Productivity Program Leader

Vertellus LLC; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Job summary

Aurorium in Indianapolis is seeking a Productivity Program Leader to drive its enterprise productivity program and own the productivity management platform. You will establish governance, track benefits, and collaborate with IT, Finance, and business units across sites worldwide.

You will lead Kaizen sessions, develop a robust pipeline, and ensure disciplined measurement and reporting to improve efficiency and cost discipline while supporting global deployment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Finance, Business, or a related discipline
• 10+ years of experience in manufacturing, engineering, operations, continuous improvement, productivity, or program management
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives and enterprise-wide improvement programs
• Strong knowledge of productivity management, cost improvement, business case development, financial benefit tracking, and benefits realization
• Experience implementing and administering productivity, project portfolio management, or performance management systems
• Skilled facilitator with experience leading workshops, ideation sessions, and stakeholder alignment discussions

Responsibilities

• Lead the corporate productivity program, establishing standardized governance, processes, metrics, and accountability across business units and functions
• Own end-to-end productivity framework, including opportunity qualification, prioritization, approval, execution, validation, and closure
• Monitor program health, identify risks, bottlenecks, gaps, and improvement opportunities
• Facilitate quarterly Kaizen sharing sessions, including project selection and dissemination of best practices
• Partner with leaders to identify, evaluate, quantify, and prioritize productivity opportunities
• Maintain a robust productivity pipeline with maturity, conversion, and value tracking
• Support initiative owners from concept through implementation and benefit realization
• Drive stakeholder alignment, remove barriers, and manage execution risks
• Track milestones, deliverables, financial targets, and implementation plans
• Develop standardized productivity performance measurement and reporting

Job description

Vacancy Name

Productivity Program Leader

Vacancy No

VN710

Department

Corporate Engineering

Location

Indianapolis Lab

Employment Type

Full-Time

Company Overview

Aurorium is the materials innovation partner that helps global manufacturers harness the power of possibility making the world a better place. Their specialty ingredients and high-performance materials enhance quality of life, support health and wellness, and enable customers to deliver value-added solutions.

Key industries served include healthcare, personal & home care, mobility, infrastructure, and specialty paper & packaging. A Responsible Care company, Aurorium follows the highest regulatory standards across all manufacturing facilities. The company's global integrated supply chain offers the customer product consistency, easy access, supply security, and reasonable turnaround on delivery. Aurorium is committed to operating at the highest levels of manufacturing consistency, quality control, and safety.

Description

The Productivity Program Leader is responsible for leading and coordinating the corporation's productivity program to deliver sustainable, measurable business improvements across all functions and business units. This role establishes and maintains a common approach to identifying, evaluating, prioritizing, executing, and tracking productivity initiatives across the enterprise. Working collaboratively with functional leaders, business units, and cross-functional teams, this individual drives the productivity pipeline from idea generation through implementation and benefit realization. The role provides program governance, performance tracking, and executive reporting while fostering a culture of continuous improvement, cost discipline, and operational effectiveness.

The position also owns the administration, standardization, and deployment of the corporation's productivity management tool, ensuring consistent processes, reliable data, transparent reporting, and effective adoption across the organization. The position requires Flexibility to travel and supporting multiple sites globally.

Job Details

1. Productivity Program Leadership & Governance

• Lead the corporate productivity program, establishing standardized governance, processes, metrics, and accountability across business units and functions.
• Own the end-to-end productivity framework, including opportunity qualification, prioritization, approval, execution, validation, and closure.
• Monitor program health, identifying risks, bottlenecks, gaps, and improvement opportunities.
• Facilitate quarterly Kaizen sharing sessions, including project selection, presenter coordination, and dissemination of best practices.

2. Productivity Pipeline Development

• Partner with business and functional leaders to identify, evaluate, quantify, and prioritize productivity opportunities.
• Facilitate cross-functional ideation and improvement workshops focused on cost reduction, efficiency, optimization, and resource productivity.
• Maintain a robust productivity pipeline, monitoring opportunity maturity, conversion rates, and expected value to support target achievement.

