Strategic Project Lead, Operational Excellence

Nextpower LLC, USA; Nashville (TN); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Nextpower LLC in Nashville seeks a Project Lead for Operational Excellence & Transformation to drive Kaizen events, Lean workflows, and cross‑functional improvement across manufacturing, supply chain, planning, procurement, quality, and field operations.

You will develop project charters, state-of-current assessments, plans, milestones, and benefits, run reviews, and partner with IT to roll out enterprise systems and data improvements, tracking outcomes in finance and operations.

Qualifications

• The candidate has at least 8 years of experience leading operational improvement projects or cross‑functional workstreams.
• Hands‑on use of Lean, Kaizen, Six Sigma, A3, PDCA, and process mapping to drive change.
• Strong project management, facilitation, analytical, and stakeholder communication skills.
• Experience supporting enterprise systems, reporting, workflow automation, or digital process changes.
• Ability to build business cases, establish baselines, and track benefits with Finance.

Responsibilities

• Develop project charters, current-state assessments, plans, milestones, owners, risks, and action logs.
• Run working sessions and project reviews; escalate decisions or barriers to the Director.
• Maintain accurate status, issue, dependency, and benefit reporting for portfolio reviews.
• Map workflows and handoffs; identify root causes and simplify processes with owners.
• Facilitate Kaizen events and apply standard work, visual management, and PDCA methods.
• Collaborate with IT and business users to roll out enterprise systems and automation.
• Define project metrics and maintain reliable operational reporting.

Skills

Lean / Kaizen

Six Sigma

A3 thinking

PDCA

Project management

Facilitation

Analytical skills

Stakeholder communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering / Operations / Business / Finance

Tools

Oracle

Job description

Nextpower LLC in Nashville seeks a Project Lead for Operational Excellence & Transformation to drive Kaizen events, Lean workflows, and cross‑functional improvement across manufacturing, supply chain, planning, procurement, quality, and field operations.

You will develop project charters, state-of-current assessments, plans, milestones, and benefits, run reviews, and partner with IT to roll out enterprise systems and data improvements, tracking outcomes in finance and operations.