IKEA Communications AB

What if you could inspire to make everyday life just a little bit better?

The answer is simple: You can. This is what motivates us at IKEA. We’re constantly searching to find new ways to be better. We use insights from real life at home all over the world, learning about the needs and dreams of people. We use our home furnishing knowledge to help inspire people with ideas and solutions that will help them live the life they want.

At IKEA Communications, we’re people-centric, have a passion for making great stuff, and we aim to be the best communication partner for the whole of IKEA. We work closely and together with our colleagues across IKEA, creating state-of-the-art communication at the lowest price. Located in Älmhult, Sweden, we’re a melting pot of many different nationalities and cultures. Because in order to make things better for the many, we want to involve people from all parts of the world. Nonetheless, we never forget our Swedish heritage that forms the backbone of who we are today.

We’re on the lookout for passionate doers, idea makers, creative thinkers - people who want to find answers to everyday problems in people’s lives, for society and the planet.

Do you also believe in celebrating the everyday life? Do you want to be part of making it happen from idea to paper or pixel? Then keep on reading.

Right now we are setting up three Competence Areas in IKEA Communications. Project Operations will be one of them, and we are looking for a Project Operations Manager.    

Project Operations will support projects at IKEA Communications with specialist format-independent competences by leading, managing, facilitating and supporting tailor-made creative teams in the different phases of ideation, creation, and development of communication. Continuously improving and simplifying the overall end-to-end communication development process with seamless handovers and excellence in planning and securing quality, time and cost with strong competence in project management, tools and frameworks.

As a Project Operations Manager you will…

• Translate vision, strategies and business direction into clear actionable long- and short-term development plans that meet the organisation’s competence needs within project management and leadership of tailor-made creative teams .
• Lead the necessary transformational changes to match and remain at the forefront of today’s best practices, industry trends, and the digital/technological competitive landscape.
• Manage closely the development of leadership capabilities of Competence Managers.
• Support the Competence Managers with overseeing and following up on budget, sales of hours, overall recruitment and MCR processes, Business & People updates etc.
• Develop frameworks for managing competence portfolios and talent pools with creative, specialist and/or technical expertise that can lead multiple projects with diverse creative teams; and across different competence areas.
• Develop frameworks for how we balance in-house capacity between internal & external competences of current and future competence capabilities.
• Synergise creation and production operations, creating insights and knowledge around present and new production methods for improved creativity and cost efficiency, as well as develop a factory floor mindset with an iterative and circular flow, striving for additional creative height at lower cost.
• Securing clarity of roles and responsibilities within the competence area.
• Contribute to the design of career paths that support the development of top-performing competences.
• Participate and contribute in facilitating competence exchanges across IKEA/IKEA Communications , external partners and industry leading organisations.

Our Competence Area Managers are people with great passion for people centric impactful communication and production techniques. People who lead by translating vision, strategies and business direction into clear actionable development plans. People who can lead in the unknown and in ever-changing conditions. People with the ability to identify and then contextualise development opportunities and technology to meet the competence needs of today and tomorrow. People who can influence others in a multi-layered organisation, to drive decisions and consensus. People who simplify complexity, and who drive synergies and collaborations. People who can cultivate an innovative and idea-driven culture that enables co-workers to explore and share ideas and reinvent creative production.

You’ll need:

• Experience working in either Retail, Communication, Home Furnishing or Media industries.
• Deep knowledge of project management methodologies and frameworks.
• Experience creating and implementing long-term development plans.
• Good understanding of the creative & production development process.
• Experience working in a high-volume production environment with tight deadlines.
• Up-to-date knowledge of industry, digital and market trends; new tools and technologies.
• Knowledge of how customers consume and experience communication.
• Experience developing people for a variety of creative, specialist, technical or leadership roles.
• Experience mapping out talent resources, tasks, and dependencies.
• Experience working in a multicultural, creative and inclusive work environment.
• Fluency in English, spoken & written.

This is a place where you can focus on doing what you love. There are no dress codes or closed offices. No day is ever the same. All ideas are welcome. Everyone tries to pitch in when needed, and failures are seen as a way of learning. When you enter our building, we want you to feel that you can inspire billions of people all over the world. 

Are you ready to make the world a little better, together? We want to hear from you!

We look forward to receiving your application, in English. Please note that this position is in Älmhult, Sweden.(During the summer vacation, our recruitment process will be a little bit longer, thanks for the understanding)

We do not accept applications by e-mail. If you are one of the candidates we think have the required experience we will contact you by email or phone to plan a telephone interview. In some cases recruitment processes may take time, so we kindly ask you to be patient in this regard.