Director, Operational Excellence

About RH Aero Systems:

RH Aero Systems is setting the standard for aviation support equipment and services. Through our industry-leading businesses – Rhinestahl and HYDRO Systems – we deliver capability across custom-designed Ground Support Equipment, OEM-licensed engine, and airframe tooling, twenty-six global service centers and innovative engineered solutions for OEMs, MROs, and Operators worldwide. RH Aero Systems’ global headquarters is in Mason, Ohio, USA. For further details visit RHAero.com.

Job Summary:

RH Aero is seeking a dynamic leader to lead Global Operational Excellence. The Director of Operational Excellence will provide leadership and technical support to assigned personnel and contractors. They will be responsible for managing continuous improvement personnel and initiatives across the global business. This role will engage with the global leadership (GLT) and executive leadership (ELT) teams to identify areas of greatest need and return on investment. They will lead cross-functional teams to create solutions to meet customer needs, develop processes to support and implement on time and profitably. 

The ideal candidate must have previous experience leading groups of individuals using Lean methodologies. They must be a practitioner of the Lean set of tools and be knowledgeable in the application and usage of them in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing transactional business processes. They must be able to travel regionally and internationally to support their team and global business needs. This candidate must be able to work across all levels of the organization from shop floor to the executive leadership team. The role is a hybrid of supervision, leadership, and hands-on experiential process improvement and problem solving.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide daily professional and disciplinary leadership of operations excellence / continuous improvement individuals and ensure safe and effective operations for employees

• Evaluate team performance in accordance with corporate guidelines and annual performance management process, providing feedback on personnel to the Chief Operating Officer

• Provide coaching, mentoring, and training to direct reports and cross-functional resources to grow the Lean acumen of the company

• Develop the organizational operating system standards and operating practices

• Utilization of the Lean tool set to manage operational improvement efforts in both manufacturing and transactional business processes

• Identification of opportunity pipeline aligned to productivity improvement in collaboration with the global leadership team that directly impacts the P&L

• Guide teams through problem solving or Kaizen efforts to grow organizational capability to execute process improvements

• Collaborate with Health & Safety leader on facility improvement and 6S standards

• Responsible for compliance with any customer related specifications and annual target setting

• Expand capabilities globally in regions or functions where benefits could be realized with new resource development

• Execution process reviews and optimize existing processes with functional leaders

Qualifications and Experience:

• BS Engineering or Operations Management (e.g. aerospace, mechanical, electrical) or equivalent degree; Masters degree preferred

• Minimum 10 years work experience, with experience in leadership roles

• Experience in the aviation industry would be an advantage but not a mandatory condition

• Experience in a manufacturing site environment is a mandatory condition

• Have a high degree of self-motivation and work in a dynamic and structured manner

• Excellent communicator in English (spoken and written), other languages, e.g. German would be an advantage

• Computer literacy includes Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.

• Self-motivated, strong attention to detail, and accuracy.

• Ability to read and ful