Operational Excellence Advisor Jobs in Iowa (NOW HIRING)

BECOME AN OWNER, MAKE A DIFFERENCE, AND BUILD FRIENDSHIPS

Who We Are

Founded in 1993, Timberline Manufacturing provides electrical contract manufacturing with a specialization in wire harness assembly, control panels, and electronic assembly. Timberline is 100% employee-owned since 2012. Along with employee ownership, we provide opportunities for advancement, professional growth and financial rewards. From the moment you enter the building, we greet you as a person, not a number.

What We Value

We're not the first to say it, but we certainly mean it - our employees are what makes Timberline so great. That's why we're an employee-owned company.

Job Title: Director of Operational Excellence

Description: Provides strategic leadership for Operational Excellence, Quality, Engineering, and Continuous Improvement in support of Timberline Manufacturing's business objectives. Serves as a senior change leader responsible for improving organizational performance, simplifying processes, strengthening accountability, and appropriately managing business, customer, quality, and compliance risk. Partners with the Leadership Team to apply sound business judgment, challenge legacy practices when appropriate, and balance operational effectiveness, customer requirements, compliance, cost, speed, and risk.

Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for Quality, Engineering, and Continuous Improvement, with accountability for performance, priorities, and organizational effectiveness.
• Develop and execute an Operational Excellence strategy aligned with company growth, profitability, delivery, quality, customer, and organizational objectives.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the Leadership Team on operational risk, quality, process design, organizational effectiveness, and major business decisions.
• Lead cross-functional problem solving with Sales, Scheduling, HR, Production, Finance, Supply Chain, Quality, and Engineering to resolve constraints and improve enterprise performance.
• Manage departmental resources and budget consistent with overall business priorities and expected return on investment.
• Establish meaningful performance metrics and use data and root-cause analysis to prioritize resources, drive corrective action, and deliver measurable business results.
• Actively participate in the monthly SIOP process and translate business priorities into clear operational actions and accountability.
• Ensure the Quality Management System and AS9100 requirements are effectively maintained while distinguishing external requirements from internally created practices and applying an appropriate risk-based approach to internal controls.
• Evaluate and challenge legacy policies, procedures, approvals, and controls when their cost, complexity, or organizational burden is not justified by the business value or risk reduction they provide.

Requirements:

• Degree in Engineering, Quality Assurance, Business, Operations, or another related field; equivalent relevant leadership experience may be considered.
• 8+ years of progressively responsible leadership experience in manufacturing, including responsibility for leading leaders and cross-functional initiatives.
• Executive-level communication, interpersonal, and collaboration skills with the ability to clearly articulate risk, tradeoffs, recommendations, and consequences.
• Demonstrated ability to operate as both a strategic leader and hands-on change agent, with a proven track record of leading significant organizational or operational change and sustaining measurable improvements.
• Strong business acumen and judgment, with the ability to evaluate operational, financial, customer, quality, and compliance risk and make sound decisions when priorities or requirements conflict.
• Strong working knowledge of ERP and manufacturing systems, with the ability to use data to improve business performance.
• Experience with AS9100 or comparable regulated or quality-management environments strongly preferred.
• Lean and Continuous Improvement expertise required, including experience applying Lean as a business improvement methodology rather than solely implementing tools such as 5S.
• Demonstrated success simplifying complex processes and eliminating non-value-added work while maintaining appropriate business controls.
• Proven ability to challenge established practices constructively and influence senior leaders and cross-functional teams.
• Strong analytical and root-cause problem-solving skills with a bias toward practical, scalable solutions and measurable outcomes.
• Demonstrated leadership style that builds accountability, develops others, encourages constructive challenge, and promotes teamwork.