Director, EBOS Lean

AFB International•Aurora, MO

About The Position

We make pet food taste great! For over 30 years, AFB International has been providing pet food solutions that enrich the lives of pets and their people. Our palatants are specially designed to make pet foods, treats and supplements taste better, ensuring pets receive the vital nutrients they need. We know wagging tails, licking whiskers and empty bowls equal happy pets and happy pet parents. Join AFB and you'll be a part of a team of highly skilled professionals that provide the greatest contribution to our success as an organization. Our team members are diverse, creative, passionate experts who are genuinely dedicated to our mission, our customers, and the pets we serve worldwide. Job Description The EBOS Director, Lean is responsible for working with our Global Team of EBOS Fundamental and Lean Practitioners promoting and facilitating the successful implementation of the Ensign Bickford Operating System across AFB International, enabling continuous improvement on core value drivers (CVDs) with an emphasis on safety, quality, and on time delivery. This position reports to the Vice President of EBOS and will sit as a peer to plant managers.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree plus 6+ years leadership experience in Operations, Materials, Engineering or other Supply Chain disciplines or equivalent experience -OR- associate degree plus 10+ years Operations, Materials or Engineering experience including 6+ years in leadership roles.
3 years’ experience as a Lean or OpEx change agent and influencer.
Expereince working with multiple sites and disciplines preferred.
Experience in Lean processes and principles, ideally in a structured lean setting.
Must be very customer focused and have strong interpersonal and communication skills with all levels of the organization.
Must have the ability to travel up to 50% of available time (likely lower for first 12-18 months).
Strong PowerPoint, MS Teams and Excel Skills.

Nice To Haves

Technical degree in Engineering or Supply Chain.
Experience operating in a fast-moving, rapidly changing environment where re-prioritization is constant, knowing that ultimately all tasks need to be completed on time.
Able to effectively deal with difficult situations while remaining composed.
Must be able to maintain strict confidentiality.
Strong problem-solving ability, including a high degree of creativity.
Ideally a minimum of Plant Manager / Director of Operations experience level or higher
Ideally have experience in highly regulated products (e.g. food, medical, etc.)
Experience in leading large cross functional teams.
Skilled in IFS, PowerAutomate & Power Apps

Responsibilities

Accelerate results in safety, quality and OTD by leveraging EBOS tools, mentoring skills, and change management processes.
Work with site leaders, supply chain director, and value stream leaders to achieve supply chain goals and objectives.
Collaborate / Mentor with site and value stream leaders to provide ‘productive tension’ and collaboration broadly to utilize EBOS properly to drive sustainable results.
Directly provide formal and informal EBOS training and mentoring at Gemba.
Assist in achieving site and OpCo KPI objectives.
Regularly participate in daily management meetings, enabling and empowering teams to problem solve key issues.
Ensure impactful kaizen events at mentored sites.
Promote and facilitate diagnosis of workflow impediments and other wastes throughout the business and provide expert counsel on appropriate EBOS tools to eliminate them.
Teamwork - must be able to lead a team(s) in a positive and respectful manner.
Results orientation - must deliver sustainable results, centered around core value drivers and level 2 KPIs.
Technical excellence - must possess the technical skills necessary to be seen as credible.
Communication, Followership & Leadership – must understand how to leverage both to drive sustainable change.
Global Company—must be comfortable working in a global environment and driving change virtually when needed.