Operational Excellence Manager

Flint Hills Resources; Monee (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Molex is seeking an Operational Excellence Manager to advance the Busbar team’s operating system, delivering training, coaching, and kaizen-led improvements. You will lead lean initiatives, map value streams, and drive capability deployment across the site, reporting into senior leadership and collaborating with cross-functional teams.

The role focuses on driving SQDCC performance, sustaining standard work, and building a pipeline of measurable improvement projects with a strong

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a business or engineering discipline.
• 5+ years in industrial, manufacturing, process engineering/optimization experience.
• 7+ years’ experience in leading improvement efforts and projects.
• Must have excellent ability to influence without authority.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with co-workers, customers, and senior management.
• Excellent group facilitation skills including gaining consensus and negotiating difficult situations.
• Must work with a high degree of autonomy and manage multiple priorities while delivering excellent results.
• Proficient with MS Office – PowerPoint, Excel, Word, iGrafx, Visio, iObeya, iNexus, Minitab.
• Ability to travel domestic and international as required.

Responsibilities

• Assess manufacturing site performance across Operational Excellence capabilities and identify improvement opportunities.
• Develop and execute site Operational Excellence roadmaps aligned with Business Unit and divisional objectives.
• Lead Value Stream Design, Value Stream Mapping, and Lean transformation initiatives to improve Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Cash (SQDCC) performance.
• Deploy Operational Excellence capabilities through training, coaching, workshops, Kaizen events, and direct project leadership.
• Drive the deployment and sustainment of the Molex Operating System, including Tiered Daily Management, visual management, and standard work practices.
• Lead continuous improvement, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, VAVE, productivity, cost-reduction, and capacity expansion initiatives across the site.
• Establish and manage a pipeline of improvement projects that deliver measurable gains in productivity, quality, cost, capacity, and operational performance.
• Collaborate with site, business unit, and divisional leadership, as well as cross-functional teams, to improve end-to-end business performance and accelerate results.
• Lead KPI reporting and support management reviews, QBUs, financial reviews, and capacity planning to drive operational and strategic decision-making.
• Train, coach, and mentor Operational Excellence leaders and site leadership teams in Lean thinking, problem-solving, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• KPI reporting, support in management and financial reviews (QBUs), and capacity planning to support operational performance and strategic decision-making.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement, employee engagement, accountability, and ownership through structured change management and capability development.

Skills

Influence without authority

Verbal and written communication

Group facilitation

Autonomy

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business or engineering

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

MS Office

iGrafx

Visio

Minitab

Job description

The site Operational Excellence Manager will be responsible for the maturity of the Molex operating system for the Busbar team to assemble plans to deploy capabilities through training, coaching, workshops, and project leadership, and executing on those plans.

Our Team

Molex creates connections for life by enabling technologies that transform the future and improve lives. With a presence in more than 40 countries, Molex offers a complete range of connectivity products, services, and solutions for the data communications, medical, industrial, automotive and consumer electronics industries. This leader will support our Power and Signal Business Unit, specifically the Busbar space.

What You Will Do

• Assess manufacturing site performance across Operational Excellence capabilities and identify improvement opportunities.
• Develop and execute site Operational Excellence roadmaps aligned with Business Unit and divisional objectives.
• Lead Value Stream Design, Value Stream Mapping, and Lean transformation initiatives to improve Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Cash (SQDCC) performance
• Deploy Operational Excellence capabilities through training, coaching, workshops, Kaizen events, and direct project leadership.
• Drive the deployment and sustainment of the Molex Operating System, including Tiered Daily Management, visual management, and standard work practices.
• Lead continuous improvement, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, VAVE, productivity, cost-reduction, and capacity expansion initiatives across the site
• Establish and manage a pipeline of improvement projects that deliver measurable gains in productivity, quality, cost, capacity, and operational performance.
• Collaborate with site, business unit, and divisional leadership, as well as cross-functional teams, to improve end-to-end business performance and accelerate results.
• Lead KPI reporting and support management reviews, QBUs, financial reviews, and capacity planning to drive operational and strategic decision-making.
• Train, coach, and mentor Operational Excellence leaders and site leadership teams in Lean thinking, problem-solving, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• KPI reporting, support in management and financial reviews (QBUs), and capacity planning to support operational performance and strategic decision-making.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement, employee engagement, accountability, and ownership through structured change management and capability development.

Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)

• Bachelor’s degree in a business or engineering discipline
• 5 + years in industrial, manufacturing, process engineering/optimization experience
• 7+ years’ experience in leading improvement efforts and projects
• Must have excellent ability to influence without authority
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with co-workers, customers, and senior management.
• Excellent group facilitation skills including gaining consensus and negotiating difficult situations
• Must work with a high degree of autonomy and manage multiple priorities while delivering excellent results
• Proficient with MS Office – PowerPoint, Excel, Word, iGrafx, Visio, iObeya, iNexus, Minitab
• Ability to travel domestic and international as required

What Will Put You Ahead

• Master’s degree in business or engineering discipline
• Leadership within a lean transformation at a leading lean manufacturing company
• Leadership within a company’s operating or business system
• Training and coaching of new black belts and master black belts for six sigma.

For this role, we anticipate paying $110,000 - $140,000 per year. This role is eligible for variable pay, issued as a monetary bonus or in another form.

At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.

Hiring Philosophy

All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here .

Who We Are

As a Koch company, Molex is a leading supplier of connectors and interconnect components, driving innovation in electronics and supporting industries from automotive to health care and consumer to data communications. The thousands of innovators who work for Molex have made us a global electronics leader. Our experienced people, groundbreaking products and leading-edge technologies help us deliver a wider array of solutions to more markets than ever before.

At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.

Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region. If you have questions on what benefits apply to you, please speak to your recruiter.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. Except where prohibited by state law, some offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify. Please click here for additional information. (For Illinois E-Verify information click here , aquí , or tu ).