Operational Excellence Manager
Operational Excellence Manager
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Job Type: Full-Time
Starting Salary: $85,000/year (higher depending on experience)
Position Overview
We are seeking an Operational Excellence Manager to lead continuous improvement efforts in a manufacturing environment. This position will identify process inefficiencies, reduce waste, improve productivity, and implement sustainable solutions using Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, and structured problem-solving.
The ideal candidate is a hands-on leader who can work directly with production teams, analyze operational data, and turn improvement opportunities into measurable results.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and manage continuous improvement initiatives aligned with operational goals.
- Partner with manufacturing and operations leaders to improve productivity, labor efficiency, quality, safety, cycle time, and cost.
- Identify bottlenecks, waste, and process inefficiencies and develop sustainable corrective actions.
- Facilitate Kaizen events, process improvement workshops, and root-cause analysis.
- Apply Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, value stream mapping, and change-management methods.
- Work directly with production teams to implement process improvements and standard work.
- Train, coach, and mentor employees on continuous improvement tools and practices.
- Establish and monitor KPIs to measure improvement results and program effectiveness.
- Analyze operational data and use findings to support decisions and action plans.
- Present project results, recommendations, and progress to plant and senior leadership.
- Develop strategies to increase employee participation and accountability in improvement initiatives.
- Identify opportunities for workflow improvements, labor efficiency, and capital investment.
- Support improvement activities across multiple shifts as needed.
- Ensure all initiatives support safety, quality, customer satisfaction, and operational excellence.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business Management, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field; equivalent experience considered.
- 5+ years of experience leading or implementing continuous improvement initiatives in manufacturing.
- Experience in engineer-to-order, fabrication, industrial, or manufacturing operations preferred.
- Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or Continuous Improvement certification strongly preferred.
- Proven ability to deliver measurable results through process improvement projects.
- Strong knowledge of Lean principles, value stream mapping, root cause analysis, Kaizen, and change management.
- Ability to collect, analyze, and interpret operational data.
- Strong leadership, project management, facilitation, presentation, and training skills.
- Excellent communication and organizational skills.
- Self-motivated with strong problem-solving abilities.
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
- Strong commitment to safety, quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Work Environment
- Regularly walk and interact with teams on the manufacturing floor.
- Ability to stand, bend, and move throughout production areas.
- Ability to occasionally lift up to 50 lbs.
- Ability to support multiple shifts and work flexible hours when improvement activities require it.
- Comfortable working in both office and manufacturing environments.