Operational Excellence Manager

KLA Industries; Bay Shore (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

KLA Industries is seeking an Operational Excellence Manager to lead Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement at the Bay Shore facility. You will reduce waste, improve production flow, and drive measurable gains in quality, delivery, cost, and inventory, partnering with operators and cross-functional teams on the shop floor.

The role demands hands-on shop-floor experience, strong analytical skills, and change leadership to sustain results across multiple processes and product families.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations, or related discipline; an equivalent combination of education and demonstrated accomplishments will be considered.
• At least 7 years of progressive manufacturing experience, including 3 years leading Lean, Continuous Improvement, or Operational Excellence initiatives.
• Demonstrated results in waste reduction, throughput improvement, setup reduction, 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, and flow and pull systems.
• Experience in machining, aerospace, defense, precision manufacturing, or a similarly regulated environment.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to connect operational improvements to validated financial results.
• Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive change without relying solely on direct authority.
• Strong communication, coaching, and project execution skills.
• Ability to work onsite and spend substantial time on the manufacturing floor.

Responsibilities

• Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement: Identify manufacturing waste, bottlenecks, and process variation through shop-floor observation, process mapping, value-stream mapping, and data analysis.
• Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement: Lead kaizen events and focused improvement projects from planning through implementation and sustained results.
• Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement: Apply Lean methods including A3/PDCA, 5S/6S, standard work, visual management, Kanban, capacity analysis, setup reduction (SMED), and root-cause analysis.
• Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement: Improve material, labor, and information flow across machining, inspection, tooling, outside processing, planning, and support functions.
• Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement: Prioritize improvements that increase overall production throughput and address critical capacity constraints.
• Manufacturing Performance & Cost Improvement: Establish performance baselines for safety, quality, delivery, cost, labor utilization, overtime, setup time, work in process, scrap, and rework.
• Manufacturing Performance & Cost Improvement: Partner with Operations and Engineering to remove barriers affecting customer commitments, production schedules, and backlog reduction.
• Manufacturing Performance & Cost Improvement: Reduce manufacturing lead times, setup times, queue times, and aging work in process.
• Manufacturing Performance & Cost Improvement: Improve labor productivity, machine utilization, staffing alignment, and visibility into direct and indirect labor.
• Manufacturing Performance & Cost Improvement: Partner with Finance to validate recurring savings, capacity gains, inventory reductions, and cash benefits.
• Manufacturing Performance & Cost Improvement: Ensure improvements maintain aerospace quality, safety, customer, export-control, and configuration-control requirements.
• Daily Management & Operating Systems: Implement tiered daily meetings, visual performance boards, clear action ownership, and timely escalation practices.
• Daily Management & Operating Systems: Establish leader standard work, process controls, and sustainment audits.
• Daily Management & Operating Systems: Develop a Lean deployment roadmap aligned with manufacturing priorities and new product introduction.
• Daily Management & Operating Systems: Use ERP and analytics tools to make performance visible and support fact-based decisions.
• Daily Management & Operating Systems: Create repeatable operating standards that can be applied across additional product families and facilities.
• Daily Management & Operating Systems: Identify digital and automation opportunities after simplifying and stabilizing underlying processes.
• Team Development & Change Leadership: Coach supervisors, engineers, operators, and support teams in practical problem-solving and Lean methods.
• Team Development & Change Leadership: Develop Lean champions and process owners who can sustain improvements within their areas.
• Team Development & Change Leadership: Engage employees in identifying problems and designing effective solutions.
• Team Development & Change Leadership: Collaborate with Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Planning, Maintenance, Finance, and HR.
• Team Development & Change Leadership: Communicate project progress, verified benefits, risks, and required decisions to site and senior leadership.
• Team Development & Change Leadership: Build a culture of accountability, employee involvement, and disciplined follow-through.
• What Success Looks Like: Improved schedule attainment and reduced overdue production.
• What Success Looks Like: Shorter manufacturing lead times and lower work-in-process inventory.
• What Success Looks Like: Increased throughput, labor productivity, and machine utilization.
• What Success Looks Like: Reduced setup times, scrap, rework, and avoidable overtime.
• What Success Looks Like: Verified cost savings and improved cash performance.
• What Success Looks Like: Consistent daily management practices and sustained employee ownership of improvements.

