Operational Excellence Lead - Hybrid, Lean & Six Sigma

Daikin Applied Americas Inc; Faribault (MN); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 153,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance options

Dental and vision insurance

401K with employer match

Paid time off and holidays

Tuition Reimbursement

Job summary

Daikin Applied is seeking an Operations Excellence Manager to drive continuous improvement across the organization. This hybrid role at the North Faribault Plant leads Lean, Six Sigma, and Kaizen initiatives, partnering with leaders to boost efficiency and enhance customer and employee experiences.

You will coach teams, set KPIs, sustain standard work, and support change management while building internal capability for ongoing improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in a STEM-related discipline.
• 8+ Years of quality-related experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience with Kaizen improvement processes.
• Experience with the Toyota Production System.

Responsibilities

• Lead enterprise-wide continuous improvement initiatives aligned with business strategy and performance goals.
• Identify, prioritize, and execute process improvement opportunities using Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, and problem-solving tools.
• Facilitate value stream mapping, root cause analysis, and improvement workshops across functions.
• Establish and track KPIs to measure operational performance and improvement impact.
• Coach and mentor leaders and teams on continuous improvement principles and behaviors.
• Drive standard work, visual management, and process governance to ensure sustainability of improvements.
• Partner with senior leadership to translate strategic objectives into operational execution.
• Support change management efforts to embed a culture of continuous improvement.
• Lead or support training programs (e.g., Yellow Belt, Green Belt) to build organizational capability.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Operations, Finance, IT, HR, and other teams to remove operational barriers.

Skills

Lean

Six Sigma

Leadership

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's Degree in STEM

Tools

Kaizen

Toyota Production System

Job description

Daikin Applied is seeking an Operations Excellence Manager to drive continuous improvement across the organization. This hybrid role at the North Faribault Plant leads Lean, Six Sigma, and Kaizen initiatives, partnering with leaders to boost efficiency and enhance customer and employee experiences.

You will coach teams, set KPIs, sustain standard work, and support change management while building internal capability for ongoing improvements.