Operations Process Automation Engineer II

Starkey Hearing is hiring for a Operations Process Automation Engineer at its global headquarters in Eden Prairie, MN. The Operations Process Automation Engineer role focuses on improving operational performance by designing, building, and sustaining practical automation solutions for manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and engineering workflows. This position partners with cross-functional teams to map current processes, identify manual effort and data gaps, and implement scalable tools that improve accuracy, traceability, speed, and decision-making. Solutions may include workflow automation, dashboards, data preparation, low-code/no-code applications, scripted utilities, system integrations, and AI-assisted capabilities where they provide measurable operational value. This role requires strong process understanding, analytical thinking, technical problem solving, and the ability to translate business needs into reliable, maintainable solutions.

Starkey is a world leader in the manufacturing and distribution of advanced hearing technologies. We are in the business of connecting people and changing lives. Our teams come to work each day focused on ensuring people everywhere have the products and services they need to hear better and live better. Founded in 1967 by Bill Austin, Starkey is known for our cutting-edge hearing health innovations, industry-leading research and development, and not being afraid to push the edge of what's possible. We are headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, have over 5,000 employees in 29 facilities across the globe, and do business in more than 100 markets worldwide.

Watch this video to see more of what sets Starkey apart.

https://youtu.be/9cUYwTlCepg?si=wkovx8_R_iINfrc6

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES/RESULTS

• Process Analysis and Continuous Improvement

• Partner with Operations, Quality, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, and R&D teams to identify workflow inefficiencies, manual handoffs, data-entry burdens, and process bottlenecks.

• Analyze current business processes and develop future-state solutions that improve efficiency, quality, traceability, and operational effectiveness.

• Define business requirement and translate operational needs into practical automation and digital solution designs.

• Automation & Solution Development

• Design, develop, configure, and support operational tools, including workflow trackers, exception management queues, validation utilities, reporting dashboards, intake forms, approval workflows, and traceability solutions.

• Integrate data across enterprise systems using approved technologies such as Apis, SQL, SharePoint, Power Platform, Axure services, Python, and other supported platforms.

• Leverage approved AI-assisted capabilities to enhance process analysis, document interpretation, workflow guidance, information retrieval, summarization, and decision support in compliance with company policies.

• Data Management & System Reliability

• Build and maintain data preparation, transformation, validation, and monitoring processes to ensure the accuracy, integrity, and reliability of reporting and automation outputs.

• Evaluate solutions for usability, performance, scalability, maintainability, security, and accuracy prior to deployment.

• Monitor and troubleshoot automated processes to maintain operational effectiveness and system performance.

• Documentation, Training & Sustainment

• Develop and maintain process documentation, user guides, training materials, support plans, and change-control records to promote successful adoption and long-term sustainability of solutions.

• Provide end-user training and ongoing support to ensure effective utilization of implemented tools and processes.

• Performance Measurement & Business Impact

• Measure and report the effectiveness of automation and process-improvement initiatives through key operational metrics.

• Track and communicate benefits including cycle-time reduction, error reduction, improved first-pass yield, reduced rework, enhanced traceability, and increased visibility into operational performance and status.

• Other duties/responsibilities as assignedGovernance, Compliance & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with IT, Data Security, and Quality stakeholders to ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, data governance standards, validation requirements, and regulated process expectations.

• Support adherence to company policies, quality system requirements, and industry regulations throughout the design and implementation lifecycle.

• Participate in change management activities, including solution reviews, testing, validation, and deployment planning.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Education, Certification and Experience Requirements

• Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Operations, Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, Data Analytics, Information Systems, or related Field

• Experience

• 4+ years of experience improving operational processes though automation, analytics, data tools, workflow systems, or related continuous improvement work.

• Experience working directly with business users to define requirements, test solutions, train users, and support adoption into a production or operations environment.

• Experience in manufacturing, quality, supply chain, medical device, regulated product, or tother controlled-process environments preferred.

Knowledge / Technical Requirements

• Process automation: Experience designing and implementing workflow automation, approval flows, exception management, status tracking, and operational control tools.
• Data and reporting: Proficiency with data analysis, data cleaning, dashboards, KPI reporting, and operational metrics.
• Low-code / business automation platforms: Experience with Power Apps, Power Automate, SharePoint, Microsoft Lists, forms, or comparable workflow platforms preferred.
• Programming / scripting: Working knowledge of Python, JavaScript, SQL, or similar languages sufficient to automate tasks, connect data, build utilities, and troubleshoot issues.
• System integration: Familiarity with APIs, database connections, EDI/order data concepts, and system-to-system workflow handoffs.
• Cloud and enterprise tools: Basic familiarity with Azure, Microsoft 365, enterprise databases, Git/source control, and modern development environments
• AI-assisted workflow improvement: Practical understanding of how LLMs, RAG/search, document extraction, summarization, and agent-style workflows can support operations while maintaining human oversight and data controls.
• Validation and controls: Ability to document requirements, test cases, change impacts, user acceptance testing, and support procedures for regulated or quality-sensitive processes.

Competencies, Skills & Abilities

• Operations - first problem solving: understands the process before building the tool. Focuses on eliminating waste, reducing variation, and improving execution.
• Analytical skills: uses data to find root causes, validate assumptions, prioritize opportunities, and measure results.
• Collaboration: works effectively with operations, quality, engineering, IT, security, and business stakeholders.
• Communication: explains technical concepts in plain language and creates clear documentation for users and leaders.
• Change management: supports adoption through training, feedback loops, stakeholder alignment, and practical rollout plans,
• Quality Mindset: builds tools with accuracy, traceability, version control, documentation, and risk awareness in mind.
• Continuous learning: stays current on automation, analytics, and AI assisted process improvement methods and applies them pragmatically.

WORK CONTEXT

Working Conditions

• Standard office conditions
• Standard lab, manufacturing, or operations floor conditions as needed
• Some travel may be required to support site implementations, process discovery, training, or rollout activities.

Equipment Operation

• Standard office equipment
• Standard lab or operations equipment as needed for process observation, testing, and workflow validation.

Salary and Other Compensation:

The target rate for this position is between $$78,540 to $107,000/year. Factors which may affect starting pay within this range may include geography/market, skills, education, experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

Benefits: The following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements, include medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k) retirement plan with company match, company-paid life and short-term disability insurance, long-term disability insurance, employee assistance plan, hearing aid benefits, Paid Time Off, paid holidays, paid floating holidays, paid volunteer service day, paid paternity and maternity leave and tuition reimbursement

This position is eligible for a bonus based upon performance results. There is no guarantee of payout.