Crane Company was founded in 1855 and is based in Stamford, Connecticut. With revenues of $2B and 7,000 employees worldwide, Crane (NYSE: CR) is a diversified manufacturer of highly engineered industrial products
comprised of three segments: Aerospace & Electronics, Process Flow Technologies, and Engineered Materials. Crane provides its products and solutions to end markets, including commercial and military aerospace, defense,
and space; chemical and pharmaceutical production; water and wastewater; non-residential and municipal construction; energy; and other general industrial and consumer-related applications.
Crane’s strategy is to grow earnings and cash flow by focusing on the manufacturing of highly engineered industrial products for specific markets where scale is a relative advantage, and where the Company can
compete based on proprietary and differentiated technology, deep vertical expertise, and responsiveness to unique and diverse customer needs. We are proud of our rich history and culture which is reinforced continuously in four key overarching themes globally: The highest ethics and integrity - Philanthropy, Sustainability, Equality - The Crane Business System (CBS,) a holistic management system that is taught and driven throughout
our organization, aimed at executing on strategic customer driven profitable growth through disciplined execution and cadence - and Think Big, Be Bold, Act Fast. We empower our teams to push boundaries on innovation and drive continued excellence in engineering by taking risks and pushing with speed for new innovative solutions.
ABOUT THE POSTION
“I am looking for a senior IT executive to join our Corporate Headquarters which houses our most senior executives at Crane,” says Rich Maue, Crane’s EVP, and CFO. “With this close-knit group of executives, I need a
partner who will help set strategic direction of our common IT approaches across Crane while serving in an oversight capacity for local business decision making. I am looking for an energetic, talented individual who
enjoys the fun of tackling complex tasks. Given the breadth of opportunities and challenges that are inherent in our diversified business model, we’re looking for someone who can manage a variety of shifting priorities on the
day-to-day basis. I need a leader who is “hands-on” and seeks to jump in where necessary!”
Typical responsibilities in business unit oversight include:
- Performing a regular cadence of reviews with each local IT Leader (a local VP of IT) to further understand and provide guidance around all key IT initiatives
- Ensuring business unit compliance with all Crane IT Policies
- Ensuring adequacy of business unit IT talent including having the right organizational structure within all business unit IT organizations.
- Managing our ERP tollgate process, including hands-on reviews and final approval on any go-live of a major system implementation
In addition to interfacing with the various business unit IT organizations across Crane, the VP of IT will be responsible for Corporate Office support across these same fundamental areas.
The VP of IT is also responsible for overseeing all of Crane’s global solutions that support both our business units and the Corporate Office:
- PeopleSoft
- Hyperion Financial Management (HFM)
- Microsoft 365
- SharePoint
- ADP / E-Time
The VP of IT has four direct reports and direct oversight of a team of seven. This role partners closely with the our divisional heads of IT and the company's Chief Information Security Officer.
Specific responsibilities include:
Corporate support:
- Ensuring our systems remain on!
- Participating in IT Intellectual Capital reviews with CFO, ensuring we have the best IT organization to win
- Maintains the exciting and fun effort of ensuring robust IT policies are in place, updated as necessary and drive business unit compliance
- ERP upgrades – Do we really need to!? If so, ensuring business unit ERPs have the right update / upgrade schedule balancing cost and risk
- Shrewd negotiating with global vendors. Not just price, but best service.
- Sharing IT-related learnings and communicating with the Presidents and CFO’s of our business units to ensure they are helping drive improvements every day
With a regular cadence, working with the Business Unit IT teams to ensure:
- All IT infrastructure across Crane is appropriately managed and updated with the right cadence of IT asset replacement
- Appropriate application license procedures and related reporting is in place across Crane to ensure compliance
- All business unit IT ERP or similar application implementations utilize Crane’s established “ERP Toll-gate Process”
- ERP Toll-gate Process is updated for lessons learned, post all implementations
And if all that isn’t interesting enough, overseeing and facilitating IT integration activities resulting from an acquisition perspective.
IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE
Experience
- 15 years of experience in IT roles of increasing responsibility including min. 5 years at Director level
- Resilient, hands-on leader with a track record of performance
- Excellent knowledge of IT systems and infrastructure
- Experience in designing/developing IT systems and planning IT implementation
- Experience in a multi-site global manufacturing environment
- Skilled at project management
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities
- Excellent organizational and leadership skills – and someone who wants to have fun!
- Solid understanding of data analysis, budgeting, and business operations
- Experience in corporate environments featuring strong, lean-based operating systems and with decision making that is driven off rigorous, fact-based analysis
- Experienced and comfortable working in a corporate context in which he/she has significant autonomy in leading his/her function on a highly collaborative basis with business unit IT leaders
- Extensive hands-on M&A experience including due diligence and integrations
- Ideally, experience with our environment - Hyperion Financial Management (HFM), PeopleSoft or Workday, SharePoint, and our business unit ERPs
Education
- An undergraduate degree in Computer Science, or relevant field
- MSc/MA and advanced executive leadership courses highly desirable
Personal Attributes
- A partner to me and collaborator to the field, while also:
- Smart/Fun!
- An effective communicator with highly effective written and speaking skills
- An active listener
*Crane Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, military status, or national origin or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.
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