Keith Smith Email & Phone Number

Newcastle Upon Tyne

Currently seeking to develop my career within a project management context. I am looking for a new and exciting opportunity that will allow me to draw on my past knowledge and experience with the scope to learn and develop whilst delivering excellent results.

Gateshead

Delivered projects in line with the stores business priorities. Utilised PPS Online methodology throughout the planning, execution and conclusion phases. Demanded autonomy, a customer centric approach and strong negotiation, communication and organisational skills.Key Assignments and Achievements:-Defined project scope, budget and projected timelines for higher management and project sponsors.-Led, supported and collaborated with teams of cross functional leaders and service office partners to deliver the defined goals of the projects within the agreed timelines and budgets.-Developed detailed, structured and comprehensive action plans.-Delegated areas of responsibility with planned meetings and decision points to validate and assess progress, address any deviations and give regular updates to the project sponsors.-Engaged, communicated and managed the change process for those effected and the wider store throughout the duration of projects.-Mitigated risks and issues as they arose using a wider network, creativity and initiative, ensuring that solutions delivered the desired outcomes and were compliant with IKEA and UK health, safety and legal mandatories.-Liaised, influenced and negotiated with external partners and suppliers, ensuring that all relevant service contracts and management systems were in place.-Delivered a 60,000 ft2 warehouse for the store, creating an external warehouse facility for 4500 pallets, a large home delivery transport hub for the third-party provider and a training facility with staff welfare area. Increased the store capacity by 1500m3, reduced the logistical cost per m3 by 10% and facilitated a flexible home delivery offer for customers.

Gateshead

Secured the Services operations, the customer shopping experience for the 2.5 million visitors each year, all escalated customer after sales issues and the management of external service provider contracts and performance.Key Assignments and Achievements:-Managed, led and developed a large team of co-workers and team leaders. -Developed, communicated, facilitated co-worker engagement and delivered the annual action plan through the team.-Analysed customer insight information and initiated collaborations across functions to facilitate short term actions and longer-term strategic initiatives that improved the customer shopping experience.-Controlled department related operational costs and worked to reduce them without compromising customer service levels.-Promoted a customer centric culture within the store, ensuring customer convenience standards were met and exceeded and that customer service behaviours were understood and demonstrated across the store.-Secured that all IKEA and UK health and safety and compliance mandatories were met and maintained.Coached and developed team leaders to manage and lead their teams effectively to guarantee a great customer experience and encourage re-visitation.-Consistently delivered results of 100% in safety and compliance annual audits, securing GDPR, minimising stock loss and ensuring a safe and secure environment for co-workers and customers.

Gateshead

Secured the pre-conditions for stock availability and accuracy for the 75,000m3 of products sold per annum, managed the logistics operation, controlled related costs, secured health and safety and compliance and participated and contributed to the wider store agenda in the store commercial team and steering group.Led, managed and developed a large team of co-workers and leaders with a focus on forecasting, stock accuracy and space management within the operation and the wider store. This required achieving a high level of engagement, training and influence to secure the logistics competence in the store. In conjunction with this I delivered a restructure of the entire function, securing the correct contract mix and the preconditions for maximising availability for customers. This involved a full consultation with over 50 co-workers and extensive recruitment process

Cardiff, United Kingdom

Undertook various management roles within the sales, operations and logistics functions, progressing to Logistics manager. As Logistics manager I secured the preconditions for stock availability and also supported colleagues in other stores with mini projects and operational analysis.

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Undertook various sales manager roles focusing on maximising turnover, achievement of margin goals, co-worker development and delivering an excellent and inspiring customer experience.

Pgdip

Ba Hons