Lean Engineer

Vestas•Fort Collins, CO

5d•$75,000 - $100,000•Onsite

About The Position

At Vestas, we are driven by a shared purpose: to power the world with sustainable energy. As the global leader in wind energy, we design, manufacture, install, and service wind turbines that help create a cleaner and more sustainable future. Join our Windsor Blades Factory, where innovation, quality, and teamwork come together to produce some of the world's most advanced wind turbine blades.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing/Industrial Engineering, Operations, or related field; equivalent experience considered.
3–5+ years of experience in Lean, continuous improvement, or manufacturing engineering.
Strong knowledge of Lean tools (VSM, takt, kanban, 5S, kaizen, SMED, standard work).
Experience with PFMEA, Control Plans, and structured problem solving.
Proficiency in data analysis, time studies, and capacity modeling.
Strong communication, facilitation, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Ability to influence without authority and drive change in a production environment.
Advanced Microsoft Office skills.

Nice To Haves

Lean Six Sigma certification (Green Belt or higher) strongly preferred; demonstrated application of Six Sigma tools to reduce variation and improve process capability.
CAD experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Drive factory improvements by conducting Lean assessments and implementing targeted improvement actions.
Maintain adherence to the Daily Management System, including leader standard work, visual KPI boards, and escalation rules.
Engineer flow and process stability by Value Stream Mapping (VSM), setting takt time, performing line balancing, and designing kanban systems.
Analyze processes to identify waste, variation, and bottlenecks; implement solutions that improve safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people performance.
Facilitate kaizen events, 5S activities, and structured problem-solving workshops.
Support PFMEA (Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) development and alignment with Control Plans, PWIs, testing, tooling RFPs, worker balance, and process capability.
Support NPI and ramp-up activities to achieve stable serial production.
Collaborate with HQ and cross-functional teams to support NPI/TT (Technology Transfer) deliverables and readiness.
Foster sharing of best practices across factories to strengthen global standardization.
Conduct time studies, capacity analysis, and labor/equipment utilization reviews.
Implement poka-yoke, confirmations, layered audits, and other first-time-right quality controls.
Ensure compliance with QBD (Quality Before Delivery), ECM (Engineering Change Management), ToCI (Transfer of Component Information), and revision-controlled documentation.
Participate in improvement projects, capacity expansions, and layout optimization.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Apply Lean tools (VSM, 5-Why, 8D, SMED, standard work) to stabilize and improve production processes.
Communicate process changes and improvement outcomes clearly to operators, technicians, and leadership.
Maintain accurate documentation, KPIs, and Daily Management System data.
Work on the factory floor as needed to support improvement activities and coaching.