Lean Excellence Manager – Manufacturing Improvement

6 Degrees Search; Bay Shore (NY); On-site; USD 95,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

6 Degrees Search is seeking an Operational Excellence Manager to lead Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives at its Bay Shore facility. This hands-on role will work closely with operators, supervisors, and cross-functional teams to reduce waste, improve production flow, increase capacity, and deliver measurable improvements in quality, delivery, cost, and inventory.

The successful candidate will combine practical shop-floor experience with strong analytical and change

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, or related discipline; equivalent combination considered.
• 7+ years of progressive manufacturing experience including Lean/CI/Operational Excellence leadership.
• Proven results in waste reduction, throughput, setup time, labor productivity, quality, inventory or cost savings.
• Hands-on proficiency with value-stream mapping, kaizen, A3/PDCA, 5S/6S, standard work, visual management, SMED, root-cause analysis, flow and pull systems.
• Experience in machining, aerospace, defense, precision manufacturing or similarly regulated environments.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to connect improvements to validated financial results.
• Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive change without direct authority.
• Strong communication, coaching and project execution skills.
• Ability to work onsite and spend substantial time on the manufacturing floor.

Responsibilities

• Identify waste, bottlenecks, and process variation through shop-floor observation and data analysis.
• Lead kaizen events and improvement projects from planning through implementation.
• Apply Lean methods including A3/PDCA, 5S/6S, standard work, Kanban, SMED, and root-cause analysis.
• Improve material, labor, and information flow across machining, inspection, tooling, planning and support functions.
• Establish performance baselines and partner to remove barriers affecting commitments and schedules.
• Reduce lead times, setup times, queue times, and aging work in process.
• Develop leader standard work, tiered daily management, and sustainment audits.
• Coach supervisors, engineers, operators, and process owners in problem-solving and Lean methods.
• Communicate progress, benefits, risks, and decisions to site and senior leadership.

Skills

Lean leadership

Data analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Change management

Problem solving

Process mapping

Kaizen events

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related

Tools

Power BI

Epicor

Job description

6 Degrees Search is seeking an Operational Excellence Manager to lead Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives at its Bay Shore facility. This hands-on role will work closely with operators, supervisors, and cross-functional teams to reduce waste, improve production flow, increase capacity, and deliver measurable improvements in quality, delivery, cost, and inventory.

The successful candidate will combine practical shop-floor experience with strong analytical and change