Operational Excellence Manager

Job Title: CapEx Operational Excellence

Location: St. Louis, MO

Duration: 6 6-month contract with possible extension

On-Site role

Description:

• Leads all Operational Excellence (OpEx) activities for EMEA regional distribution centers.
• This includes coordinating OpEx-related initiatives at the distribution centers, building OpEx project
• portfolio, managing resources, driving project execution, and implementing best practices and knowledge transfer across the organization.

Partnerships and collaboration

• Act as the main Point of Contact (POC) for all OpEx-related activities at the distribution centers and as a key partner for the distribution centers' head
• Collaborate with ISCO Excellence Execution project managers to coordinate project executions at the distribution centers.
• Act as distribution center link to the ISCO Excellence PMO & Analytics function to provide inputs supporting e.g., standardized reports of savings and project progress.
• Collaborate with the ISCO Excellence LS Production System roll-out distribution center leads, external partners & global team (e.g., support with implementation of specific tools, coaching, progress tracking, culture building)
• Collaborate with ISCO Academy to support building and delivering the OpEx learning curriculum.

Distribution center performance management

• Work together with the distribution center leadership team to jointly define the distribution center master plan (including LS Production System development plan to targeted future state in terms of next levels and/or certification) and to provide status updates on OpEx-related topics (e.g., project progress)
• Collect, analyze, and report data of current OpEx-related projects to the distribution center leader (either own reports or insights provided by PMO & Analytics function on the basis of collected data)
• Ensure definition and implementation of governance aspects solid project charters & execution plans for each OpEx project with appropriate risk management.

Portfolio management, capability steering, and knowledge transfer.

• Build the OpEx project portfolio for the distribution centers to achieve targets (safety, quality, supply, people & cost) and prioritize within the OpEx project portfolio as a partner to regional distribution leadership.
• Support project execution at the distribution centers within the region
• Ensure resource availability for project execution and manage belt resources at the distribution centers assuring that master plan targets / expected impact is achieved.
• Implement best practices from other OpEx teams and communicate own successes with other local OpEx and ISCO Excellence as well as the communities of excellence.
• Bridge knowledge gaps in projects by requesting and managing/developing additional required capabilities.

Strategic Impact:

• Driving the OpEx site project portfolio to achieve site targets in line with site strategy and roadmap by collaborating with ISCO Excellence functions and ensuring close alignment with overall ISCO
• strategy.

Scope of People Responsibility:

• Collaborates globally with key stakeholders across ISCO, functions, and hierarchies.

Cooperation:

Internally:

• Site, GPO, ISCO Excellence, Communities of Excellence

Externally:

• External suppliers/partners, institutions

Education:

• Industrial engineering/ supply chain/business administration degree/background
• Lean Six Sigma Belt certification required, black belt certification preferred.
• Project Management certification preferred

Work Experience:

• 5-7 years of demonstrated track record in supply chain operations preferred with experience in implementing improvement initiatives with impactful results, preferably in a leading position.
• Practical Lean Six Sigma experience
• Experience in the deployment of holistic production systems is preferred.

Job-specific Competencies & Skills:

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, results-driven mentality, experience in leading teams (leading without authority), capable of zooming in and out (big picture and detail mindset)
• Ability to partner with a leadership team to refine goals and translate them into an overall initiative plan.
• Experience in managing project portfolio performance and reporting.
• Ability to lead professionals with diverse skills and competencies spanning business and technical – located remotely and develop people in their capability to deploy new standards broadly.
• Ability to analyze complex issues using critical thinking, problem-solving, and sound judgment skills, and escalate timely.
• Ability to prioritize a complex portfolio in the context of business needs.
• Ability to lead and execute complex process improvement projects.
• Strong orchestration skills across the network
• Financial acumen demonstrated through budgeting experience.
• Ability to sense risks in the overall plan by integrating multiple data inputs across the value stream and from the plants.