Sr. Manager Transportation & Manufacturing systems

Sr. Manager, Operations Transformation & Manufacturing Systems

Location: Concord or Wilmington

Position Summary

The Sr. Manager, Lean Transformation is responsible for leading enterprise Lean transformation initiatives across manufacturing operations with a focus on operational excellence, waste elimination, process optimization, digital enablement, and sustainable performance improvement. This role serves as a strategic change agent, partnering with manufacturing, engineering, digital transformation, automation, and plant leadership teams to improve productivity, quality, cost, delivery, and employee engagement.

The Sr. Manager, Lean Transformation will champion Lean principles, Six Sigma methodologies, and data-driven decision-making while fostering a culture of continuous improvement throughout the organization.

Role Purpose

Lead the design and deployment of an integrated, data-driven manufacturing optimization system across the Fiber-to-Product value stream. This role will apply Lean, systems optimization, operational excellence, and Manufacturing 4.0 (M4.0) principles to improve production, fiber utilization, yield, capacity, quality, cost, and delivery.

This role serves as a strategic change agent, partnering with Fiber, Cable, Supply Chain, Warehousing, Engineering, Quality, Digital Transformation, IT, and major capital programs to ensure local improvements optimize the total system. The Sr. Manager will champion Lean principles, Six Sigma methodologies, and data-driven decision-making while fostering a culture of continuous improvement throughout the organization.

Key Responsibilities

Assess and Build Organizational Capability: Assess the current state of plant Lean/optimization capability and recommend the future-state operational organization, staffing, interfaces, decision rights, and development plan required to support growth. Build and coach the required optimization capability in partnership with plant and division digital leadership.

Establish Manufacturing Optimization System: Define and deploy a matrixed and plant owned operating system that combines traditional Lean disciplines, data-driven decision making, daily management, structured problem solving, and M4.0 tools. Establish common methods, KPIs, governance, and sustainment routines across priority operations.

Lead Cross-Functional Portfolio: Establish and lead a prioritized transformation portfolio with defined owners, milestones, risks, benefits, and reporting. Communicate progress, barriers, resource needs, and measurable outcomes to leadership.

Partner on M4.0 and Digital Manufacturing: Partner with Digital Transformation, IT, Automation, Engineering, and Operations to define and prioritize operational use cases. Support practical deployment of automated data collection, dashboards, digital work instructions, electronic checklists, workflow automation, predictive analytics, and real-time performance visibility.

Lead Product Optimization: Partner division-level end-to-end value-stream analysis from fiber manufacturing through cable and customer demand. Identify constraints, non-value-added work, material-flow opportunities, and actions that improve total system performance, including fiber utilization and flow.

Drive Data-Based Process Performance: Use process, equipment, quality, and supply-chain data to identify loss, prioritize opportunities, and enable faster decisions. Apply value-stream mapping, time studies, Gemba observation, statistical process control, process capability analysis, root-cause analysis, and appropriate optimization methods.

Embed Optimization in Growth and Capital Programs: Represent manufacturing optimization needs in major growth programs including equipment and facility expansions. Evaluate operational readiness, process and material flow, staffing, layout, maintainability, standard work, and scale-up risk; coordinate action plans with accountable program leaders.

Sustain Improvements and Develop Leaders: Ensure improvements are standardized across sites through training, control plans, visual management, leader standard work, audit routines, and clear ownership. Coach leaders and teams to use structured problem solving and to optimize customer value and total-system performance rather than local metrics.

Travel Requirements:

Time in manufacturing plants is critical, percent of time in each plant will adjust based on priorities (~25%)

Hours of work/work schedule/flextime:

Monday–Friday. The position is overtime exempt. Off-hours support and additional hours will be expected at times based on business and program needs.

Qualifications

Required

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, Business, or a related field required

10+ years of progressive manufacturing, operations, process/industrial engineering, supply chain, or operational-excellence experience.

5+ years leading large-scale operational transformation with demonstrated, sustained results in performance, output, and cost.

Practical expertise in Lean, value-stream design, structured problem solving, statistical process control, root-cause analysis, and sustainable daily-management systems.

Strong data-analysis capability and ability to frame operational questions, interpret results, and convert analysis into decisions and measurable improvement.

Experience partnering with digital transformation, automation, IT, and technology teams to improve manufacturing processes.

Demonstrated ability to lead through ambiguity, influence without direct authority, develop people, and communicate effectively from the shop floor through executive leadership.

Desired

Direct experience in optical fiber, fiber-optic cable, cable, telecommunications infrastructure, or closely related advanced-materials/process manufacturing.

Experience with M4.0/digital manufacturing, historians, automated data collection, advanced analytics, or connected-worker tools