Strategic Rail Fleet Manager (Home Based, USA/Canada)

Position: Strategic Rail Fleet Manager

Primary Location: Home-Based, Canada or USA (travel required to Toronto for quarterly meetings)

Schedule: FT, Salaried

Reports To: Rail Operations Leader

Compensation: CAD 107,000 - CAD 117,000 + bonus + benefits.*  

*US Salary is dependent on the geographic location of the candidate.

Salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location.   The range reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position.   Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.   More specific salary range for your preferred location can be discussed during the hiring process.  Please note that the compensation details listed reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, benefits, pension contributions or additional incentives.  

About This Role and About You 

The Strategic Rail Fleet Manager is responsible for several critical elements of Chemtrade’s rail operations.

This role:

• Owns the rail fleet models – ensuring the business needs are met while optimizing the number of Chemtrade railcars
• Is the rail operations work process owner and subject matter expert
• Provides ownership and leadership for utilizing technology for visibility and management of the rail fleet
• Ensures railcar fleet regulatory compliance by reviewing and interpreting regulatory/rule changes and translating to necessary actions

To be successful in this role, the incumbent will be required to work in conjunction with the business teams, supply chain, commercial, manufacturing, tech services, purchasing, IT, and external service providers/lessors to ensure Chemtrade's current and future operational needs are met.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Transportation, Business, or equivalent combination of education and experience
• 10+ years’ experience in the chemical industry is preferred
• In-depth knowledge of the supply chain and the impact of uncontrollable events
• Training/experience in Six Sigma, lean manufacturing, or other professional supply chain certification is preferred
• Advanced proficiency using office equipment and office software (Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
  Experience with ERP systems (i.e., SAP) required
• Advanced expertise in specialized areas relevant to the role
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders and at all levels within the organization
• Embrace change and facilitate change management principles
• Advanced problem-solving and decision-making skills with the ability to analyze complex issues, develop creative solutions, and mitigate risks; strong strategic thinking and business insight with the ability to understand and align organizational goals with departmental objectives and drive results
• Proven track record of delivering tangible business outcomes (i.e., cost savings, market share growth, or improved operational efficiency)

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Fleet Planning (20%)

•  Develop and implement long-term fleet strategies considering volume, service, turns, car quantity, engineering design and growth, regulatory, and reliability drivers. Strategies also include asset optimization, fleet sharing, lease planning, maintenance/retrofit strategies, fleet funding, and fleet deployment.
• Own and execute strategic/tactical/operational fleet-related S&OP meetings. Identify, lead, implement, and realize reliability and utilization improvement projects.
• Manage railcar capital drivers and acquisition plans based on Treasury criteria.  Develop justification, obtain endorsement, and execute acquisitions.
• Support necessary changes to rail fleet needs concerning acquisitions or divestitures

Business Process Expert (30%)

• Own and serve as a subject matter expert for the level 2 – 6 rail operations work processes
• Takes actions to ensure that a process is continuously monitored, supported, and improved
• Partner closely with IT on architecture and design of technology to enable the work process
• Define and monitor work process metrics:  Strategic, Tactical and Operational
• Develop training content for employees executing the work processes
• Support implementation of enhancements/improvements, including completing gap analysis between As-Is and To-Be designs and required change management activities

Rail Operations Improvements (20%)

• Productivity focal point for rail operations team – ensuring a robust pipeline of opportunities to deliver annual savings goals
• Identify improvement opportunities and charter projects
• Lead go-do, Lean, Six Sigma projects

Rail Technology/Visibility Platform Owner (20%)

• Maintain, improve, and optimize the visibility system (currently Geometrix) & work process associated with end-to-end rail activity
• Creation and management of rail productivity dashboards and models
• Management of all Geometrix modules, including how they can be optimized to provide value for Chemtrade:
  • Track and Trace
  • Site yard operation
  • Maintenance planning/schedule/compliance
  • Rail car “lease” module
• Management of and compliance with Class 1 railroad system interface requirements (Railinc, Umler, etc.)

Rail regulatory/Compliance (10%) 

• Ensure railcar fleet regulatory compliance by keeping abreast of AAR, TC, PHMSA and FRA regulatory updates, communicating with key stakeholders, and ensuring issues identified through maintenance advisories and/or data analysis are appropriately tracked and resolved in accordance with regulations
• In coordination with the Tech Services team, provides regulatory interpretation on regulatory/rule changes to rail organization