Manufacturing Excellence Specialist

Foods you love. Brands you trust. And a career that empowers you to grow. At Nestlé USA, we’re all working towards the same goal – to delight and deliver for our consumers. Joining Nestlé means becoming part of an inclusive workplace that inspires innovation, encourages strategic thinking and creativity, and celebrates your achievements.

Responsibilities

• Support definition, alignment, and implementation of the Local Leadership Team (LLT) performance improvement plan/strategy.
• Co‑develop the Local Leadership improvement strategy, considering the Factory Operational Master Plan, loss analysis, and external benchmarks.
• Gain alignment from the LLT and key stakeholders around the improvement plan and support rollout across the Production Department.
• Deliver long‑term TPM rollout plans and other factory key enablers (digital, CAPEX, MUV/cost savings, etc.).
• Lead key improvement projects and competency‑building activities, coordinating any external support required.
• Ensure proper governance and routines at LLT levels to track execution progression and sustain improvements.
• Spend time on the shop floor to evaluate maturity progression and identify key opportunities.
• Provide guidance and feedback to LLT, aligning corrective actions to adjust the improvement plan.
• Develop critical competence within the LLT (e.g., ability to identify opportunities to transform workplace, people, and behaviors through GEMBA visits).
• Partner with HR/Training to establish and evaluate the robustness of function/pillar capability plans for LLT.
• Train and coach LLT and shop‑floor owners on system health and competencies (cleaning/inspection, centerline, changeover) and escalate for external support as needed.
• Evaluate maturity of key systems, provide feedback to functional/pillar leads, and guide conversations on improvement steps.
• Participate as a member of the FI Pillar, contributing to competence building and health of FI systems and routines (problem solving, project & stakeholder management, loss intelligence, etc.).
• Accountable for FI pillar and industrial performance activities within the LLT, including labor utilization studies, data reliability, SAP BOM/master data, planning rate reviews, asset intensity systems, tagging/prometheus, capacity utilization, and related routines.

Requirements

• High school diploma or equivalent (GED) required.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, business, or a related field preferred; equivalent combination of education, training, and relevant experience may be considered.
• 1–3 years of experience in manufacturing.
• 1–3 years working with factory management & leadership teams, supporting and developing cross‑functional teams.
• 1–3 years active involvement in goal alignment, TPM, or Lean implementation.
• Understanding of cultural change management, process improvement, and business connections.
• Experience with line labor standards, budget preparation/review, and line capability/speed studies.
• 1–3 years developing improvement projects, loss analysis, and applying problem‑solving tools.

Skills

• Strong collaboration and cross‑functional teamwork across shop floor, LLT, and factory leadership levels.
• Coaching and influencing abilities to build capability and drive behavioral change.
• Analytical and problem‑solving skills for interpreting manufacturing losses, performance trends, and operational data.
• Digital proficiency with Microsoft Office; desire to learn SAP, DMO, Prometheus, POKA, Power BI.
• Knowledge of Goal Alignment, TPM, Lean, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Ability to manage multiple improvement initiatives simultaneously, prioritize work, and drive execution through cross‑functional teams.

Pay

Salary range: $74,969.10 to $100,552 per year.
Bonus eligibility: 7% of base salary.

Benefits

Nestlé offers a competitive total rewards package that includes performance‑based incentives, a 401(k) plan with company match, healthcare coverage, and a broad range of other benefits. Details can be found at Nestlé US Benefits. The exact incentives and benefit packages may vary by position.