Senior Plant Operational Excellence Manager

Employment Type: Salaried
Shift:   
Work Arrangement: Onsite 

Position Summary:

The Operational Excellence Manager (OpEx) will be responsible for accelerating the change efforts at the production plant by leading organizational/leadership development processes, promoting employee engagement, and driving quality and productivity improvements.  As part of the Plant Leadership Team the OpEx Manager will provide necessary coaching to the team and other individuals regarding organizational effectiveness, operational improvements, and execution of best practices. Monitor progress and advance the transformation to world class over time through continued coaching.  Provide support to location personnel to make certain that progress meets location targets.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Responsible for implementing strategy and guiding advancement of operational excellence programs.
• Collaborate with the Production Manager(s), Quality Managers, and others to understand site business priorities/goals and use this knowledge to prioritize - continuous process improvement.
• Be a role model for the mindsets and behaviors necessary to create an environment of trust, participation, and accountability. Consult with OpEx Leaders to identify best practices and to simplify and standardize work to deliver improved performance.
• Actively review site practices to identify opportunities and advise on appropriate organizational interventions (i.e. training, coaching, etc.) for improving site systems and practices to achieve desired outcomes.
• Guide locations in determining the priorities for process improvements that impact production and business results and champion waste elimination and reduction.  Build a coaching culture and provide individual coaching to site and above site leadership throughout the change and transformation process.
• Monitor Improvement progress and sustain transformational gains over time through continued metric review and consultation with key stakeholders. Responsible for the oversight and direct supervision of assigned Plant Continuous Improvement Resources.
• lead Improvement Projects utilizing standardized OpEx tools and methods to improve plant performance and achieve results for operations customers.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, operations, or comparable technical field; or 7-10 years in a business improvement role.
• Professional certifications and experience especially helpful in the field of World Class Manufacturing, World Class Operations, IWS, TPM, Autonomous Maintenance, Training Development, Organizational Development, Coaching, Lean and Change Management, Six Sigma.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Demonstrated ability to lead, manage and implement organizational and cultural change and deliver results.  Be a recognized role model in key leadership development skills of feedback, coaching, listening, empowerment, and difficult conversations.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills which include building rapport and maintaining strong relationships across all levels, sensitivity to individual and team needs, collaborating effectively to accomplish work, effective facilitation and teaching skills.
• Effective with coaching and influencing individuals and teams without authority.  Demonstrated conflict resolution and solution focused problem-solving skills.
• Results oriented with the ability to gather, analyze, and interpret information from a variety of sources.
• Project management capability with effective time management skills and ability to manage multiple conflicting priorities.

Why Join Us:
Ventura Foods innovates and manufactures food solutions for foodservice and retail businesses.  We make exclusive products for the world's most iconic restaurants and retailers, we provide ready-to-go p