WE ARE CDE.
HERE TO CREATE OUR BEST WORLD, A TON AT A TIME.
Sand is a finite resource, and it's running out. Today, population growth and the pace of progress means the world is devouring sand like never before – 50 billion tonnes a year globally. This demand is unsustainable. Together with our customers we have already diverted over 100 million tonnes of waste material from landfill and put it back into the materials market for use in construction; protecting sand & aggregates in areas where natural material reserves are in decline and enabling production to happen closer to markets. We are minimising environmental impact and laying the foundations for the circular economy
At CDE we work across the natural processing and waste recycling sectors, in five regions, to pioneer industry-leading, world-changing engineering solutions. Our headquarters are in Northern Ireland, and we have offices in the USA, Australia, Austria, and Brazil. For over 30 years we have relentlessly innovated and co-created wet processing solutions – completing over 2,000 global projects – and we're only getting started. Our purpose is to create our best world, a ton at a time; empowering our customers to transform their materials into valuable resources for the betterment of people, planet, and their bottom lines.
Discover more about life at CDE
About The Role
Job Purpose & Responsibilities:
The Director of Supply will be a key architect in shaping the future of operational excellence at CDE. This leader will drive both strategic direction and day-to-day execution across our supply chain, assembly operations, and quality assurance, ensuring exceptional standards throughout our production facilities. With a relentless focus on efficiency and performance, the successful candidate will embed best-in-class practices that elevate output and deliver outstanding value to our customers.
Working closely with the Directors of Manufacturing, Engineering and Construction, this leader will ensure that supply and assembly functions are aligned with CDE's strategic priorities, delivering measurable impact across cost, quality, delivery, and end-to-end efficiency. This role is central to advancing CDE's position as a global leader in sustainable, transformative solutions. By embedding operational excellence at the heart of supply and assembly, this candidate will help drive real-world impact across our teams, our customers, and the industries we serve.
Responsibilities:
Assembly
* Provide strategic leadership and oversight of the assembly function, setting direction, defining performance expectations, and ensuring alignment with CDE's operational goals.
* Drive improvements in throughput, reliability, and resource utilisation through effective leadership of senior managers and cross-functional collaboration.
* Lead budget planning and forecasting for the assembly function, ensuring optimal resource allocation, cost efficiency, and delivery against strategic and operational targets.
* Champion subcontractor relationships in collaboration with Procurement, ensuring strategic alignment, capability development, and long-term value creation.
* Drive performance management across the assembly function, challenging delivery against KPIs and embedding a culture of sustained improvement and operational excellence.
* Represent assembly performance at senior leadership and Board forums, providing critical insights, strategic recommendations, and risk-based perspectives.
* Build a high-performing, collaborative culture within assembly, aligned to CDE's values and long-term organisational goals. Champion talent development and succession planning to ensure future capability and leadership strength.
Supply Chain
* Develop and implement a comprehensive global supply chain strategy, including systems, budgets, resource plans, and action frameworks to support all sectors and regions.
* Establish and maintain strategic relationships with suppliers and senior stakeholders, ensuring alignment with CDE's pace, scale, and operational goals.
* Lead change management across the supplier network, driving improvements in responsiveness, quality, and cost-effectiveness.
* Oversee inventory management and procurement processes, ensuring regional supplier coverage and global account structures that support business operations across all locations.
* Negotiate and manage supply-level agreements that deliver quality, on-time service, and optimal inventory levels.
* Ensure the supply chain structure is customer-focused and productivity-driven, enabling seamless delivery and internal service excellence.
* Lead material resourcing activities in coordination with the Directors of Manufacturing and Engineering, driving competitive advantage and supply resilience.
* Champion lean inventory principles to improve inventory turns, working capital, and operational agility.
* Monitor industry trends and evolving customer needs to inform supply chain decisions and drive competitive advantage.
* Provide strategic insights and performance data for monthly Board reporting and operational reviews.
* Champion more sustainable and resilient supply chain practices in collaboration with procurement and quality teams.
* Oversee Stores operations, ensuring accurate stock control, efficient space utilisation, and timely provision of parts in line with production and project needs.
* Lead our global logistics strategy, including all operational and project-related transportation to reduce lead times and enable cost-effective delivery across all regions.
Quality
* Set the strategic direction for quality assurance across CDE's operations, ensuring alignment with global standards and customer expectations.
* Lead company-wide quality governance, embedding a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and cross-functional ownership of quality outcomes.
* Oversee the development of advanced quality systems and frameworks that enable predictive analytics and proactive risk management.
* Ensure supplier quality performance is strategically managed, with robust auditing, escalation protocols, and long-term capability development in partnership with procurement.
