Chief of Operations & Lean Transformation

Top Echelon LLC; Johnson City (TN); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Lean Focus LLC seeks a Vice President of Operations to lead Americas manufacturing, drive Lean transformation, and build scalable, high-performance teams across multiple facilities. The role reports to the President & CEO and shapes strategy, budgeting, capital investments, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Requires 15+ years in manufacturing leadership, multi-site experience, Lean Six Sigma expertise, and strong financial acumen. Travel 25-40% to U.S. facilities is expected.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership, including 10+ years in senior operations leadership.
• Bachelor's degree in Operations/Engineering/Business or related field; MBA or similar is a plus.
• Proven experience leading multi-site manufacturing operations with responsibility for production, engineering, quality, and supply chain.
• Lean Manufacturing, Operational Excellence, Six Sigma, or related improvement methodologies.
• Strong financial acumen with experience managing operating budgets, capex, and productivity initiatives.
• Experience leading organizational transformation and change management initiatives.
• Excellent strategic planning, analytical, communication, and executive leadership skills.
• ERP systems proficiency (SAP preferred) and exposure to performance analytics.
• Ability to travel 25-40% with regular visits to U.S. manufacturing facilities.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute operational strategies that support company goals and accelerate growth.
• Serve as trusted advisor to the President & CEO and executive leadership on performance, capacity planning, capital investments, and organizational growth.
• Lead the execution of strategic initiatives to improve operational effectiveness, scalability, profitability, and customer satisfaction.
• Drive Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and Operational Excellence initiatives to improve productivity and OEE.
• Provide executive oversight of materials management, production planning, inventory management, warehousing, and logistics.
• Partner with Supply Chain leadership to optimize SIOP, demand planning, inventory performance, and material flow.
• Provide strategic leadership for Manufacturing Engineering and Quality to ensure robust processes and product quality.
• Lead initiatives to improve first-pass yield, reliability, and manufacturing efficiency.
• Support new product introduction readiness and scalability.
• Sponsor digital manufacturing and Industry 4.0 initiatives for visibility and data-driven decisions.
• Develop and manage annual operating budgets, capex plans, and productivity initiatives.
• Champion EHS initiatives promoting a zero-incident safety culture.
• Build and lead a high-performing Operations leadership team through coaching and succession planning.
• Establish a culture of accountability, empowerment, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Drive leadership development and talent optimization across all functions.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Financial acumen

Change management

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive communication

Operational excellence

Lean/Six Sigma

ERP/analytics

Education

Bachelor's degree in Operations Management / Industrial Engineering / Business Administration / Supply Chain Management

MBA or related advanced degree

Tools

SAP

Manufacturing systems

Analytics tools

Job description

Lean Focus LLC seeks a Vice President of Operations to lead Americas manufacturing, drive Lean transformation, and build scalable, high-performance teams across multiple facilities. The role reports to the President & CEO and shapes strategy, budgeting, capital investments, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Requires 15+ years in manufacturing leadership, multi-site experience, Lean Six Sigma expertise, and strong financial acumen. Travel 25-40% to U.S. facilities is expected.