Rural Area Manager - Aggregates

WHO IS LAFARGE?
As a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions, Lafarge is enabling greener cities, smarter infrastructure and improving living standards around the world. With sustainability at the core of our strategy, we are becoming a net-zero company, with our people and communities at the heart of our success. We are driving circular construction as a world leader in recycling to build more with less. It’s all thanks to our 70,000 talented people around the world who are passionate about building progress for people and the planet through four business segments: Cement, Ready-Mix Concrete, Aggregates and Solutions & Products.

WHO ARE LAFARGE PEOPLE?
Lafarge people are passionate about finding better ways to build. They embrace innovation and improvement with a pioneering spirit. They work as trusted partners, creating better solutions and experiences for their customers, communities, and colleagues.

Overview
The Rural Area Manager is responsible for the leadership, development & management of the operational functions in the Rural Quarries. The Rural Area Manager will ensure adequate staffing and oversee safe production to enable plant productivity and maintenance in an efficient manner, while delivering quality products to clients. The primary focus will be on safety and maximizing productivity at the lowest cost of production. Regular communication between the Rural Site Supervisors, Plant Foreman, Central Quarry Manager and the Operations Manager is a key component to ensuring sales, operational alignment and site performance. The Rural Area Manager ensures Lafarge is viewed as a leader in the industry and in local communities in which it operates, and maintains a good relationship with area stakeholders.
 

Key Responsibilities
 

SAFETY
▪    Demonstrates a commitment to communicating, improving and adhering to safety policies in all work environment areas. Promotes a positive safety culture through leadership by example.
▪    Implementation and management of all safety initiatives
▪    Creates and enforces a culture of safety and environmental stewardship. 
▪    Promotes safety culture through engagement with employees and subcontractors with an objective of developing a “think before you act” culture. 
▪    Demonstrates a commitment to communicating, improving and adhering to safety policies in all work environments and areas.  
▪    Sets clear and consistent expectations for safety performance.
▪    Work with the Safety Department and Management to administer, promote and review safety policies, processes and procedures.
▪    Assist in the implementation and management of all local and regional safety initiatives, providing feedback as necessary.
▪    Provide feedback on subcontractor performance.
▪    Responsible for maintaining safe working environments and ensuring compliance with local, provincial and federal safety regulations; coordinate closely with local Safety Manager.  
▪    Constantly strives towards zero accidents and injuries.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
▪    Promotes a culture of performance and exceeding expected results. 
▪    Constantly reviews costs to ensure Financial Targets are being met.
▪    Ensures Plants are recording Production and Downtime accurately to track areas for improvement 
▪    Participate in monthly inventory, sales & production planning. 
▪    Develops Monthly Financial Forecast/Budgets for all Plants & Sites in their area.
▪    Effectively develops goals and objectives to track performance and continuously look for opportunities for improvement
▪    Plans Opex/Capex Requests.
▪    Responsible for Annual Inventory Reconciliation and ensuring that there are no unforeseen write ups/downs
▪    Works with the Land Group to ensure that Reclamation is subsidized properly to account for all costs.
▪    Responsible for the management of FCA & Lease equipment in their area, ensuring maximum utilization.
▪    Responsible for Standard cost review and the costing of all “Extra Mile” projects
▪    Works with Plant Foremen to accurately budget for Winter Maintenance overhauls.

HUMAN RESOURCES
▪    Provides leadership for operations staff located in the Rural GCA areas by working closely with Plant Foreman and Site Supervisors.
▪    Adheres to all LH Human Resource Policies and ensures that all site employees do as well.
▪    Ensure sites are adequately staffed and all employees are provided with the proper training.
▪    Recognize and be mindful of position succession plans.
▪    Fosters positive relationships with employees, to contribute to productivity, motivation and morale. 
▪    Prevents and resolves problems involving individuals which arise out of or affect work situations.  
▪    Motivates employees and builds effective teams.
▪    Document and communicate performance concerns to management, addressing performance concerns, ensuring company safety policies are followed and training requirements are met and /or completed.
▪    Ensures all employees are fit for duty in line with LH policies

