Customer Automation Partnership Lead (Material Handling Solutions)

CHEP helps move more goods to more people, in more places than any other organization on earth via our 347 million pallets, crates and containers. We employ approximately 13,000 people and operate in 60 countries. Through our pioneering and sustainable share-and-reuse business model, the world’s biggest brands trust us to help them transport their goods more efficiently, safely and with less environmental impact.

What does that mean for you? You’ll join an international organization big enough to take you anywhere, and small enough to get you there sooner. You’ll help change how goods get to market and contribute to global sustainability. You’ll be empowered to bring your authentic self to work and be surrounded by diverse and driven professionals. And you can maximize your work-life balance and flexibility through our .

Job Description

Key Responsibilities May Include:

• Lead the automation partnership strategy, defining priority partner relationships, opportunity segments, and engagement approaches that support long-term business value.
• Manage the automation opportunity portfolio, qualifying opportunities based on commercial value, technical feasibility, scalability, customer relevance, and strategic fit.
• Partner with automation providers, integrators, and customers to represent organisational capabilities in specification, solution design, and partnership discussions.
• Translate partner requirements and market intelligence into clear recommendations for product development, testing, quality, and investment decisions.
• Challenge technical specifications and commercial positions where needed, balancing partner expectations with product capability, operational feasibility, and long-term value.
• Mobilise cross-functional stakeholders across product, engineering, operations, quality, supply chain, and commercial teams to resolve trade-offs and align responses.
• Develop insights on automation trends, standards, competitive activity, and partner needs to inform future capability, governance, and roadmap decisions.
• Enable consistent partner engagement by establishing clear ways of working, escalation paths, and decision inputs for automation-related opportunities.

You'll lead Brambles’ European automation partner strategy, owning the relationship portfolio with key automation OEMs, vendors, and ecosystem partners. Acts as the senior technical-commercial interface between external partners and internal operations, engineering, product, quality, and commercial teams. You'll shape partner engagement, opportunity prioritisation, specification alignment, and market positioning to strengthen Brambles’ role as a preferred partner in automated supply chain environments. Converts automation market intelligence into actionable input for product, testing, quality, and investment priorities.

Role Specific Accountabilities:

• Define and lead the European automation partner strategy, prioritising OEM relationships, opportunity segments, and engagement models that strengthen Brambles’ position in the automation ecosystem.

• Own and govern the strategic automation opportunity portfolio, qualifying opportunities based on commercial value, technical feasibility, scalability, customer relevance, and long-term strategic fit.

• Act as the senior technical-commercial interface for automation partners, representing Brambles in specification, capability, and solution design discussions with OEMs, vendors, integrators, and customers.

• Shape partner specifications and commercial positions, using data, product knowledge, operational insight, and market intelligence to challenge unfavourable requirements while preserving strategic relationships.

• Mobilise senior internal stakeholders across operations, engineering, product, quality, supply chain, and commercial teams to resolve trade-offs and deliver aligned partner responses.

• Translate automation market intelligence into business-critical input for product, testing, quality, and investment priorities, ensuring Brambles remains competitive as automation adoption accelerates across Europe.

Experience:

• Significant experience leading complex technical-commercial relationships with OEMs, vendors, integrators, or strategic customers, ideally in automation, robotics, material handling, packaging, logistics, or supply chain environments.

• Track record of shaping partner strategies, qualifying high-value opportunities, and influencing commercial or technical outcomes

• Experience influencing technical specifications, commercial positions, or solution design with external partners

• Demonstrated ability to operate credibly with senior internal and external stakeholders across commercial, engineering, product, quality, and operations functions

• Experience translating market, customer, and partner intelligence into actionable recommendations for product, testing, investment, or strategic priorities

• Experience working across multiple European markets, cultures, and stakeholder groups

Knowledge:

• Technical fluency in pallet/packaging specifications and automation system requirements, sufficient to assess feasibility and credibly discuss trade-offs with engineers

• Strong commercial judgement, with the ability to assess opportunity value, strategic relevance, scalability, investment implications, and partner fit.

• Skilled negotiator able to constructively challenge partner specifications while maintaining technical credibility, trust, and long-term relationship value.

• Strong organisational agility, with the ability to navigate Brambles’ operating model and mobilise the right stakeholders to create value for Brambles, customers, and automation partners.

• Strong stakeholder influence skills, with the ability to mobilise operations, engineering, product, quality, and commercial teams quickly and effectively.

• Working knowledge of European pallet and automation standards (e.g. EPAL, FEM, ISO) and awareness of regional differences in automation adoption.

• Ability to synthesise market and competitive intelligence into clear, actionable input for R&D and leadership.

• Comfortable managing multiple concurrent opportunities and priorities in a fast-evolving, ambiguous market.

• Proficiency in additional European languages is desirable given the multi-market scope of the role.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (engineering, business, supply chain) or equivalent professional experience

• Desirable: Engineering or technical degree/background, sufficient to engage credibly on spec discussions with appropriate technical independence

Remote Type

Hybrid Remote

Skills to succeed in the role

Automation Strategy, Innovation Management, Partner Engagement, Product Development

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we are committed to developing a diverse workforce in which everyone is treated fairly, with respect, and has the opportunity to contribute to business success while realizing his or her potential. This means harnessing the unique skills and experience that each individual brings and we do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state, or local protected class.