IT Manager

Job Purpose and Content

IT Manager of Bridgestone European R&D Centre

Being one of the key elements of Bridgestone European R&D Centre, IT has the mission to partner with R&D departments in their effort of building digital tools and solutions supporting the digital transformation of our R&D processes and organization, with the objective to gain efficiency, reduce the time-to-market of our products, reduce the environmental footprint of our experimental activities, as well as to enable capturing new business opportunities.

As the leader of the Bridgestone European R&D Centre IT team, the candidate will have the following responsibilities:

• Create a strong partnership with R&D departments and other IT functions to identify and implement the solutions that will support the full digitalization of R&D processes;
• Collaborate with BSEMIA IT Cybersecurity Team to ensure the compliance of R&D Centre IT processes and systems with Bridgestone EMIA Information Security Policies. These policies define  requirements, objectives and strategy for protecting information, systems and assets by establishing an Information Security Management System (ISMS);
• Drive the modernization and the simplification of the solutions portfolio the team has developed defining a cloud migration strategy;
• Think E2E processes and integration of R&D in the overall architecture landscape
• Ensure that the team members adopt a Modern Application Development framework (incl. design thinking, agile project management, Continuous Integration and Continuous Deliver (CI/CD) methods and tools) to build their solutions;
• Run efficiently the operations of the on premises data center with a continuous effort to decrease its energy consumption footprint;
• Manage and evolve the R&D Centre internal network in full collaboration with Bridgestone EMIA IT networking team and external partners;
• Manage and evolve the Hybrid Digital Workplace technologies to ensure the colleagues the most efficient office/remote working experience;   
• Define and manage the R&D Centre IT budget synergizing costs and investments with other IT departments;
• Ensure People Development, through Talent Management, People Performance Evaluation and development of Succession Planning

Required Capabilities

• MS degree in ICT or related field;
• Tech-savvy leader with deep understanding of current and emerging ICT digital technologies, trends and best practices which can drive disruption and shape new business models;
• All-round management skills;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English;
• Team player who supports, encourages and shares knowledge with others;
• Out-of-the-box thinker;
• Certifications in traditional as well as Agile software development methodologies is a plus;

Experience

• 10+ years working experience in shaping IT solutions and operating large, complex and critical solutions on premises as wells as in cloud environments;
• Prior work experience in several of following emerging technologies: IoT, big data, advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, componentized architecture, blockchain, machine learning, robotics, augmented reality, virtual reality, advanced computing platforms, cloud computing, edge computing, micro-services
• Working experience in cloud migration
• Strong IT background and understanding of relationships between IT and OT
• Experience on VMWare virtualization platform
• Levering the value of DATA from sources such as R&D and production
• 5+ years prior experience as a leader of others
• Agile work experience as Team Member or Product Owner
• Experience in working with remote teams and outsourced partners
• Used to- and enjoy working in international and multicultural environments, with availability to travelling
• OT background with experience in Industrial Controls Systems (ICS), Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), and manufacturing contexts is a plus