Operational Excellence Coach

Hirewell; Chicago (IL); Remote; USD 120,000 - 145,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Travel opportunities

Professional development

Job summary

Hirewell is seeking an Operational Excellence Coach (OPEX Coach) for full-time, exempt work. The role is remote with travel across customer sites approximately 42 weeks per year, Monday through Friday.

You will lead Lean transformations across Food & Beverage, CPG and General Manufacturing sectors using our software and coaching expertise. You will work with shop floor staff, frontline leaders and executives to drive productivity gains, process improvements, and cultural change.

Qualifications

• Senior Operations Leadership experience in manufacturing environments.
• Hands-on roles on the shop floor (e.g., Operations Manager, Production Supervisor, CI Manager).
• Experience coaching business clients and leading CI initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead 5-7 customer engagements simultaneously.
• Train customers on workflows through 90-day on-site deployments.
• Facilitate shop-floor huddles and Daily Vital Signs to drive action cycles.

Skills

Lean leadership

CI coaching

OEE knowledge

Stakeholder management

Bilingual English/Spanish

MS Office proficiency

Education

BA/BS in Engineering or Manufacturing

Tools

MS Office Suite

PLC familiarity

Job description

Operational Excellence Coach (OPEX Coach)

This position is Full Time, Exempt, Remote and required to travel 42 weeks, Monday through Friday (annually).

Job Description

The OpEx Coach is responsible for leading major Lean and cultural transformations across their customers in the Food & Beverage, CPG and General Manufacturing industries through the implementation of the company’s software and expert level coaching. Coaches work within highly autonomous teams led by a Coach Director, have practical experience of delivering CI in plants and believe in leading-through-doing. They work directly with customers’ shop floor staff, frontline leaders, CI directors and C-level executives to achieve both significant personal growth and tremendous productivity gains.

Responsibilities

• Oversees and coaches 5-7 customers at a time
• Trains customers on workflows inside the company’s software through multiple 90-day on-site deployments
• Facilitates shop-floor Huddles and leadership team Daily Vital Signs meetings to support action cycles on the shop floor
• Tracks performance data and customer uplifts throughout the deployment
• Leads process improvement and kaizen activities for customers
• Openly shares feedback with frontline teams and leadership to drive positive behavior change and uplift results
• Facilitates remote weekly customer progress meetings
• Identifies miracle stories as well as miracle results to guide celebrations of wins with the customer
• Manages project schedules with customers
• Provides Success Assessments upon project completion
• Delivers executive overviews and provides customers with information related to all of the organizations programs
• Troubleshoots customer technical issues as needed
• Supports customer identification of next steps in their brands journey
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Fluent in both English and Spanish is preferred, not required.
• Senior Operations Leadership experience in manufacturing environments
• Ability to work in direct, hands‑on manufacturing roles like Operations Manager, Production Supervisor, and Continuous Improvement Manager
• Practice using Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and its components in driving production results and continuous improvement
• Ability to plan, organize, and function effectively in a dynamic environment, addressing multiple demands of internal teams and clients
• Ability to develop/maintain strong relationships with clients and internal teams
• Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Sound judgment and excellent assessment skills
• Ability to manage time effectively and to work in a high paced, high growth environment
• Ability to prioritize tasks within active projects to meet critical path deadlines
• Advanced knowledge of MS Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook)
• Tech friendly and comfortable communicating technical requirements about networking, wireless, and software information
• Able to learn software required to perform successfully in this position
• Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) experience and familiarity is desired, but not required

Education/Experience

• BA or BS – Relevant fields of study can include but are not limited to: Engineering, Manufacturing, Organizational Leadership/Management, Supply Chain Management, Business Management
• 2+ years in a similar position, providing direct coaching to business clients, is desired but not required