Operational Excellence Manager

We are searching for an Operational Excellence Manager to lead Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives at its Bay Shore facility.

This hands-on role will work closely with operators, supervisors, and cross-functional teams to reduce waste, improve production flow, increase capacity, and deliver measurable improvements in quality, delivery, cost, and inventory.

The successful candidate will combine practical shop-floor experience with strong analytical and change leadership skills. This is an opportunity to drive meaningful operational improvements while building the processes, routines, and employee capabilities needed to sustain results.

Key Responsibilities

Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement

• Identify manufacturing waste, bottlenecks, and process variation through shop-floor observation, process mapping, value-stream mapping, and data analysis.

• Lead kaizen events and focused improvement projects from planning through implementation and sustained results.

• Apply Lean methods including A3/PDCA, 5S/6S, standard work, visual management, Kanban, capacity analysis, setup reduction (SMED), and root-cause analysis.

• Improve material, labor, and information flow across machining, inspection, tooling, outside processing, planning, and support functions.

• Prioritize improvements that increase overall production throughput and address critical capacity constraints.

Manufacturing Performance & Cost Improvement

• Establish performance baselines for safety, quality, delivery, cost, labor utilization, overtime, setup time, work in process, scrap, and rework.

• Partner with Operations and Engineering to remove barriers affecting customer commitments, production schedules, and backlog reduction.

• Reduce manufacturing lead times, setup times, queue times, and aging work in process.

• Improve labor productivity, machine utilization, staffing alignment, and visibility into direct and indirect labor.

• Partner with Finance to validate recurring savings, capacity gains, inventory reductions, and cash benefits.

• Ensure improvements maintain aerospace quality, safety, customer, export-control, and configuration-control requirements.

Daily Management & Operating Systems

• Implement tiered daily meetings, visual performance boards, clear action ownership, and timely escalation practices.

• Establish leader standard work, process controls, and sustainment audits.

• Develop a Lean deployment roadmap aligned with manufacturing priorities and new product introduction.

• Use ERP and analytics tools to make performance visible and support fact-based decisions.

• Create repeatable operating standards that can be applied across additional product families and facilities.

• Identify digital and automation opportunities after simplifying and stabilizing underlying processes.

Team Development & Change Leadership

• Coach supervisors, engineers, operators, and support teams in practical problem-solving and Lean methods.

• Develop Lean champions and process owners who can sustain improvements within their areas.

• Engage employees in identifying problems and designing effective solutions.

• Collaborate with Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Planning, Maintenance, Finance, and HR.

• Communicate project progress, verified benefits, risks, and required decisions to site and senior leadership.

• Build a culture of accountability, employee involvement, and disciplined follow-through.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, or a related discipline; an equivalent combination of education and demonstrated accomplishments will be considered.

• At least 7 years of progressive manufacturing experience, including 3 years leading Lean, Continuous Improvement, or Operational Excellence initiatives.

• Demonstrated results in waste reduction, throughput improvement, setup reduction, labor productivity, quality, inventory, or cost savings.

• Hands-on proficiency with value-stream mapping, kaizen, A3/PDCA, 5S/6S, standard work, visual management, SMED, root-cause analysis, and flow and pull systems.

• Experience in machining, aerospace, defense, precision manufacturing, or a similarly regulated environment.

• Strong analytical skills and the ability to connect operational improvements to validated financial results.

• Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive change without relying solely on direct authority.

• Strong communication, coaching, and project execution skills.

• Ability to work onsite and spend substantial time on the manufacturing floor.

Preferred Qualifications

• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or comparable advanced Operational Excellence certification supported by successful implementation experience.

• Aerospace manufacturing and AS9100 experience.

• Familiarity with complex CNC machining, low-volume/high-mix production, long-cycle work, high-value forgings, and capacity-constrained equipment.

• Experience deploying a site-level Lean transformation or enterprise operating system.

• Experience with Power BI, Epicor, or comparable ERP and analytics platforms.

• Experience developing supervisors, Lean champions, and tiered daily management systems.

• Experience supporting NPI, manufacturing engineering, maintenance reliability, or quality improvement.

What Success Looks Like

• Improved schedule attainment and reduced overdue production.

• Shorter manufacturing lead times and lower work-in-process inventory.

• Increased throughput, labor productivity, and machine utilization.

• Reduced setup times, scrap, rework, and avoidable overtime.

• Validated cost savings and improved cash performance.

• Consistent daily management practices and sustained employee ownership of improvements.