Vice President, Regional Operations (Region 3 – South) – EfW…

Position Description

Covanta is a world leader in providing sustainable waste and energy solutions. Annually, Covanta’s modern Energy-from-Waste (“EfW”) facilities safely convert approximately 21 million tons of waste from municipalities and businesses into clean, renewable electricity to power one million homes and recycle over 600,000 tons of metal. Through a vast network of treatment and recycling facilities, Covanta also provides comprehensive industrial material management services to companies seeking solutions to some of today’s most complex environmental challenges. For more information, visit http://www.covanta.com .

Information on our facilities is available at http://www.covanta.com/Covanta-Map . For career opportunities, visit http://www.covanta.com/Careers . Covanta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.

EOE AA M/F/Protected Veteran Status/Disability EEO is the Law Poster (The poster can be found at http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/poster_screen_reader_optimized.pdf) Level, Title and/or Salary may be adjusted based on the applicant’s experience or skills.

Safety, Health and Environmental Excellence

• Provide visible personal safety and environmental leadership. Take an active role in the implementation of SHE programs, policies and procedures. Measure performance through audit and tracking KPI’s. Provide leadership into the Root Cause Analysis of any incidents. Ensure effective corrective actions are identified and follow through that they are addressed at all locations within the Region.
• Accountable for effective Management of Change (MOC) including compliance in the plants for the Facility Change Notification (FCN) program.
• Lead crisis management situations and provide effective leadership to assist in containment and recovery to normal operations; in collaboration with the regional maintenance Director and regional engineering Director, establish the timeline to plan, organize, and execute proper remedial action.
• Assist facilities with the identification of opportunities to enhance performance and/or reduce risk.

• Ensure consistent and integrated approach to the operation and maintenance of operating facilities through effective planning, excellent communication and sharing of information and processes, development of contingency plans and follow through on effective execution of plans.
• Oversee facility production and equipment availability, collaborating with staff to identify operating deficiencies and coordinate both corporate and field support to develop and implement effective operating plans.
• Ensure accuracy and consistency of reporting using key performance indicators (e.g., production, operating statistics, labor costs and other operating expenses) and compliance with policies and procedures. Ensures prompt attention to and resolution of issues when required.
• Coordinate and oversee regional support to ensure effective operating plans. Plans should include supporting business processes, operating facility budgets, other financial processes and human resources.
• Own and lead day to day maintenance activities while working with the Global Maintenance Director and Regional Director of Maintenance to drive plant maintenance improvements (process, system utilization – ALM, execution and quality) and advancing preventative maintenance and reliability programs. Ensure Outage planning and execution is being managed as well as owning the Long-term maintenance plan (LTMP).
• Communicate, implement, and maintain “best practices” and procedures to drive the definition and utilization of common KPIs to measure operating performance and improve effectiveness.
• Coordinate the preparation and implementation of effective Employee Development and Succession Plans for key positions in Operations and Maintenance, foster the effective use of established HR systems and policies, for hiring, recognition, growth, and development of employees. Utilize the performance enhancement process to maximize employee value.
• Participate in the hiring process of critical positions in the organization. Understand team profile and needs prior to interviews. Hire to “win” and upgrade overall talent in the organization.
• Teach and mentor less experienced operations personnel, being responsive to requests for help and explanations of operations and technical risk.
• Maintain compliance with all regulatory requirements and ethical standards related to Operations and Maintenance.
• Communicate strategic objectives, lead resource allocation and execute on global plans.
• Own and lead Operational Excellence/Discipline efforts across the region creating a high performance culture.

• Coordinate and oversee corporate support to ensure successful integration, promote effective budget management and organic growth initiatives.
• Coordinate and oversee regional support to ensure effective operating plans. Plans should include support of business processes, operating facility budgets, other financial processes and human resources.
• Support assessments of asset performance, analyze and documenting deviations to ensure lessons are captured and used to keep our policies and programs are current, and are reflective of actual field performance.
• Serve as champion for the Continuous Improvement / Lean Six Sigma program. Be a change leader for the entire operations organization. Be an active leader in the CI Project Prioritization Process.
• Identify process improvements as prioritized to business needs and external benchmarks, attack and resolve root causes of problems and inconsistencies.

