Project Lead, Operational Excellence & Transformation

About the role

Nextpower is evolving from a solar tracker company into an integrated utility-scale energy technology platform spanning trackers, eBOS, foundations, power conversion, energy storage, robotics, and other adjacent solutions. As the company grows through organic expansion and acquisitions, it needs greater alignment, standardization, scalability, and execution across the enterprise. Reporting to the Director, Operational Excellence & Transformation, the Project Lead defines improvement projects and workstreams within the Operational Excellence Office portfolio. The role works primarily with Operations teams across manufacturing, supply chain, planning, procurement, quality, logistics, and field operations, and coordinates with other functions where processes cross boundaries. The project lead applies disciplined project management, Lean and Kaizen methods, process redesign, and systems adoption to improve execution and produce measurable operating and financial results. Works with the Director, project sponsors, site and functional teams, Finance, and IT to execute assigned initiatives and sustain results.

Responsibilities

• Project Execution and Reporting: Develop project charters, current-state assessments, plans, milestones, owners, risks, and action logs for assigned initiatives. Run working sessions and project reviews; follow up on commitments and escalate decisions or barriers to the Director. Maintain accurate status, issue, dependency, and benefit reporting for portfolio reviews.
• Process Improvement: Map workflows and handoffs, identify root causes, and implement simpler, more consistent processes with business owners. Facilitate Kaizen events and apply standard work, visual management, A3 thinking, PDCA, and other appropriate improvement tools. Document future-state processes, controls, training materials, and ownership so improvements are sustained.
• Systems and Automation: Work with IT and business users to gather requirements, test redesigned workflows, and support rollout of enterprise systems and automation. Support Oracle and other platform adoption by identifying pain points, improving data quality, and reducing manual or spreadsheet-based work. Define useful project metrics and maintain reliable operational reporting.