Director, NA Operational Excellence

Position Summary

The Director, North American Operational Excellence will influence at all levels within and beyond the Operations organization to drive our North American Operations change roadmap. This role will drive operational performance by establishing a continuous improvement culture that is focused on waste elimination, process optimization, capability building, and the relentless engagement of team members to take accountability for improvements and the sustainability of the change roadmap.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish the North American Operations change roadmap strategic direction, priorities, and objectives to deliver operational excellence through the implementation of management systems, KPIs, scorecards, and tracking progress towards goals and reporting of results.
• Ensure the roadmap is consistently delivered across multiple sites (7) and groups within the organization.
• Identify tools to be implemented that best fit the objectives and opportunities to meet roadmap targets and drive standardization across the region.
• Define and implement data collection systems to ensure consistent reporting of KPIs and results from a single source.
• Train, coach, and mentor team members at all levels of the organization on the tools and methods to ensure the sustainability of the program.
• Facilitate collaboration and information sharing across the organization.
• Proactively identify and mitigate roadblocks.
• Design and facilitate mini transformations, Kaizens, training, and collaboration workshops.
• Facilitate hands-on change, including identifying improvement needs, providing hands-on training to all staff levels, and tracking the success of the program.
• Work with a variety of data sources, strong analytical and problem-solving skills, and high level of attention to detail.
• Ensure compliance of Occupational Health & Safety Act (section 25, 26, 27, and 28) per Hiram Walker & Son’s Ltd Policy- Management-Supervision-Worker Safety Responsibilities.
• Ensure that all aspects of the ISO 18001, 9001, 2200, 14001 programs are delivered on time.
• Ensure timely corrective action on all observations and non-conformances.

Required Skills & Abilities

• Experience working with TPM or WCM with examples of implemented practices.
• Experience in a large, sophisticated, tier one manufacturing operation that is complex, multi-location. CPG background is preferred.
• Experience in leading in a Manufacturing environment, preferably in consumer-packaged goods (CPG).
• Experience in leading an operational excellence program (Lean Six Sigma) in a Manufacturing environment.
• Experience in developing and implementing transformational change.
• Strong leadership, communication, and influencing skills with a variety of cross-functional teams at all levels of the organization.
• Outstanding project leadership and organizational skills.
• Experience in analyzing complex business and financial requirements, and in helping an organization successfully implement and transition through change.
• Proven people leadership and team-building capabilities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Exceptional change management skills adopting and implementing tools and programs.

Required Education

• Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering.
• PREFERRED: Masters, Business Administration.

Required Experience

• Required: 5 to 10 years’ experience leading in a Manufacturing environment, preferably in consumer-packaged goods (CPG).
• Required: 5 years’ experience leading an operational excellence program (Lean Six Sigma) in a Manufacturing environment.
• Preferred: 10 years’ operational management experience.

Financial Responsibility

• Overall managerial control and decision-making responsibility.
• Determines and changes priorities in line with financial, business, and organizational objectives.

Salary Range

The salary range for this role, based in Fort Smith, is $143,300.00 to $179,100.00. The range may vary if the role is outside of this location. Base salaries are determined during our interview process, by assessing a candidate’s experience, skills against internal peers, and against the scope and responsibilities of the position.