Senior Global Operational Excellence Leader

Pladis; Sydney; Remote; AUD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

pladis is seeking a Senior Operational Excellence Manager to drive world‑class manufacturing performance across its global snacking and confectionery operations. You will deploy OE frameworks, improve safety, quality, cost and service, and embed a continuous improvement culture across multiple factories.

The ideal candidate has deep experience in snacking/confectionery, a strong background in Lean Six Sigma and manufacturing excellence, and the ability to influence across a matrix organisation.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in the snacking and confectionery industry.
• Significant experience in manufacturing and/or operational excellence roles within FMCG or food manufacturing.
• Demonstrated track record of delivering sustainable operational improvements in a factory environment.
• Experience working across multiple manufacturing sites and cultures, ideally in a global or regional role.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, deployment and sustainment of pladis’ Operational Excellence (OE) framework across manufacturing sites, aligned with global standards and local needs.
• Drive measurable improvements in OE%, cost, losses, quality, conformance to plan, and safety performance using problem‑solving methodologies.
• Coach and challenge factory leadership teams to embed continuous improvement behaviours and ways of working.
• Identify, prioritise and execute improvement initiatives with clear business cases and quantified benefits.
• Partner closely with site, regional and global manufacturing leaders to improve end‑to‑end operational performance.
• Support capability building across factories through training, coaching and hands‑on support (e.g. Lean tools, root cause analysis, standard work).
• Ensure consistency of KPIs, performance management routines and best‑practice sharing across the network.
• Act as a subject‑matter expert for operational excellence within the snacking and confectionery manufacturing context.
• Champion a strong safety‑first culture, supporting continuous improvement in safety performance and risk reduction.
• Ensure OE initiatives fully align with food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements typical of the snacking and confectionery sector.
• Support reduction of losses, defects, and variability through robust problem‑solving and process control.
• Lead change initiatives across multiple sites and geographies in a matrix organisation.
• Influence senior stakeholders and factory leadership teams without direct authority.
• Work cross‑functionally with Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, R&D and Digital teams to deliver integrated improvements.
• Support digitalisation and data‑driven decision‑making initiatives where relevant to manufacturing performance.

Skills

Lean Manufacturing

Six Sigma

TPM

CI tools

Stakeholder Management

Change Leadership

Data Analysis

Fluency in English

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Manufacturing/Operations

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt/Black Belt

Job description

pladis is seeking a Senior Operational Excellence Manager to drive world‑class manufacturing performance across its global snacking and confectionery operations. You will deploy OE frameworks, improve safety, quality, cost and service, and embed a continuous improvement culture across multiple factories.

The ideal candidate has deep experience in snacking/confectionery, a strong background in Lean Six Sigma and manufacturing excellence, and the ability to influence across a matrix organisation.