*

• Bachelors Degree in Operations, Chemistry, Engineering, or Manufacturing.
• Master’s Degree or PhD preferred in Chemistry, Business, Engineering or another related area
• Minimum 10 years manufacturing operations, chemical engineering or manufacturing engineering experience.
• Demonstrate experience in scaling up processes ideally from science principles to large scale manufacturing.
• Comfortable working with leading edge technologies and lack of industry standards
• Ability to support industrialisation requirements of a fast growing startup
• Comfortable working with a conjunction of both new materials and new manufacturing processes, at the intersection of chemistry and engineering.
• Strong knowledge of ideally the packaging industry, paper manufacturing, toll coating and/or film casting technologies.
• Demonstrated knowledge of manufacturing technologies and continuous improvement methods approaches and tools.
• Experience with product development and industrialisation process.
• Previous experience in a technical management role preferred.
• Solid budgetary/numeric analytical skills.
• Ability to effectively influence and impact across work groups and at all levels in the organization. (working in a matrix environment)
• Comfortable working within a flat structure organisation, being a natural leader rather than appointed by title
• Strong communication skills to drive consensus, decision making and execution.
• Ability to set a vision and lead a cross-functional team.
• Proven ability to manage workflows with multiple stakeholders in an effective manner.
• Legally authorized to work in the UK.

Job Type: Full-time

Remuneration: Salary + equity package commensurate with experience

Location: Hackney Wick, London, UK