Director - Operational Excellence

Komline; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Komline is seeking a Director of Operational Excellence in Washington, DC, to lead the Komline Business System (KBS) and enterprise CI strategy. You will partner with GMs, Plant Managers, and functional leaders to improve safety, quality, delivery, cost, and working capital while scaling proven practices across the network.

The role demands Lean expertise, hands-on shop-floor credibility, and executive presence to influence decentralized leaders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing operations, continuous improvement, operational excellence, industrial engineering, or related leadership roles.
• Demonstrated success leading Lean / continuous improvement across multiple sites or business units.
• Strong knowledge of Lean manufacturing, daily management, kaizen, standard work, value-stream mapping, structured problem solving, and performance management.
• Proven ability to influence GMs, Plant Managers, and functional leaders without relying on direct authority.
• Strong business and financial acumen with the ability to translate operational improvements into measurable financial impact.
• Excellent leadership, coaching, facilitation, communication, and executive presentation skills.
• Ability to travel approximately 50%+, depending on site and project needs.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead implementation of the KBS Operational Excellence strategy, roadmap, standards, and multi-year improvement agenda across all sites.
• Lead, coach, and develop the CI Manager team and other improvement resources; establish clear site coverage, priorities, and deployment expectations.
• Partner with GMs and Plant Managers to identify the highest-impact opportunities and build site-level improvement pipelines delivering improvements in safety, productivity, delivery, lead time, quality, inventory, and working capital.
• Establish and sustain common Lean / KBS operating practices, including daily management, visual management, standard work, problem solving, RCCM, value-stream improvement, kaizen, and leader standard work.
• Create a practical maturity assessment for Operational Excellence and use it to prioritize coaching, capability building, and site support; track improvements in maturity and consistent adoption of core operating practices.
• Drive measurable productivity and capacity improvements through flow, labor optimization, constraint removal, setup reduction, layout improvement, and waste elimination.
• Partner with Industrial Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, EHS, Finance, Engineering, HR, and other enterprise functions to quantify benefits and ensure improvements are sustained.
• Build CI capability within site leadership and frontline teams through training, coaching, kaizen leadership, and development of local change agents.
• Establish common operational KPI definitions and review routines that enable benchmarking and the sharing and scaling of best practices across Komline.
• Support acquisition integration by assessing operational maturity, identifying improvement opportunities, and integrating acquired sites into Komline’s operating system.
• Provide regular enterprise-level reporting to the COO on CI pipeline, benefits realization, site maturity, risks, and resource priorities.
• Promote a culture of accountability, structured problem solving, and continuous improvement while maintaining strong partnership with decentralized business leadership

Skills

Lean manufacturing

Daily management

Kaizen

Standard work

Problem solving

Executive presence

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Operations/Supply Chain/Business

Job description

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Director - Operational Excellence

Full Time Washington, DC, US

7 days ago Requisition ID: 1348

Salary Range: $180,000.00 To $200,000.00 Annually

About Komline

As a pioneering leader in advanced separation technologies, Komline has established a global reputation for engineering excellence. Through our combination of innovative design, cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities, and decades of industry experience, we consistently deliver the highest quality equipment from our integrated manufacturing facilities. Serving our core markets of Water & Process, Agricultural & Renewables, and Industrials, we pride ourselves on providing comprehensive separation solutions precisely tailored to our clients' requirements. With a strong track record of strategic growth and acquisitions, Komline continues to expand its solution portfolio and technical capabilities while maintaining our commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

This Opportunity

The Director, Operational Excellence is responsible for building, deploying, and sustaining the Komline Business System (KBS), a consistent operating excellence system across all Komline sites. This leader will partner with Business Unit General Managers, Plant Managers, and functional leaders to improve safety, quality, delivery, cost, working capital, productivity, and overall operating discipline while respecting the P&L accountability of each business. The role will lead Komline’s enterprise continuous improvement (CI) capability, develop CI talent, and ensure proven practices are shared and scaled across the network.

The successful candidate is a hands-on manufacturing leader who combines strong Lean expertise with business judgment, credibility on the shop floor, and the executive presence to influence decentralized business leaders. This leader will be equally comfortable coaching a plant team, challenging a site improvement plan, and communicating enterprise priorities to senior leadership.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this enterprise-wide role supports all Komline operating sites.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Develop and lead implementation of the KBS Operational Excellence strategy, roadmap, standards, and multi-year improvement agenda across all sites
• Lead, coach, and develop the CI Manager team and other improvement resources; establish clear site coverage, priorities, and deployment expectations
• Partner with GMs and Plant Managers to identify the highest-impact opportunities and build robust, financially validated site-level improvement pipelines that deliver sustained results in safety, productivity, delivery, lead time, quality, inventory, cost, and working capital
• Establish and sustain common Lean / KBS operating practices, including daily management, visual management, standard work, problem solving, RCCM, value-stream improvement, kaizen, and leader standard work
• Create a practical maturity assessment for Operational Excellence and use it to prioritize coaching, capability building, and site support; track improvements in maturity and consistent adoption of core operating practices
• Drive measurable productivity and capacity improvements through flow, labor optimization, constraint removal, setup reduction, layout improvement, and waste elimination
• Partner with Industrial Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, EHS, Finance, Engineering, HR, and other enterprise functions to quantify benefits and ensure improvements are sustained
• Build CI capability within site leadership and frontline teams through training, coaching, kaizen leadership, and development of local change agents
• Establish common operational KPI definitions and review routines that enable benchmarking and the sharing and scaling of best practices across Komline
• Support acquisition integration by assessing operational maturity, identifying improvement opportunities, and integrating acquired sites into Komline’s operating system
• Provide regular enterprise-level reporting to the COO on CI pipeline, benefits realization, site maturity, risks, and resource priorities
• Promote a culture of accountability, structured problem solving, and continuous improvement while maintaining strong partnership with decentralized business leadership

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field
• 10+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing operations, continuous improvement, operational excellence, industrial engineering, or related leadership roles
• Demonstrated success leading Lean / continuous improvement across multiple sites or business units
• Strong knowledge of Lean manufacturing, daily management, kaizen, standard work, value-stream mapping, structured problem solving, and performance management
• Proven ability to influence GMs, Plant Managers, and functional leaders without relying on direct authority
• Strong business and financial acumen with the ability to translate operational improvements into measurable financial impact
• Excellent leadership, coaching, facilitation, communication, and executive presentation skills
• Ability to travel approximately 50%+, depending on site and project needs

Preferred Qualifications

• Lean leadership certification or equivalent and/or Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
• Experience in multi-site industrial, engineered-product, capital-equipment, or process-equipment manufacturing
• Experience integrating acquired businesses or deploying a common operating system across decentralized businesses
• Experience with plant layout, flow optimization, capacity improvement, and working-capital initiatives
• MBA or advanced technical/operations degree

Equal Opportunity Statement: Komline is an EEO employer - M/F/Vets/Disabled