Operational Excellence Manager - York, PA

Higher Recruitment, Inc.; York (York County); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Unknown Company seeks an experienced Operational Excellence Manager to drive Lean transformation in a high-volume manufacturing setting. You will lead continuous improvement, coach leaders, and partner with plant leadership to embed Lean into daily operations.

You will facilitate Kaizen events, track financial and operational impact, and build capability across frontline teams to sustain gains and deliver measurable results.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 5+ years manufacturing leadership including Lean Manufacturing, Operational Excellence, or Continuous Improvement.
• Proven success leading Lean transformation with measurable business results.
• Strong knowledge and application of Lean principles and tools.
• Experience leading 10+ Kaizen events.
• Ability to influence and lead without direct reporting authority; strong change-management skills.
• Experience developing transformational improvement plans aligned to business goals.
• Proven improvements in Throughput, Cycle time, Productivity, Inventory turns, and Manufacturing cost.

Responsibilities

• Lead Lean and Operational Excellence strategy aligned with business objectives.
• Identify productivity, waste, cost, and process improvement opportunities.
• Lead Kaizen events from identification through implementation and validation.
• Coordinate training, event execution, and follow-up to sustain gains.
• Analyze metrics, identify root causes, set priorities, and develop action plans.
• Coach Lean methods across all levels of the organization.
• Partner with leadership to drive equipment reliability and manufacturing performance.
• Ensure Lean activities connect to measurable business outcomes.

Skills

Lean principles

Continuous Improvement

Leadership

Change management

Influence without authority

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Operations Management

Tools

5S

TPM

Setup Reduction / SMED

Standard Work

Visual Management

SQDC

Daily Management / MDI

Job description

Our client is seeking an experienced Operational Excellence Manager to lead Lean transformation and Continuous Improvement initiatives within a high-volume manufacturing environment.

This position plays a critical role in building and sustaining a Lean culture across the plant while driving measurable improvements in productivity, quality, safety, cost, throughput, cycle time, inventory, and loss elimination.

The Operational Excellence Manager will partner closely with plant leadership, department leaders, technical resources, and frontline employees to identify opportunities, facilitate improvement initiatives, develop organizational capability, and ensure Lean practices become embedded in the day-to-day operating culture.

This is a highly influential role for a leader who can teach, coach, facilitate, challenge, and influence without relying on direct authority.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of the plant's Lean and Operational Excellence strategy in alignment with overall business objectives.
• Identify opportunities for productivity improvement, waste elimination, loss reduction, cost improvement, and process optimization.
• Lead Kaizen events and other Continuous Improvement initiatives from opportunity identification through implementation, follow-up, and results validation.
• Facilitate pre-event preparation and training, event execution, communication, post-event follow-up, and auditing to ensure improvements are sustained.
• Analyze plant and departmental performance metrics and use data to identify root causes, establish priorities, and develop action plans.
• Drive improvement in key performance indicators through the application of Lean principles and structured problem-solving methodologies.
• Develop and maintain a site transformation plan in partnership with plant leadership.
• Teach and coach Lean methodologies at all levels of the organization, including:
• 5S
• TPM
• Setup Reduction / SMED
• Standard Work
• Visual Management
• SQDC
• Daily Management / MDI
• Build Lean and Continuous Improvement capability among plant leaders, supervisors, engineers, and frontline employees.
• Partner with manufacturing leadership to identify, prioritize, and execute transformational improvement opportunities.
• Influence and direct cross-functional teams and employees who are not direct reports.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and support to leaders as they adopt Lean operating principles and new ways of working.
• Partner with technical and engineering resources to improve equipment reliability, production performance, and overall manufacturing effectiveness.
• Monitor and communicate the financial and operational impact of Continuous Improvement initiatives.
• Ensure Lean activities are connected to measurable business outcomes rather than isolated improvement events.
• Establish processes for tracking improvement initiatives, financial impact, cultural adoption, and sustainability.
• Share successful practices and lessons learned to promote consistency and continuous improvement across the organization.
• Foster an environment of accountability, ownership, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Support organizational change initiatives and build engagement at all levels of the plant.
• Participate in Lean, Quality, Product Safety, and Workplace Safety initiatives.
• Perform additional projects and responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 5+ years of manufacturing leadership experience, including at least 2 years specifically focused on Lean Manufacturing, Operational Excellence, or Continuous Improvement within a complex manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated success leading Lean transformation and Continuous Improvement initiatives that produced measurable business results.
• Strong knowledge and practical application of Lean Manufacturing principles and tools.
• Demonstrated experience leading 10+ Kaizen events.
• Proven ability to influence and lead employees and cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority.Strong change-management skills with demonstrated success changing behaviors and establishing a Lean culture.
• Experience developing and executing transformational improvement plans tied to business objectives.
• Demonstrated success improving metrics such as:
• Throughput
• Cycle time
• Productivity
• Inventory turns
• Manufacturing cost }