Manufacturing Process Lead

Position Summary:

The Process Lead owns all continuous improvement activities for their assigned area. Is the subject matter expert around centerlines for the area. The role must have technical and analytical skills to be able to collect and analyze line data to identify and prioritize loss elimination opportunities. The opex engineer leads continuous improvement initiatives, leads root cause problem solving efforts on chronic losses, and identifies & prioritizes projects in their area in collaboration with the Area Manager. This role coaches the operations team to improve the overall area and updates standards as improvements are made. Overall, this position helps implement the strategic plan for their assigned area in pursuit of lean manufacturing thus lowering overall production costs and improving efficiency. 

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop, lead, execute, sustain, and standardize major process improvement projects. These include focus improvement projects, Kaizen events, documenting Standard Work & establishing centerlines. 


• Mentoring plant leadership on process improvement projects. Engaging the teams on the CI mindset and helping the entire area start to shift the mindset to more lean manufacturing. 


• The Opex Engineer will be the adminstrator of the RedZone program and provide orientation to new hires on the RedZone program. The Process Lead will also develop, coordinate, and train employees in various lean/sigma manufacturing techniques.


• Daily direction setting for this role will be provided by the Area Manager who will work closely with the opex engineer and opex manager on the area needs.


• Attending specified meetings.


• Build a pipeline of projects for major process improvement and helping the area manager and opex manager priortize the work in the assigned area. 

Education and Experience:

• 2-3 years of Lean experience in a complex manufacturing environment or BS in Engineering, Business or related field.


• Past experience in leading Kaizen workshops in the areas of 5S, standard work, visual management, daily management, SMED and OEE gap closure.


• 6 Sigma certification preferred.


• Food manufacturing experience preferred.


• Maintenance/manufacturing/engineering/QA/QS experience preferred.
  
   

Knowledge and Skills:

• Demonstrated ability to lead kaizen improvement events.


• Demonstrated ability to complete cost savings projects.


• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and ability to work in a matrix organization.


• Ability to lead cross-functional teams to implement cost savings programs within assigned area.


• Strong analytical skills using tools such as statistics, downtime tracking, mechanical history, project planning to identify areas of opportunity.


• Creative in problem solving and innovative approaches to resolve complex problems.


• Microsoft office skills such as PowerPoint, Project, Excel, and Word.


• Ability to quickly come up to speed on complex production processes and work with others to identify areas of opportunity via data.


• Ability to teach/coach CI concepts throughout the plant.