* Sponsor and steer cross-functional root cause investigations, ensuring systemic learnings are captured and embedded across the organisation to prevent recurrence.
* Drive strategic initiatives to reduce defects, improve first-time-right performance, and enhance customer satisfaction across all supply and assembly operations.
* Represent quality performance and risk at senior leadership level, providing insights, recommendations, and assurance on operational integrity and customer impact.
* Champion the integration of quality into operational planning, resource allocation, and technology deployment.
General
* Contribute as a member of the Senior Management Team to the development, communication and implementation of the Company's operational objectives in line with the Company's strategy.
* Build and maintain a collaborative, high-performing culture aligned with CDE's values.
* Lead, coach, and develop talent across supply and assembly functions, ensuring capability and succession planning.
* Champion performance management, engagement, and accountability across all teams.
* Support recruitment and resource planning in line with strategic growth and operational needs.
* Continuously identify and implement business improvement opportunities to exceed customer expectations.
Required Criteria
* Minimum 5 years' experience in a senior leadership role across supply chain, operations, production or construction environments.
* Proven ability to lead large teams and manage complex operational functions.
* Comprehensive knowledge of quality assurance methods and systems.
* Experience of working with ERP systems.
* Experience in change management and embedding continuous improvement culture.
* 3 rd level (or above) qualification in a relevant Construction / Engineering discipline OR demonstration of significant comparable experience
* Strong leadership, interpersonal, and stakeholder management skills.
* Commercially astute with experience managing budgets and driving cost efficiencies.
* Ability to influence others and establish strong working relationships
* Results orientated with ability to plan and deliver against project deadlines
* Commercially and financially astute with experience of managing budgets, value engineering and optimizing cost reduction
* Resilient, self-motivated and able to work well under pressure
* Strategic thinker with the ability to translate vision into operational delivery.
* Advanced data literacy and ability to interpret operational KPIs to drive decision-making.
* Clean current driving license
Desired Criteria
* Experience in a multi-site construction or manufacturing environment
* Proven track record in managing end-to-end supply chain operations, including procurement, logistics and supplier performance
* Experience within a similar industry
* Lean, Six Sigma and Kaizen experience
* 2 years' design engineering experience (SW & practical)
* Experience of supporting during significant ramp-up in production capability
* Thorough understanding of manufacturing principles
Skills Needed
Managing Teams, Decision Making, Communication, Keeping People Informed
About The Company
WE ARE CDE. ENGINEERED FOR YOU
We empower our customers to transform waste into valuable resources through innovative co-creation, laying the foundations for the circular economy.
We help our customers maximise their natural resources in the most sustainable way possible – with greater efficiency and less waste than ever before. Our unparalleled speed and scale are down to our proximity to our customers and our deep understanding of their challenges. Our track record of proven solutions consistently meets our customers' needs precisely, operating in challenging environments from the Arctic to the Equator.
Wet processing is our sole focus –our experience and expertise is unmatched in this field.
Every day, in everything we do, we strive to do it right. We want to be the best at what we do and deliver the maximum benefit for our customers. We pull together, as a team, in pursuit of this common cause. Our "Customer for Life" mentality fortifies each of our projects, with CDE engineers delivering continuous, limitless support.
Company Culture
We recognise that it is our people that have established CDE as market leader in developing solutions for the wet processing industry both within natural materials processing and waste recycling sectors.
OUR PURPOSE IS TO CREATE OUR BEST WORLD, A TON AT A TIME.
To do that, we must continue to build our global team by adding the most ambitious, driven and talented people. We will challenge you, elevate you and broaden your horizons. We will help you to be the best you can be both personally and professionally.
We are renowned for our energy and can do attitude…. and at times seemingly delivering the impossible. We also know that all the will in the world won't take us anywhere unless we work together. And we like to have fun together - life's too short and we spend most of it at work. If we lose the power to laugh, we lose the power to think.
We will continue to add the most dynamic, ambitious and talented individuals to the CDE team.
Company Benefits
Health insurance, Vacation, Paid time off, Retirement plan and/or pension, Employee development programs, A diversity program, Opportunity to travel, Free parking, Cycle to work, Referral bonus, Open office, Competitive salary, Long service recognition, Free parking or Discounted parking, Employee Assistance Scheme, Wellbeing Scheme, Work With Charities, Social Opportunities, Employee Recognition Scheme, Hybrid Working, Culture of recognition, On the job learning, Progression opportunities, Access to Health & Wellbeing app, Bereavement leave, Long service awards, Service recognition increases to annual leave, Staff celebration events
Salary
Not disclosed