Hybrid: Operations Excellence Lead - Lean & Kaizen

Daikin Applied; Plymouth (MN); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 153,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401K retirement plan

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Paid time off

Holidays

Job summary

Daikin Applied is seeking an Operations Excellence Manager to lead continuous improvement initiatives across the Americas. Hybrid role based in Plymouth, MN, with a focus on Kaizen training, lean methodology, and KPI-driven optimization.

The role develops and sustains employee technical development programs, coaches teams in problem solving, and drives cost reduction and productivity gains through standardized improvements.

Qualifications

• 4-year bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Operations, or a related technical field.
• Familiar with Kaizen improvement processes.
• 2 years of facilitation experience.
• Strong cross-functional partnerships and relationship building.

Responsibilities

• Develops and leads continuous improvement training programs using Kaizen, quality, problem solving, and team facilitation techniques across Sales, Service and Solutions.
• Create vision and strategy to drive CIP, productivity gains, and lean best practices across the unit.
• Coordinate implementation of employee technical skills development programs with ongoing management oversight.
• Provide coaching and SME on Kaizen and Lean methods; collaborate to improve KPIs.
• Lead annual integrated planning (DAA WAY), scorecard, and enterprise portfolios for the unit.
• Support leadership in continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives.
• Establish a process for communicating continuous improvement initiatives; audit for consistency.
• Maintain records of all improvement activities and participants.

Skills

Kaizen

Facilitation

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering/Operations or related field

Tools

Value Stream Mapping

SIPOC

RACI

Job description

Daikin Applied is seeking an Operations Excellence Manager to lead continuous improvement initiatives across the Americas. Hybrid role based in Plymouth, MN, with a focus on Kaizen training, lean methodology, and KPI-driven optimization.

The role develops and sustains employee technical development programs, coaches teams in problem solving, and drives cost reduction and productivity gains through standardized improvements.