Professional Experience:
I have covered many roles down the years including Director of Change/Improvement for Unilever North America as well as General Factory Manager in Saudi Arabia. I have managed many projects and programmes as Project Manager, Team Leader, Project Engineer and International Expert in charge of multi million £ budgets as well as workforces ranging from 2 to 500 people. Most recent work was as International Lead Consultant and Team Leader based in West Bank, Palestine, working on a Private Sector Development Cluster Project (PSDCP) implemented by the Ministry of National Economy (MoNE) and the Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (FPCCIA). The overall objective of the PSDCP project was to strengthen the competitiveness of local Palestinian companies, especially MSMEs, in order to increase their market share of the domestic market and or explore new markets for export. A cluster approach was used to achieve these overall objectives, which included support for the chosen clusters that had growth potential. The project was a huge success and resulted in the delivery of the first ever Lean Awareness Programme in Palestine. Acted as main International Lean Expert providing Leadership, Coaching and Training in the implementation of a Lean/Continuous Improvement Programme within Industrial Clusters across Stone and Marble, Furniture and Wood, Shoe and Leather Sectors in Palestine. Work involved creating and implementing a targeted Lean Training Workshop aimed at company owners/Main Boards/Leadership teams as well as workforce members, senior Academia (Professors/University Lecturers), locally allocated Lean Consultants as well as invited guests from other industrial sectors/Clusters. The Programme also included visiting many factories within the 3 Clusters, assessing their strengths, weaknesses, gaps and growth needs, creating a tailor made improvement programme and list of key actions, briefing and training the local Consultants to provide local guidance and assistance in the implementation of the improvement plan, creating new standards, local training materials, IT programmes, financial tools etc to assist in making a positive difference to each company in the areas of Productivity, Capacity, Quality, Costs, Waste, Customer Service Levels, Health, Safety and Hygiene, Morale, Innovation and Company Pride. Attended Main Board/family meetings to help provide direction and strategy for the businesses taking into account culture, market conditions, technology, cashflows and skill levels. It also included enthusing the local management and workforce to carry on with their initial improvements long after the international assistance has gone.
Currently engaged as Team Leader in Palestine improvement and upgrading projects for SME companies in the Chemical sector via Palestinian Trading Organisations, Palestinian Federation of Industries and Chamber of Commerce Cooperative.