SITES/PLANTS
▪    Works closely with plant foreman to develop best practices, processes and to ensure plant activities are optimized and costs are best in class. 
▪    Actively involved on a daily basis with on-site operations. 
▪    Implement and follow best practices for maintenance, production and shipping processes. 
▪    Effectively use Lafarge resources and programs to drive operational change.
▪    Manage operations as efficiently as possible to provide aggregate/asphalt products at the lowest possible cost while ensuring safety is never compromised.
▪    Sets clear and consistent expectations for site performance.
▪    Seek continuous improvement in all processes. 
▪    Recognize and communicate to Operations Manager any priority problems. 
▪    Develop maintenance plans and schedules with an emphasis on preventative maintenance. 
▪    Drive efficiency, by assisting with plant production whenever feasible. 
▪    Eliminate/minimize resource and cost surprises.
▪    Oversees stripping contractors while addressing and correcting any issues that arise.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
▪    Ensure that site meets or exceeds all LafargeHolcim and Regulatory guidelines.  
▪    Responsible for the dust and noise mitigation of LH, its operations and its subcontractor operations.  Must ensure the Alberta Ambient Air & City/Municipal guidelines are always followed.
▪    Plans effectively to ensure minimal impacts on surrounding communities.
▪    Responsible for ensuring all Contractors meet the regulatory guidelines.  Takes action and shuts down any operation that does not meet the strict environmental policies.
▪    Assure adherence to applicable legislation and regulations, including permit and environmental conditions.
▪    Coordinate with the local Environmental Manager.
 

CUSTOMER FOCUS
▪    Maintain a strong focus on customer satisfaction and quality.
▪    Provides excellent customer service to internal and external customers by addressing issues, questions or concerns in a timely manner. 
▪    Develop and maintain good relationships with key stakeholders in the area. 
▪    Drive quality for customer retention. 
▪    Seek opportunities to meet and exceed customer expectations. 
▪    Ensures a quality product within specifications and timely delivery to clients, actively works to resolve any issues. 
 

RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER FUNCTIONS

▪    Works closely with: Dispatch, Logistics, Quality Control, Plant Foreman, Site Supervisors, Safety, Sales & Environment
 

DIMENSIONS
●    Direct Reports:  3 Hourly Foreman
●    Indirect Reports: 26 Non-union employees
●    Volumes: 1.0M tonnes
 

SPECIFIC ACCOUNTABILITIES
●    Mine planning  
●    Effectively drive and seek cost improvement opportunities
●    Innovation and continuous improvement to plant performance 
●    Compliance with Safety, Land and Environment Audits
●    Detailed preventative and predictive maintenance plans
●    Asset Utilization, KPI & OPI setting, monitoring and benchmarking
●    Month End Results
●    Financial performance
●    Lead teams with Accountability 
●    Assist in the development of all budgets, targets, strategies and objectives and work towards the same.

QUALIFICATION PROFILE
 

EDUCATION
●    Undergraduate degree in a relevant field preferred or a combination of education and experience.
 

EXPERIENCE
●    10 years of proven operational experience and supervisory experience preferred 
●    Good knowledge of aggregate industry 
●    Excellent problem solving and analytical skills
●    Strong communication and change management skills
●    Prior work experience in unionized environment
●    Ability to foster and grow a strong safety culture
●    High energy positive leader with ability to influence high performing teams 
●    Independent thinker
●    High capacity of working under pressure and stress 
 

COMPETENCIES
●    Leading People
●    Conflict Management
●    Motivating Others
●    Drive for Results 
●    Listening 
●    Composure
 

As part of our dedicated focus on the health and safety of all employees, a pre-employment medical, including drug and alcohol testing and a criminal record check, may be required.

YOUR LAFARGE EXPERIENCE
At Lafarge, there is endless opportunity for you to play your part. Whether you’re in a technical, managerial, or frontline role, you can shape a career that works for you. With us you’ll have the chance to embrace the passion we share for our planet. You’ll be encouraged to seek out diverse perspectives, share your ideas and build the skills and connections you need to perform at your best. Because it’s only when we work together in a culture where everyone thrives, that we can build the world we all want to live in.