New Product Integration Engineer

Yamaha has an excellent opportunity for a New Product Integration Engineer to join our Marine team in Kennesaw, GA.  The position develops and maintains a five-year manufacturing strategy with the leadership at 7+ manufacturing locations.  This position also supports and leads the development and execution of the manufacturing portion of the P-Process for New Product Development (NPD) and New Product Integration (NPI) for the US Marine Business Unit (MBU).  This includes assessing manufacturing capabilities at each location and building a business case for “where built” for new products in development (P0 & P1) be it at existing Yamaha manufacturing locations or outsourced. This position manages and implements manufacturing process improvements and best practices across the Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA (YMUS) Marine Division’s 7+ manufacturing locations with a focus on flawless execution at the Start Of the Production (SOP). The position manages the P3 & P4 processes to achieve flawless execution at SOP in the areas of safety, productivity, quality, efficiency, cost, and delivery.  The position works closely with Yamaha Motor Corporation (YMC) in Japan & YMUS Design Engineers, the Marine Innovation Center (MIC) and Manufacturing Leadership, Quality, Operations, Production Engineering, Sales, Information Systems, Operational Excellence Support, and supply chain teams to identify the requirements for new product integrations and follows the P-Process through serial production at the manufacturing locations.  

What you'll be doing:

• Work closely with manufacturing operations leadership to develop and meet the requirements for operational NPI readiness (P3) and new product integration (P4).
• Lead the P3 and P4 processes for all new products at the YMUS MBU.
• Develop, evaluate, and improve production methods utilizing lean tools, knowledge of product design, materials and parts, tooling and production equipment capabilities, process methods, and quality control standards to reduce manufactured cost and ensure the flawless execution of NPI.
• Help develop P-Process skills, knowledge, and process effectiveness at the MBU manufacturing subsidiaries.
• Develop and maintain the 3+2 manufacturing (5-year) strategy for the MBU, working closely with product development teams and manufacturing leadership.
• Lead the development of the business case for determining the “where built” for new products in development (P0 & P1).
• Lead process improvement evaluations on the P-Process at least annually following the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) model.

What you need to be successful:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Business Management.
• 10+ years of operations management experience in progressive roles of leadership, including leading multiple NPIs following a structured gate process.
• 10+ years applying lean manufacturing methodologies to support continuous improvement in manufacturing operations
• Demonstrable experience leading manufactured cost improvements at multiple locations in a geographically dispersed business, involving multiple NPIs, projects, timelines, teams, and deliverables.
• Experience working in an ISO9001 manufacturing environment and a demonstrated clear understanding of ISO9001 requirements
• Travel up to 60% of the time.
• Experience in leading manufacturing operations CI and NPI in heavy truck or automotive preferred.
• Experience in TS or IATF 16949 preferred.
• Accredited Lean Six Sigma Green Belt preferred Black Belt or Master Black Belt.
• Experience working with the Society Manufacturing Engineers, the Association of Manufacturing Excellence, and the Shingo Institute preferred.
• Industry experience in Fiberglass Reinforced Plastics (FRP) and Aluminum boat building or related fields preferred.
• Exhibit strong leadership skills with the ability to maintain a wide range of multi-site relationships at all levels of the organization utilizing influence, communication, facilitation, and presentation to effectively define and manage positive change.
• Possess a thorough understanding of NPD, NPI, and the P-Processes and practices, with ability to assess, explain, and deploy with a common-sense approach to plant teams to drive flawless execution at SOP.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and underrepresented minorities are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Yamaha, we understand that talent comes in various forms, as such we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace.  If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we enc