Associate Director., Operational Excellence MPS

Merck•Upper Gwynedd Township, PA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Job Description: The West Point, PA site is our Company’s largest vaccine manufacturing facility that manufactures bulk and final dosage forms for our vaccine products and is growing to meet future demand. Our company’s production system, MPS, is an integrated production system for how we design, manage, and continuously improve our operations and supporting business processes, enabled through the development of our people. The West Point Site MPS Team is responsible for driving MPS throughout the organization to enable change in the operating systems, management systems, and mindsets, behaviors, and capabilities of our people to manufacture product of the highest quality, for the lowest cost, and in the shortest lead time. Under the direction of the West Point Site MPS Lead, the successful candidate will work with all levels of site leadership through teaching, 1:1 and team coaching and direct on-the-floor support/on the job development. West Point MPS Associate Director, Business Consulting Description of Responsibilities: Effectively coach and partner with functional leaders, plant manager and the leadership team to develop strategic plans and execute performance improvement activities: Influence and link improvement objectives to the highest division priorities that align with our Company’s long-term strategy Provide guidance to frame appropriate business challenges, identifying key business opportunities using data and industry knowledge and trends Able to engage sponsors and clients and manage site-level initiatives to drive results and realize intended business benefit: Mentor leaders on effective communication and active listening techniques to fully understand client/customer needs and expectations Manage teams to mitigate risk, allocate resources, and drive on-time completion of initiatives Provide teaching and coaching to effectively transfer Lean skills into the organization for the development of Lean Leaders and fellow MPS team members who promote a culture of continuous improvement and challenge the status quo. Utilize various Lean standards in conjunction with our standardized deployment roadmap to diagnose, analyze and improve business processes: Strong competency in understanding and implementation of a Closed Loop System (Visual Management, Leader Standardized Work, Problem Solving and MPS/TPS Standards) Grasp the current situation through skillful application of value stream mapping, capacity analysis, and people capability analysis Define a future state and create a master plan to achieve it Develop Lean management systems, including visual management, to make problems visible Respond with urgency to effectively break down complex problems, lead root cause analysis, and develop effective countermeasures Lead and coach kaizens with a team to achieve multiple target conditions that enable progress towards an overall challenge Design balanced work, with smooth flow leading to improved lead time, inventory, quality, and more value-added work for the operator/technician Lead, develop and coach the implementation of level loaded standardized work across the site. Successful candidate should understand the use of supporting tools, such as Task Breakdown Sheets, Production Capacity sheets and Standardized Work Charts and Combination Tables.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in related field with 5+ years of Lean application experience with evidence of progression in understanding and successful application of TPS
Experience analyzing complex end-to-end supply chains and driving process improvement for a complete system in an integrated approach
Hands-on application of Lean tools: Hoshin Kanri, A3 development, management system development, scientific problem solving, leader standardized work, standardized work, process mapping, value stream mapping, capacity analysis, mistake proofing, SMED, and 5S/visual management
Proven experience in applying consultative skills (coaching, teaching) to drive a High Performance Organization to think, behave and apply lean methods and tools.
Ability to interact with and coach all levels of the business (senior leaders to shop floor working teams)
Experience with facilitating and leading teams
Experience in teaching lean tools, methods, and concepts
Ability to leverage diverse perspectives and talents to achieve business outcomes.
Ability to influence decision making
Project management skills (demonstrated experience in managing large teams)
Solid business acumen
Proven team building skills
Excellent listening skills
Results oriented
Proficiency in using IT applications to organize, analyze, & present information (e.g. MS-Excel, PowerPoint, Minitab, MS-Teams, Power BI)
Active Listening
Business Opportunities
Business Process Analysis
Business Processes
Business Process Modeling
Lean Management
Lean Process Improvements
Management Process
Operations Management
Performance Improvement Plans
Project Management
Social Collaboration
Strategic Planning

Nice To Haves

Experience in operations management, manufacturing, or related disciplines
Experience in a Vaccines or Sterile pharmaceutical environment
Continuous Improvement

Responsibilities

Effectively coach and partner with functional leaders, plant manager and the leadership team to develop strategic plans and execute performance improvement activities
Influence and link improvement objectives to the highest division priorities that align with our Company’s long-term strategy
Provide guidance to frame appropriate business challenges, identifying key business opportunities using data and industry knowledge and trends
Able to engage sponsors and clients and manage site-level initiatives to drive results and realize intended business benefit
Mentor leaders on effective communication and active listening techniques to fully understand client/customer needs and expectations
Manage teams to mitigate risk, allocate resources, and drive on-time completion of initiatives
Provide teaching and coaching to effectively transfer Lean skills into the organization for the development of Lean Leaders and fellow MPS team members who promote a culture of continuous improvement and challenge the status quo.
Utilize various Lean standards in conjunction with our standardized deployment roadmap to diagnose, analyze and improve business processes
Strong competency in understanding and implementation of a Closed Loop System (Visual Management, Leader Standardized Work, Problem Solving and MPS/TPS Standards)
Grasp the current situation through skillful application of value stream mapping, capacity analysis, and people capability analysis
Define a future state and create a master plan to achieve it
Develop Lean management systems, including visual management, to make problems visible
Respond with urgency to effectively break down complex problems, lead root cause analysis, and develop effective countermeasures
Lead and coach kaizens with a team to achieve multiple target conditions that enable progress towards an overall challenge
Design balanced work, with smooth flow leading to improved lead time, inventory, quality, and more value-added work for the operator/technician
Lead, develop and coach the implementation of level loaded standardized work across the site. Successful candidate should understand the use of supporting tools, such as Task Breakdown Sheets, Production Capacity sheets and Standardized Work Charts and Combination Tables.