Drive the DS Smith’s Innovation Agenda, delivering our business value proposition to customers. Instigate, develop and deliver proactive, insight-based innovation and management of the innovation pipeline. May be responsible for ideating new solutions, producing high-quality visuals, prototypes and contributing to the iterative concept analysis and testing process. Manage projects/resources as required. Innovation Specialist II covers small to medium multi-site business unit(s) or may work at the Divisional or Group level. About the role The Automation Improvement Manager plays a vital role in driving operational excellence across the organisation through automation and continuous improvement initiatives. This position is responsible for delivering the company's strategy to derive value from automation technologies and process optimisation methodologies. Reporting to the Finance Director – Transformation, some of your key responsibilities will include identifying automation opportunities, prioritising initiatives, conducting analyses, preparing business cases, project managing implementations, collaborating with IT teams, overseeing development, testing and training, monitoring changes, optimising RPA utilisation, evaluating AI solutions, and providing automation/AI advisory services across the business. This role requires an exceptional individual with strong commercial acumen, data-driven mindset, and excellent project management abilities. The ideal candidate must possess strong collaboration skills to engage stakeholders at all levels and across functions. You should have a passion for driving positive change and a commitment to business excellence. About you Past experience of Automation Implementation, ideally in a large organisation where you've supported a number of teams Knowledge of process mapping and process improvement techniques Able to engage and manage various stakeholders to support change Understanding of LEAN, Six Sigma, etc Experienced user for Microsoft Office applications Ability to organise yourself and your team so that tasks and projects are completed accurately and on time Benefits Competitive salary Discretionary bonus 25 days holiday plus bank holidays Pension scheme, life assurance and income protection Salary sacrifice electric car scheme Employee Assistance Programme Digital GP service Employee Discounts Cycle to work scheme Location: Caerphilly - we operate on a hybrid basis