Deputy General Manager - Solutions Engineering

Deputy General Manager - Solution Engineering - Global Service Centre

Leadership responsibilities 

• Provide strategic leadership for the SSC operating model, ensuring scalable, repeatable, and high-quality engineering support across RFQs and solution development activities.

• Lead the identification, hiring, and onboarding of the initial SSC core team, working closely with regional engineering leadership and HR to ensure the right blend of technical depth, leadership potential, and cultural fit.

• Shape the SSC into a cohesive, high-performing global team, capable of supporting an ambitious, growth-oriented global 3PL across multiple regions and variable solution complexity.

• Own and govern the SSC delivery framework, including demand intake, prioritisation, capacity management, and service-level performance.

• Act as a senior partner to regional Solutions Engineering leaders, Commercial, Operations, IT, and Transformation teams, ensuring the SSC is positioned as a value-creating capability, not a transactional support function.

• Provide senior-level oversight of complex or high-risk solutioning activities executed through the SSC, ensuring quality, commercial soundness, and operational feasibility

•  

Strategic & Operational Accountability

• Serve as the primary interface between the SSC and regional/global Solutions Engineering leadership, initially with a strong EU focus and a clear roadmap for global expansion.

• Translate the ambition of a global Solutions Engineering capability into a practical, phased SSC build-and-scale plan, informed by prior experience of what does and does not work in service-centre launches.

• Anticipate and actively manage the common challenges of SSC establishment, including role clarity, stakeholder adoption, capability ramp-up, knowledge transfer, and perception of value.

• Ensure SSC strategies are fully aligned with:

  • Regional and global solutioning priorities

  • Commercial expectations and growth plans

  • Operational capabilities and constraints

  • The longer-term AI and automation agenda

• Establish clear governance, metrics, and dashboards to demonstrate SSC value creation, productivity uplift, and business impact from an early stage.

• Act as the senior escalation point for delivery, capability, or adoption issues, leading structured problem solving and driving sustainable resolution

• Acts as a trusted senior partner to regional and global Solutions, Commercial, and Operations leaders

• Builds confidence in GSC capability through early wins, transparency, and consistent delivery.

• Ensures GSC outputs directly support competitive, credible, and executable customer solutions

People Leadership & capability Building

• Build the SSC leadership and engineering team from the ground up, creating clear roles, accountability, and development pathways.

• Develop the SSC into a globally recognised centre of capability, not simply a regional support function.

• Embed a strong ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement culture within the SSC.

• Partner with HR and functional leadership on succession planning, capability uplift, and long-term talent strategy.

• Lead change management initiatives associated with SSC launch, scaling, and evolution into new operating models

Others

• Owns governance of SSC delivery across regions and phases of maturity.

• Establishes standards, metrics, and control mechanisms to ensure predictable outcomes as the SSC scales.

• Leads structured problem solving, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement across SSC operations

• Builds and leads high-performing, diverse SSC teams across geographies.

• Develops future leaders through coaching, delegation, and exposure to complex, ambiguous challenges.

• Embeds a strong performance culture with clear accountability and succession planning

• Operates with an enterprise-first mindset across regions and functions.

• Influences without authority across Solutions, Operations, IT, HR, and Transformation teams.

• Acts as a connector between SSC delivery, engineering strategy, and global business outcomes

• Leads SSC transformation initiatives including standardisation, automation, AI-enabled tools, and new operating models.

• Brings teams through ambiguity with clarity, pace, and credibility.

• Positions the SSC as a future-ready, globally scalable Solutions Engineering capability

• Demonstrates visible safety leadership and a zero-harm mindset.

• Acts as a role model for ethical conduct, integrity, and professional standards.

• Builds trust through sound judgement, transparency, and consistency

• Successful hiring and stabilisation of the SSC core team.

 

 QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

• Degree-qualified in Engineering - Supply Chain, Industrial Engineering, or a related discipline.

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience, including direct responsibility for scaling Contract Logistics Shared Services Centres, Global Business Services, or equivalent global support functions.

• Demonstrable experience building teams from inception, including hiring, onboarding, and stabilisation phases.

• Strong exposure to engineering, technical, or solutions-based environments within logistics, supply chain, industrial, or related sectors.

• First-hand experience operating within a global 3PL or similarly complex, fast-scaling organisation is strongly preferred.

• Strong commercial and operational acumen, with the ability to balance speed, quality, cost, and risk

• Shapes the GSC strategy in alignment with the organisation’s global growth, integrated supply chain, and industrialisation agenda.

• Balances near-term delivery demands with long-term capability and global scalability.

• Uses prior launch experience to anticipate risk and embed mitigation into the SSC design

• .

•  

• SSC operating effectively as a cohesive, global Solutions Engineering capability.

• Improved speed, consistency, and quality of engineering outputs.

• Clear progress toward industrialised, reusable, and AI-enabled solution development.

• Strong leadership bench and positive senior stakeholder feedback

•  

• Good Communication skills in English language, both oral and written.

• Possess strong analytical skills & transformation experience

• Work flexible over-hours in close coordination with line manager covering situations where business is requiring urgent execution.

• Ability to work in a fast paced, time sensitive environment Detail oriented Professional and articulate communicator, Team player, Flexibility in work schedule, Aptitude for prioritization/multi-tasking  

Experience Level

Mid Level