• Serve as an active participant in the planning, development, and implementation of facility and system design. Maintain an understanding of the technology, the business, and the competition.
• Serve as a critical part of the Project Management Office (PMO). Understand bid, project, or work process execution issues and how to leverage our resources within the organization.
• Conduct capital expenditure planning, global engineering standards, budgeting, forecasting, facility master planning.
• Lead consistent and thorough compliance with requirements of the Covanta Technical Standards Program, coordinate support to assist facilities with implementation, oversight and variance procedures, implement best outage practices, including implementation of outage management team to provide assessment, procurement, and execution oversight with the goal of establishing consistent practices and effective cost control.
• Identify recurring issues (Bad Actors) and defining overall requirements for obtaining necessary plant data, recommend and implement action plans.
• Support Engineering and Project teams in the resolution of technical operational problems including new system start up.
• Identify opportunities to leverage new technologies to drive process focused performance.

Compensation

• A highly competitive executive level compensation program will be provided to the successful candidate including base salary, performance-based incentive bonus, long-term equity and additional executive level benefits.

Position Requirements

Summary of Requirements

• An undergraduate degree in engineering or another technical degree; an advanced degree is considered an advantage. Lean Six Sigma certification is highly desirable.

• 15 + years in Operations Management.

• 5+ years in maintenance and Capex execution.

• 5+ years in plant or field operations/maintenance experience.

• Experience with Lean Six Sigma or operating in lean manufacturing environments.

• Ability to travel both domestically and internationally.

Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

This individual must have 15+ years of progressive experience in operations management with at least 10 years supervisory experience in a leadership role, as well as experience leading operations and maintenance execution. This person will have a track record of outage/maintenance execution, utilizing people effectively and managing tightly against performance commitments and be strongly committed to developing a high-performance culture.

Specifically, the successful candidate will have:

• Experience managing an organization involving the staffing, mentoring and development of its personnel; and a strong track record in remotely managing operating teams.
• Demonstrated strong business acumen with an understanding of the financial implications of design options and process improvement.
• Understanding of the use of technology as a competitive differentiator, specifically driving its use in development of plant strategic plans and implementation leading to continuous improvement in profitability. Strategic and Tactical experience in evaluating technical concepts for implementation.
• Strong customer internal orientation with comfort in a matrixed organization.
• Demonstrate dedication to process safety, worker safety and environmental stewardship.
• Strong leadership and decision-making skills.
• Demonstrated experience in championing and leading change across a business, including driving Management of Change and Operational Discipline. Experienced in implementation of change across facilities within the business.
• Strong interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.
• Key position competencies include extensive management communication experience, ability to work with all levels of the organization (hourly, management and officers and external constituents), strategic orientation with excellent planning and project management skills and customer focus.
• A track record of ensuring all operations projects are subject to rigorous planning and oversight to ensure on-time and on-budget completion that meets or exceeds quality and safety standards.
• Ability to challenge status quo, identify key areas for improvement and implement actions to address.
• Drive cultural change, accountability, and continuous improvement mindset throughout the organization.
• Strong customer internal orientation with comfort in a matrixed organization.
• Demonstrate dedication to process safety, worker safety and environmental stewardship.
• A strong track record in managing large and remote operating teams including: ability to energize and develop all levels of the organization.
• Experience in building (re-building) process/systems focused structure.
• Successful experience interacting with Federal, State and local regulators, legislators, permitting agencies, and other community organizations.
• Leadership skills to serve as a champion for the Continuous Improvement / Lean Six Sigma program; serving as a change leader for the entire maintenance organization and as an active leader in the CI Project Prioritization Process.
• Commitment to diversity and a champion of inclusion.
• Previous leadership experience in a specialty chemical, heavy industry, intensive asset environment with significant processing equipment and material handling, or equivalent.