FFEI, a global developer of award-winning digital imaging solutions, has announced the appointment of Paul Watson as chief operating officer (COO). This is a new role within FFEI created as a result of significant growth experienced by the business over the past 12 months. 

Watson will be responsible for driving operational excellence – optimizing international business operations, setting up new capabilities and embedding Lean manufacturing, all in support of the businesses plan for continued growth.

“Paul is a seasoned leader who has a history of delivering results. He is uniquely qualified to drive strategic growth, with a focus on operational excellence,” says Andy Cook, managing director, FFEI. “I’m looking forward to working with Paul to align FFEI’s world-class engineering excellence with industry-leading operational practices to drive and extend the next-generation of FFEI’s digital imaging technologies.”

Watson joined FFEI in January 2019 and is an accomplished and commercially focused COO, who is well versed at operating within highly regulated environments having previously worked at Board level in the defense and aerospace sectors. Watson has significant experience of working in global corporations as well as privately owned SMEs.

“I have a passion for privately funded, high tech businesses that are fueled by British engineering excellence,” says Watson. “I was impressed with how FFEI has consistently innovated in the realm of digital imaging, thanks to an impressive array of talented scientists, engineers and software specialists. Having seen the long-term product and technology road maps and the investments being made, it’s clearly an exciting time to be joining the business. I’m excited by the opportunity to help to grow the business still further.”

Prior to this appointment, Watson was operations, quality and business improvement director at Kelvin Hughes, an international developer, manufacturer and supplier of navigation, surveillance and security radar systems to commercial and military sectors. From 2010 through to 2018 he drove the transformation of Kelvin Hughes operations, quality and business improvement to meet demands of the military market. In that role, he managed a team of over 75 employees spanning global operations, quality and business improvement.

Watson has also held various senior roles at a range of high-quality technical product based companies, including aerospace and defence.