3. Initiative Execution & Benefit Realization

• Support initiative owners in progressing productivity initiatives from concept through implementation and benefit realization.
• Drive stakeholder alignment, remove barriers, and address execution risks to maintain momentum on priority initiatives.
• Track progress against milestones, deliverables, financial targets, and implementation plans.
• Partner with Finance to validate assumptions, confirm realized benefits, and ensure consistent measurement methodologies.

4. Performance Management & Reporting

• Establish and maintain standardized productivity performance measurement and reporting processes.
• Consolidate and analyze productivity performance across the enterprise, providing visibility into results, forecasts, pipeline value, risks, and delivery confidence.
• Develop dashboards, scorecards, and executive reporting to support decision-making and target achievement.
• Provide leadership with actionable insights and recommendations to improve program performance.

5. Productivity Management System Ownership

• Serve as the business owner and system administrator for the corporate productivity management platform.
• Lead system deployment, governance, configuration, and ongoing enhancement activities across the enterprise.
• Establish standardized workflows, data definitions, reporting structures, user roles, and operating procedures.
• Manage data integrity, user administration, training, adoption, and continuous improvement of the platform.
• Partner with IT, Finance, and business stakeholders to align system capabilities with business requirements.

6. Continuous Improvement & Capability Building

• Foster a culture of productivity, accountability, operational excellence, and measurable business impact.
• Share best practices, successful initiatives, and lessons learned across the organization.
• Continuously improve program processes, execution discipline, reporting effectiveness, and opportunity development practices.

Compliance

• Complies with company Health, Safety and Environmental policies, procedures, and arrangements
• Reports all Health, Safety and Environmental accidents, incidents and near misses promptly
• Acts in a safe and responsible manner at all times

Problem Solving and Innovation

• Active participation in continuous improvement activities
• Participates in problem-solving
• Takes responsibility and ownership for own learning and development in the spirit of continuous improvement of both self and the business
• Assists in the training, mentoring, and assessment of other team members
• Exercises autonomy and judgement subject to overall direction or guidance

Education and Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Finance, Business, or a related discipline

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in manufacturing, engineering, operations, continuous improvement, productivity, or program management.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives and driving enterprise-wide improvement programs across multiple business units and functions.
• Strong knowledge of productivity management, cost improvement, business case development, financial benefit tracking, and benefits realization.
• Experience implementing and administering productivity, project portfolio management, or performance management systems.
• Proficiency in data analysis, reporting, and visualization tools.
• Skilled facilitator with experience leading workshops, ideation sessions, and stakeholder alignment discussions.

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic & Enterprise Thinking: Connect productivity initiatives to business objectives and enterprise performance.
• Influence & Collaboration: Build alignment and drive results across functions and organizational levels without direct authority.
• Program & Execution Leadership: Manage complex initiatives, remove barriers, and ensure delivery of measurable outcomes.
• Analytical & Financial Acumen: Translate performance data, pipeline health, and financial results into actionable insights.
• Communication & Executive Presence: Clearly communicate performance, risks, opportunities, and recommendations to leaders and stakeholders.
• Change Leadership: Standardize processes, drive adoption of new tools and ways of working, and strengthen organizational capability.
• Embodies the core values of Aurorium:
• credible:keeps their word and honors their commitments, acts with integrity, and holds themselves accountable to their decisions and actions
• outcome-oriented:adheres to an unparalleled standard of excellence in everything they do, to deliver results with real impact
• driven:passionate about delivering authentic, world-class experiences that engage customers and inspire greatness
• empowered accountability:empowered to achieve common goals and accountable for delivering performances and results that exceed standard.

Aurorium offers competitive total compensation packages, including benefits such as medical, dental, vision, life, 401(k), disability insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, paid time off, and paid holidays.

Aurorium is a global Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of and will not be discriminated against based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, age, veteran status, disability status, genetic information, or any other protected category.

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