Job Type:

Regular

Plains Midstream Canada (PMC) is an industry-leading transportation and midstream provider specializing in transportation, storage, processing and marketing solutions for crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs). PMC also operates strategically-located facilities for crude oil and NGL storage, separates NGL from natural gas and fractionates NGL into pure liquid petroleum gas (LPG) products, including propane and butane.

Fueled by our strong leadership team and a dedicated employee base, combined with our expertise in marketing, logistics and our asset base, PMC is well-positioned to provide our customers with flexible, value-added services now and in the future.

Our Operations department is a talented group of professionals who are committed to conducting our business in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the public, our employees and contractors, our assets and the environment. We want consistent and predictable operations done the right way, every time.

The Director, Operational Strategy Management directs and oversees operational strategy planning, strategic initiative development and execution, and performance reporting. The individual in this role collaborates across Operations (OPS); Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE); Engineering (ENG); Commercial; Information Services (IS); Human Resources (HR); Supply Chain Management (SCM); and other support functions, while leading the strategy management team. Establishes trusting and strong professional relationships with key internal business leaders and stakeholders to assure there is a free flow of ideas and information, leading to performance enhancement and integration. Works directly with the operational executives in presenting strategic proposals to the Chief Operating Officer for approval. Collaborates across the organization to assure the strategic initiatives are developed and implemented to achieve the specified outcomes. The Director, Operational Strategy Management leads a team of two and reports to the Senior Director, Operating Strategy and Management Systems.

Job Responsibilities

Operational Strategy

• Owns, maintains, implements, and continuously improves the process to develop and update the operational strategy
  • Conducts periodic strategic analysis with OMS Sub-Element Sponsors and Sub-Element Owners to identify and assess what internal and external factors have changed that impact the strategy
  • Leads strategic planning sessions with the OPS, HSE, ENG, Commercial, IS, HR, SCM, and other executives to assess progress in achieving the specified strategic outcomes, review factors which have changed, and subsequently refresh the operational strategy
  • Assures the strategic goals and objectives integrate operational risk and safety
  • Collaborates with OMS Sub-Element Sponsors, Sub-Element Owners, and business function leaders to align the organization in linking the strategy to operational execution
• Develops and sustains reporting methodologies and tools to communicate strategic plans and progress to the Operations Leadership Team (OLT)
  • Uses data-driven methodologies to evaluate performance towards achieving the strategic goals, objectives, and targets, and recommend adjustments as necessary
  • Identifies any roadblocks to progress and recommends solutions
  • Identifies and analyzes emerging industry and regulatory trends which could impact achieving the operational strategy
• Provides insights and drives awareness to continually improve the supporting processes and to drive strategic maturity

Strategic Initiatives

• Owns, maintains, implements, and continuously improves the process to manage the portfolio of people, asset, system, or other strategic initiatives.
  • Plans and facilitates discussions with the executives to develop and maintain the strategic initiative portfolio
  • Assures strategic initiative leads and teams understand executive direction regarding strategic initiative intent and work to achieve specified outcomes and timelines
  • Partners with key stakeholders to facilitate sessions with strategic initiative leads and teams to progress the initiatives
  • Collaborates to assure cross-functional integration for the strategic initiative portfolio
  • Maintains strong working relationship to make progress and resolve conflicts with OPS, HSE, ENG, Commercial, IS, HR, SCM, and other business teams in determining and implementing the strategic initiatives
  • Assures organizational change management activities for adoption and success of the strategic initiatives are incorporated into plans and executed against established timelines
  • Links the strategic initiatives to resource planning and budgeting to assure resources are sufficiently allocated to sustain identified priorities

Governance

• Develops and implements sub-element plans to continuously improve OMS Sub-Element 1.2 Strategy and Resources to close sub-element gaps and achieve sub-element objectives and targets

• Participates in OMS Operations Management Team (OMT) meetings, quarterly and annual management reviews, and sub-element assessments
• Plans, monitors, and reports on sub-element metrics and operational KPIs; and proposes sub-element maturity ratings and targets

• Acts as the Strategy and Resources subject matter expert for regulatory compliance audits and for internal audits

Communication

• Clearly communicates sensitive strategic information to executives and stakeholders to determine how effectively the strategic initiatives will be executed across the business
• Obtains and filters information, identifies key issues relevant to achievement of strategic goals, and recommends courses of action to executive leadership
• Analyzes and consolidates strategic progress for recurring presentation to the OLT to facilitate strategic decisions
• Works with all levels of initiative leads and teams to progress activities and decisions in support of accomplishing the strategic initiatives
• Resolves and/or escalates issues in a timely fashion
• Reviews strategic goals, objectives, targets, and performance with leadership at least annually
• Partners with Director, Operating Strategy and Management System to make additional enhancements and socialize with stakeholders

Manages Performance and Develops People

• Builds effective relationships with employees to increase influence, motivate employees, and create high performing teams
• Provides opportunities for team members to build skills and behaviors through coaching, training, and challenging on-the-job assignments

• Sets clear expectations, provides resources, gives direction, and helps employees focus on and prioritize their career goals
  • Conducts ongoing conversations, including coaching, feedback, and check-ins
  • Conducts developmental conversations, creates a development plan, and provides developmental activities for employees to grow

International Travel

• Meet all requirements to travel between the United States and Canada

• Anticipated travel of one week per month to Calgary from Houston

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience Required:

• Master’s degree or bachelor’s degree with equivalent of business management experience
• A minimum of five years of strategy management experience to include thorough understanding of strategic planning, management systems, and operational management
• A minimum of five years of crude oil and natural gas liquids experience, to include knowledge of business risk parameters to determine implications and mitigation
• A minimum of seven years of management experience
• Excellent communication (written, verbal, listening), facilitation, and presentation skills to include ability to develop collaborative working relationships at all levels
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize and direct multiple workstreams simultaneously
• Strategic thinker with strong problem-solving skills with the ability to develop creative solutions to complex issues and lead comfortably in a constantly evolving environment
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to lead a team to organize, analyze, and present significant amounts of information and recommendation with attention to detail and accuracy
• High standard of personal integrity with ability to maintain highest level of confidentiality and exercise sound judgement in difficult situations
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office Suite applications with a strong emphasis on Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and SharePoint
• Cleared criminal history (background) and satisfactory reference checks;
• Compliance with the Company’s drug and alcohol policy including pre-employment D&A testing.

Our employees drive our success. At Plains, hard work is rewarded with competitive compensation and a top-tier benefits program designed to keep you safe, healthy and happy. We work hard to deliver exceptional results to our stakeholders while also respecting our employees’ need for personal and family time, which is reflected in our great benefits program. As part of our goal to be an employer of choice, Plains is also committed to doing business in a sustainable and responsible manner. To learn more about our Sustainability and ESG (environmental, social and governance) initiatives, read our 2021 Plains Sustainability Report.

Salary details estimated by job boards such as Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn do not represent Plains’ compensation structure. We thank all candidates for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

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All applicants not chosen for an interview shall have all personal information permanently deleted or disposed of with the exception of their resume, which will be kept on file in the event that another suitable position becomes available.