Skills

Lean Manufacturing

Continuous Improvement

Operational Excellence

Kaizen

A3/PDCA

5S/6S

Visual Management

Kanban

SMED

Root-Cause Analysis

Data Analysis

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Change Leadership

Onsite Manufacturing

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, or related discipline

Job description

We are searching for 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 leadership skills. This is an opportunity to drive meaningful operational improvements while building the processes, routines, and employee capabilities needed to sustain results.

Key Responsibilities

Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement

• Identify manufacturing waste, bottlenecks, and process variation through shop-floor observation, process mapping, value-stream mapping, and data analysis.

• Lead kaizen events and focused improvement projects from planning through implementation and sustained results.

• Apply Lean methods including A3/PDCA, 5S/6S, standard work, visual management, Kanban, capacity analysis, setup reduction (SMED), and root-cause analysis.

• Improve material, labor, and information flow across machining, inspection, tooling, outside processing, planning, and support functions.

• Prioritize improvements that increase overall production throughput and address critical capacity constraints.

Manufacturing Performance & Cost Improvement

• Establish performance baselines for safety, quality, delivery, cost, labor utilization, overtime, setup time, work in process, scrap, and rework.

• Partner with Operations and Engineering to remove barriers affecting customer commitments, production schedules, and backlog reduction.

• Reduce manufacturing lead times, setup times, queue times, and aging work in process.

• Improve labor productivity, machine utilization, staffing alignment, and visibility into direct and indirect labor.

• Partner with Finance to validate recurring savings, capacity gains, inventory reductions, and cash benefits.

• Ensure improvements maintain aerospace quality, safety, customer, export-control, and configuration-control requirements.

Daily Management & Operating Systems

• Implement tiered daily meetings, visual performance boards, clear action ownership, and timely escalation practices.

• Establish leader standard work, process controls, and sustainment audits.

• Develop a Lean deployment roadmap aligned with manufacturing priorities and new product introduction.

• Use ERP and analytics tools to make performance visible and support fact-based decisions.

• Create repeatable operating standards that can be applied across additional product families and facilities.

• Identify digital and automation opportunities after simplifying and stabilizing underlying processes.

Team Development & Change Leadership

• Coach supervisors, engineers, operators, and support teams in practical problem-solving and Lean methods.

• Develop Lean champions and process owners who can sustain improvements within their areas.

• Engage employees in identifying problems and designing effective solutions.

• Collaborate with Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Planning, Maintenance, Finance, and HR.

• Communicate project progress, verified benefits, risks, and required decisions to site and senior leadership.

• Build a culture of accountability, employee involvement, and disciplined follow-through.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, or a related discipline; an equivalent combination of education and demonstrated accomplishments will be considered.

• At least 7 years of progressive manufacturing experience, including 3 years leading Lean, Continuous Improvement, or Operational Excellence initiatives.

• Demonstrated results in waste reduction, throughput improvement, setup reduction, 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, and flow and pull systems.

• Experience in machining, aerospace, defense, precision manufacturing, or a similarly regulated environment.

• Strong analytical skills and the ability to connect operational improvements to validated financial results.

• Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive change without relying solely on direct authority.

• Strong communication, coaching, and project execution skills.

• Ability to work onsite and spend substantial time on the manufacturing floor.

Preferred Qualifications

• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or comparable advanced Operational Excellence certification supported by successful implementation experience.

• Aerospace manufacturing and AS9100 experience.

• Familiarity with complex CNC machining, low-volume/high-mix production, long-cycle work, high-value forgings, and capacity-constrained equipment.

• Experience deploying a site-level Lean transformation or enterprise operating system.

• Experience with Power BI, Epicor, or comparable ERP and analytics platforms.

• Experience developing supervisors, Lean champions, and tiered daily management systems.

• Experience supporting NPI, manufacturing engineering, maintenance reliability, or quality improvement.

What Success Looks Like

• Improved schedule attainment and reduced overdue production.

• Shorter manufacturing lead times and lower work-in-process inventory.

• Increased throughput, labor productivity, and machine utilization.

• Reduced setup times, scrap, rework, and avoidable overtime.

• Validated cost savings and improved cash performance.

• Consistent daily management practices and sustained employee ownership of improvements.