Principal Specialist - Operations Officer

The OpEx Specialist acts as a project and governance partner to the EMEA Operational Excellence leadership team. This role is responsible for driving the execution of process improvements, coordinating complex project workstreams, and maintaining the standards that ensure service quality across regional accounts. By managing the technical and structural elements of the OpEx function, this individual enables Directors to implement large-scale change while ensuring all initiatives remain compliant and data-backed.

Main Objectives:

• Project Delivery & Facilitation: To drive the momentum of OpEx initiatives by managing project timelines, tracking milestones, and facilitating process reviews or Kaizen events in collaboration with senior stakeholders.
• Governance Stewardship: To own the OpEx framework, ensuring all account documentationfrom Project Charters to SOPsis standardized, high-quality, and aligned with global best practices.
• Audit & Compliance Leadership: To manage the regional audit lifecycle, acting as the primary coordinator for ISO and "Early Success" reviews to ensure 100% adherence to contractual and legislative requirements.
• Strategic Communication: To bridge the gap between the OpEx function and account leadership through clear reporting, structured newsletters, and professional stakeholder engagement.

Job Responsibilities:

Key Responsibilities and scope

This role has a broad regional scope, supporting the EMEA OpEx head and interacting frequently with Directors and Account Leaders. The Specialist is responsible for the end-to-end coordination of change projects, including resource alignment, risk tracking, and stakeholder follow-up. They act as a key point of contact for both onsite and off-site teams, ensuring that new technologies and process improvements are adopted consistently across the business.

job tasks

• Process Review & Standardization: Collaborate with Directors to conduct deep-dive process reviews and Kaizen events. You will identify operational waste, draft new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and standardize documentation across EMEA, APAC, and NAM accounts to increase overall productivity and consistency.
• Project Management Administration & Support: Create and maintain E2E project plans and RASCI models; track progress against deadlines and facilitate "Huddle" sessions or project workshops to resolve bottlenecks.
• Compliance & Audit: Administer compliance controls in across the region including Control Books for each account in OneTrust, coordinate evidence gathering for audits, and conduct regular reviews of Business Continuity Plans (BCP) and SOPs.
• Data Analysis & ROI: Collect and analyze performance data to calculate project ROI, identify resource gaps through skill matrices, and prepare data for Annual and Quarterly Business Reviews.
• Stakeholder Coordination: Manage the OpEx work intake process, follow up on new requests, and coordinate the logistics for tool rollouts and Global Compliance Alliance meetings.
• Op Ex Content & Branding: Draft internal communications regarding legislative changes, the sharing of best practice tools and Op Ex innovations; manage the Op Ex "Connect" channel and create high-level presentations for leadership meetings.

Expected Outcomes and Accountabilities

The Specialist is accountable for the successful execution of project administrative milestones and the accuracy of all governance data. Success is marked by the timely delivery of improvement projects, high audit pass rates, and the seamless transition of new processes into standard operations. The incumbent must show high levels of initiative, often leading process reviews or chasing senior stakeholders to ensure project goals are met.

KPIs, Objectives and Timeframes

• Project Execution: 100% of assigned project documentation (Charters, Plans) completed and approved within one week of project kickoff.
• Audit Success: Maintain a "Green" status across all regional ISO and "Early Success" audits through proactive record management.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Ensure all internal communications and monthly newsletters are delivered on schedule with 100% accuracy.
• Efficiency Gains: Implement at least two workflow or reporting automations using AI tools (Gemini/NotebookLM) within the first 6 months to improve team capacity.

Management Scope

• People Management: No direct reports.
• Project Management: Manages the administrative lifecycle of the EMEA OpEx project portfolio, including tracking milestones, maintaining RASCI alignment, and ensuring regional documentation meets global standards.
• Functional Oversight: Acts as the primary custodian of the OpEx governance framework, providing technical guidance to account teams on the correct application of ISO protocols and standardized processes.
• Stakeholder Coordination: Manages communication and logistical workflows between OpEx leadership, account directors, and third-party vendors to ensure project consistency.

Autonomy and Decision-making

• Operational Independence: Manages daily priorities and project tracking independently, ensuring all administrative milestones are met without constant supervision.
• Technical Recommendation: Identifies and proposes the most efficient structures for the OpEx knowledge base and AI-driven workflows (Gemini/NotebookLM), presenting these to Directors for final approval.
• Problem Solving: Resolves routine administrative and data issues independently; however, complex or non-standardized process changes are analyzed and then escalated to a Director for sign-off.
• Governance Quality Control: Acts as the first line of review for compliance and audit documentation, ensuring all materials are accurate and complete before final submission to leadership.

Key Stakeholders and Interactions

This role requires the professional maturity to act as a central liaison between EMEA Directors, Global OpEx leads, and client-side stakeholders during audit cycles or to manage project workstreams. You must be able to communicate clearly across all levels of the matrix, translating complex governance requirements into actionable guidance for operational teams to ensure high adoption and project alignment.

Profile

Education & Experience

• Bachelors or equivalent professional & intellectual ability
• Preferred - knowledge of Lean, Agile & Six Sigma methodologies
• Preferred - project management/delivery experience
• Preferred - international experience in a staffing/recruitment organization (MSP / RPO)
• Experienced practitioner able to work unsupervised
• Advanced GSuite/Microsoft Office proficiency and a practical ability to use AI tools (Gemini) to streamline workflows.

Job Requirements

Knowledge and Competencies

Drive for Results: Focuses on assessing, measuring and improving performance. Shows drive and determination to meet short- and long-term goals. Specifically, strives to meet challenging goals; for example, setting ambitious, but realistic goals for performance improvement (for self and/or own team).

Customer Focus: Identifies and meets the needs of internal and external customers, being continually focused on outcomes for customers. Specifically, improves service; for example, asking for customers feedback and takes action for improvement.

Quality oriented: Works without supervision and exhibits exemplary behaviour by not making quality concessions. Encourages others to take action to increase quality.

Commercial Acumen: Applies understanding of the business environment and objectives to develop solutions with guidance but not constant supervision.