Director, Technology & Innovation Development (Finance)

About Us

Americold is a global provider of temperature-controlled infrastructure. We partner with farmers and food producers to ensure their perishable and frozen product reaches foods suppliers, restaurants, and your local grocery store without spoilage. Our customers, which include some of the most respected brands in the food industry, rely on our expertise and commitment to safety in order to deliver on their commitments.

What you'll Do

This position will strategically lead the new technology deployment process, which includes owning and executing Americold's cross-functional innovation plans from ideation, qualification through prototyping and preparation for scaling. This key role will work closely with leadership to track ideas, prioritize, and seek approvals for investments. The role will develop relationships with suppliers and internal stakeholders to create innovative, proven solutions that drive bottom-line warehousing improvements and enhance customer experience through the use of cutting-edge technology in temperature-controlled climates. This role will establish ROI/business case financial metrics, including labor savings, and track real benefits recognized.

Essential Functions:

Strategic Innovation Process & Pipeline:

• Build and own processes, methodology and "ways of working" for the Technology Innovation team, working with a cross-functional group of engineering, supply chain solutions and IT/software team members
• Adhere to a defined process workflow through a structured meeting cadence with the core working team, driving toward a presentation of prioritized technology projects to leadership
• Identify technologies and applications that have the largest impact on operational performance for new and existing sites and/or meet customer innovation requirements
  • Seek inputs from all stakeholders including internal teams and customers for key problems or solutions to solve larger supply chain challenges
  • Work with Supply Chain Solutions team to identify opportunities and applications for technology solutions
  • Review warehouse P&L and operational data and analytics to understand service and OPEX challenges
• Source and manage a pipeline of small and large innovative ideas to drive growth and improve customer service
  • Facilitate assessing and prioritizing ideas through a portal or repository
• Provide supporting data analysis based on potential impact, feasibility, and alignment with strategic objectives
• Log, track and prioritize all ideas in the system including status, cost, expected payback, and progress of initiatives; create views and outputs to share with cross-functional team leaders

Technology Assessment & Design:

• Identify and vet technologies that work in a variety of cold storage environments
• Identify potential suppliers, evaluate through score-carding and validate all the sub-components, reliability metrics and live installations to verify proven technology
  • Understand and document maintenance/support requirements for new equipment
• Work with other Americold teams on capital estimates with qualitative and quantitative benefits of each provider and technology
• Fully vet claimed and realized financial benefits through proven site visits and installations; provide robust payback or justification of each technology's business case
• Establish contracts and agreements to include supplier commitments on the savings side of the ROI equation
• Prepare materials and rationale to support executive and stakeholder reviews of recommended technologies and applicable sites

Execution and Management:

• Build execution plans for pilot rollouts, working with operations leader committed to success
• Adhere to funding steps and oversight associated with Maintenance, ROI and New Business/Growth capital processes
• Support implementation of initial pilots of selected sites
  • Rigorously test and "break" the equipment/process by providing multiple test cases, product types, order profiles or other variables that could inhibit operator success
• Create and maintain all documentation necessary (mechatronics specs, functional software, training/operator manuals) to successfully rollout the solution and train the operators.
• As technologies mature and become proven after piloting, work with project team for large-scale rollouts in existing network / new development sites across all regions.

Value Measurement:

• Own capital deployment tracking, supplier milestone payment and project updates to steering committee/stakeholders
• Develop and establish management KPI and ROI / savings trackers and methods to show headcount reduction, energy consumption reduction, etc.
  • Establish baseline metrics when necessary to provide before and after snapshots
• Provide regular updates to the steering team, VP's/department heads and senior leadership on progress, outcomes, and lessons learned

What Experience and Education You Need

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Supply Chain or related field required
  • MBA preferred
  • PE Stamp preferred
• 5+ years in R&D environment / labs, evaluating robotics or state-of-the-art supply chain or warehousing technologies
• 10+ years in project implementation or execution of automation technologies as an OEM, customer, or end-user
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification preferred
• SAP / Oracle / or other EAM with Project Management Suite experience preferred

What Could Set You Apart

• Strong project management and vendor negotiation skills
• Experience working cross-functionally with Engineering, Operations, Procurement, Finance, Investor Relations, Treasury and Legal
• Strong analytical skills required
• Strong customer service and servant leadership orientation
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, able to interact with all management levels within the Americold organization, both up and down as well as with external contacts.
• Solid computer skills required, primarily with Microsoft Excel and Project software. Knowledge and skills using AutoCAD software is a plus.
• Must be able to travel approximately 60%, with some international

Physical Requirements

• Requires the ability to sit for long periods of time, with frequent interruptions
• Requires several hours per day of sitting, getting up and down from chairs, and reaching, or bending
• Requires manual dexterity with normal hand and finger movements for typical office work
• Talking, hearing, and seeing are important elements of completing assigned tasks
• May require travel by automobile and airplane for business
• May require visits to warehouse operations in temperatures at or below freezing
• May require carrying loads related to travel and the occasional lifting, carrying, positioning, and/or moving of objects weighing up to 20 pounds
• Requires the use of various electronic tools

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The Company makes reasonable accommodations in accordance with applicable law.

What We Offer:

Our associates know the answer to the question What's in it for me? We offer best-in-class benefit programs and continuously work with our associates to ensure that our offerings meet the needs of their health and financial well-being. When you join Americold you join a values-oriented company with a clear mission. We help our customers feed the world.

Americold is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and complies with applicable employment laws.

EOE/AA M/F/D/V DFW.

ABOUT US

Americold is a global provider of temperature-controlled infrastructure. We partner with farmers and food producers to ensure their perishable and frozen product reaches foods suppliers, restaurants, and your local grocery store without spoilage. Our customers, which include some of the most respected brands in the food industry, rely on our expertise and commitment to safety in order to deliver on their commitments.