Solutions Engineering Executive

Job Description

Our client is seeking an experienced Solutions Engineering Executive to join their Port Elizabeth team,

• Lead the development and optimisation of supply chain solutions across inventory, warehousing, production logistics, transportation, distribution and fulfilment
• Translate customer and business requirements into practical supply chain strategies, operating concepts and engineering designs
• Provide direction on network configuration, inventory positioning, replenishment strategies, material flow and distribution models
• Oversee the design of operational processes, layouts, capacity, labour requirements, equipment requirements and supporting systems
• Ensure that physical processes, information flows and technology requirements form a coherent operating solution
• Evaluate alternative operating models and their implications for cost, service, flexibility, scalability and risk
• Identify constraints, dependencies and opportunities that materially affect solution feasibility or operational performance
• Ensure that engineering recommendations are supported by appropriate analysis and clearly documented assumptions
• Lead the engineering contribution to customer discovery, feasibility studies, proposals, RFQs, renewals and operational redesign
• Establish the scope, operating concept, design principles, key assumptions and engineering deliverables early in solution development
• Challenge incomplete requirements, unsupported assumptions and unrealistic commitments before detailed design or submission
• Direct the level of analysis required for each decision, balancing accuracy, materiality, available information and delivery timelines
• Manage engineering priorities, milestones, resources, risks and dependencies
• Review and validate solution designs, productivity assumptions, resource calculations, equipment selection and implementation requirements
• Ensure that solutions are technically feasible, commercially supportable and capable of being operated sustainably
• Provide technical assurance before submission, approval and implementation
• Support implementation planning, testing, operational readiness, launch and stabilisation through the delivery of agreed engineering outputs
• Ensure that approved designs, assumptions, constraints and customer commitments are transferred clearly to implementation teams and Operations
• Review material design changes during implementation and assess their operational and cost implications
• Incorporate lessons from implementation and operating performance into future solution development
• Support Business Development and Commercial teams in assessing opportunities and understanding customer requirements
• Provide technical leadership in customer discovery sessions, solution workshops, presentations and proposal discussions
• Develop and evaluate solution options that balance customer value, competitiveness, operational feasibility and financial sustainability
• Own the engineering assumptions and resource requirements underpinning solution cost models
• Lead or coordinate solution costing with Finance and the relevant costing specialists
• Ensure that cost models reflect the proposed operating design, including labour, equipment, facilities, systems, implementation costs and relevant risks
• Explain the operational and financial implications of changes in scope, volumes, service requirements and contractual assumptions
• Support pricing decisions and negotiations through clear technical analysis, cost justification and alternative solution options
• Lead the development of engineering methods, tools and reusable capabilities aligned with business strategy and customer needs
• Provide direction on functional capability and technology priorities, including the Functionality and Incubator Master Schedules
• Translate operational requirements into clear functional requirements for digital platforms, workflow tools, automation and decision-support systems
• Work with Technology and Operations to align capability roadmaps, development priorities and implementation plans
• Lead engineering assessments of existing operations to identify opportunities to improve productivity, service, cost, capacity and resource utilisation
• Diagnose underlying process, layout, systems and operating-model issues using appropriate data and direct observation
• Develop practical future-state operating models and improvement plans with Operations
• Validate improvement business cases, implementation requirements and expected benefits before commitment
• Support the implementation of significant…