Operations Project Lead

About Us

At Dyson we believe everything could be better. Fuelled by a frustration with things that don’t work properly and a relentless obsession with making them work better, we’ve spent the last 25 years pioneering inventions and continually improving.

We’re growing fast. And our ambition is huge. But it’s not simply about more people and more profit. Dyson is all about better ideas and new technologies. It’s about inventing the future.

Our philosophy remains the same as it was 25 years ago when James Dyson invented the first cyclonic vacuum cleaner. We remain family-owned. We don’t bow to outside shareholders or report to the stock exchange. Instead we plot our own path, unshackled from conventional thinking. 

About the Role

The Operations Project Lead, Procurement is responsible for leading procurement and operational workstreams for primary and secondary packaging within the Formulations category, supporting the successful industrialisation and delivery of new products across Global Supply Chain (GSC).

Working at the intersection of Procurement, Engineering, Manufacturing, Planning, Quality, and external suppliers, this role drives sourcing strategy, supplier readiness, commercial delivery, and operational execution to ensure packaging solutions are delivered to the required quality, cost, and timeline. The role plays a critical part in enabling successful product launches, maintaining supply continuity, and driving value throughout the product lifecycle.

As an individual contributor, the Operations Project Lead, Procurement leads through influence rather than direct authority, partnering with stakeholders across functions and regions to resolve complex challenges, manage risk, and deliver business-critical outcomes.

Programme Leadership & Product Industrialisation

• Lead procurement and operational activities supporting the end-to-end industrialisation of new products from development through production ramp-up.
• Develop and manage integrated project plans across Procurement, Manufacturing Engineering, Planning, Quality, Logistics, and external suppliers.
• Ensure supplier readiness, capacity planning, tooling requirements, and operational capability are established to support successful product launches.
• Proactively identify programme risks, dependencies, and constraints, driving mitigation actions and escalation where required.
• Represent procurement and supplier workstreams in programme governance forums and leadership reviews.
• Drive delivery against key business objectives relating to quality, cost, schedule, and supply continuity.

Procurement Strategy & Supplier Management

• Develop and execute sourcing strategies that support product launches and long-term business objectives.
• Lead supplier selection, onboarding, RFQ/RFP activities, commercial negotiations, and sourcing decisions.
• Establish and maintain strong supplier relationships to deliver optimum quality, service, innovation, and cost outcomes.
• Drive supplier performance through regular reviews, operational governance, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Work closely with suppliers to manage capacity, lead times, quality performance, and production readiness.
• Ensure supplier compliance with business, quality, regulatory, and commercial requirements.

Commercial & Financial Management

• Manage CAPEX requirements, tooling investments, supplier Statements of Work (SOW), asset requests, and purchase order processes.
• Drive cost optimisation, value engineering, and productivity initiatives while maintaining product quality and supply resilience.
• Monitor financial performance against programme objectives and support commercial decision-making through data-driven analysis.
• Evaluate sourcing opportunities and supplier proposals to deliver sustainable commercial outcomes.

Operational Procurement & Supply Chain Delivery

• Own operational procurement activities from sourcing through production launch.
• Ensure timely execution of tooling, line trials, pilot builds, sampling requirements, and production readiness milestones.
• Monitor supplier delivery performance, including OTIF, responsiveness, quality, and operational execution.
• Manage supply risks and develop contingency plans to minimise disruption to programme delivery.
• Support issue resolution across suppliers and internal stakeholders to ensure project milestones are achieved.

Cross-Functional Influence & Stakeholder Management

• Partner closely with Engineering, Product Development, Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Planning, Quality, and Finance teams to drive programme execution.
• Influence stakeholders across multiple levels of the organisation to drive alignment, decision-making, and accountability.
• Translate business requirements into clear operational and procurement plans.
• Build strong working relationships across global teams and supplier networks.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve procurement processes, supplier performance, and programme delivery effectiveness.
• Drive implementation of best practices relating to sourcing, supplier management, governance, and operational readiness.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives that enhance efficiency, scalability, and business performance.
• Contribute expertise and insights to strategic supply chain and procurement initiatives.

About You

• Proven ability to influence and challenge senior stakeholders, communicating both strategic and technical insights effectively
• Strong track record of leading complex programmes in manufacturing, operations, or new product introduction environments
• Highly analytical with the ability to navigate ambiguity, solve problems, and drive decisions
• Strong understanding of programme governance, risk management, and commercial drivers
• Experience managing multi-million CAPEX budgets and resource planning across projects
• Ability to lead transformation and continuous improvement initiatives with measurable outcomes
• Pragmatic, resilient, and able to balance strategic thinking with execution excellence

Required Skills & Leadership

• Demonstrated procurement expertise, ideally in packaging for FMCG, formulation, or technology-led manufacturing environments.
• Strong knowledge of sourcing, supplier management, SOW, tooling, and Capex processes.
• Excellent project management skills, with the ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive results to meet OTIF and cost targets.
• Commercial acumen, negotiation skills, and value engineering experience.
• Proficiency with procurement and supplier management platforms (e.g., Ariba).
• Effective communicator and relationship builder, capable of influencing suppliers and engaging stakeholders at all levels.
• A proactive leader committed to continuous improvement, operational excellence, and collaborative team culture.

Benefits

Dyson monitors the market to ensure competitive salaries and bonuses. Beyond that, you’ll enjoy a transport allowance and comprehensive medical care and insurance. But financial benefits are just the start of a Dyson career. Professional growth, leadership development and new opportunities abound, driven by regular reviews and dynamic workshops. And with a vibrant culture, the latest devices and a relaxed dress code reflecting our engineering spirit, it’s an exciting team environment geared to fuelling and realising ambition. #LI-AK

Dyson is an equal opportunity employer. We know that great minds don’t think alike, and it takes all kinds of minds to make our technology so unique. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and employment decisions are made without regard to race, colour, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, protected veteran status or other any other dimension of diversity.