The Operations Excellence Engineer is responsible for driving and standardizing continuous improvement initiatives across all U.S. manufacturing facilities. This role partners with site leadership to implement and sustain Lean methodologies, with a strong emphasis on standard work, SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Dies), and waste elimination.
Reporting directly to the COO, this position serves as a key change agent, deploying enterprise-wide operational excellence strategies that improve quality, delivery, and cost performance while ensuring consistency across sites.
Responsibilities
Enterprise Continuous Improvement Leadership
Lead the deployment of Lean Manufacturing principles across all U.S. facilities
Drive a consistent operational excellence framework across plants
Identify and prioritize high-impact improvement opportunities aligned with business objectives
Facilitate Kaizen events and structured problem-solving initiatives (A3, DMAIC)
Standard Work Development & Sustainment
Establish, document, and deploy standard work across critical operations
Partner with site teams to ensure adherence and sustainability of standard processes
Audit and continuously improve standard work to drive consistency and repeatability
Train plant leadership and operators on standard work principles and execution
SMED & Changeover Optimization
Lead SMED initiatives to significantly reduce setup and changeover times
Analyze current changeover processes and separate internal vs. external activities
Implement best practices to improve equipment uptime, flexibility, and responsiveness
Drive replication of successful SMED improvements across all facilities
Operational Performance & Metrics
Develop and standardize key performance metrics (OEE, changeover time, scrap, throughput, lead time)
Use data analytics to identify trends, gaps, and improvement opportunities
Support sites in achieving measurable performance improvements
Process Optimization & Best Practice Deployment
Drive cross-site standardization of best practices and processes
Support facility layout, flow improvements, and capacity optimization efforts
Cross-Site Collaboration & Leadership
Act as a liaison between corporate leadership and plant operations
Influence and support plant leaders to adopt and sustain improvements
Share best practices and lessons learned across all facilities
Training & Culture Development
Train and coach employees at all levels on Lean tools and methodologies
Build internal capability in standard work, SMED, and problem-solving
Drive a culture of accountability, discipline, and continuous improvement