Lean Operations Consultant

iBase-t•,

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Lean Operations Consultant (LOC) is a distinctive role within iBase-t’s Customer Success organization, focusing on applying lived Aerospace & Defense (A&D) manufacturing experience to drive change on customer shop floors. Unlike Customer Value Partners (CVPs) who manage strategic relationships and Expert Services (ES) who provide product depth, the LOC bridges the gap between available software features and actual operational adoption. The role requires a deep understanding of lean principles, organizational change management, and manufacturing digitalization to identify, quantify, and resolve process gaps, workarounds, and resistance that prevent customers from fully leveraging Solumina's capabilities. The ideal candidate has direct shop floor experience, including managing operations, facilitating kaizen events, and driving Standard Work programs, possessing the credibility to influence change among front-line supervisors and personnel.

Requirements

10+ years in aerospace and defense manufacturing operations, lean manufacturing, or industrial engineering, with direct, hands-on experience working on or managing A&D shop floor operations.
Demonstrated, documented track record of driving organizational change in A&D manufacturing environments, with references speaking to facilitating adoption by a workforce resistant to change.
Deep A&D shop floor domain knowledge: work order management, traveler control, quality inspection workflow, First Article Inspection (FAI), nonconformance report (NCR) processes, DCMA oversight environments, AS9100 and NADCAP compliance context.
Kaizen facilitation expertise, value stream mapping (VSM), standard work development, and PDCA methodology are required.
Strong executive presence and interpersonal credibility to challenge VP and Director-level operations leadership with evidence-based recommendations.
Ability and willingness to travel 40–50% of the time to customer manufacturing sites across the United States and internationally.
Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related field required.

Nice To Haves

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification strongly preferred.
Familiarity with Manufacturing Execution System (MES) software for standardizing shop floor work, specifically using MES for enforcing standard work, routing control, and digital traveler management.
Experience with Solumina, Teamcenter, SAP Production Planning (PP), or comparable MES/ERP platforms in an A&D manufacturing environment.
APICS Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) or Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) certification.
Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt or equivalent advanced lean credentials.
Prior experience working in or alongside a professional services or consulting engagement model.
Familiarity with digital transformation change management frameworks in manufacturing environments.

Responsibilities

Conduct structured lean assessments at customer manufacturing facilities, observing shop floor operations, documenting workflows, and identifying friction points.
Apply value stream mapping (VSM), standard work analysis, time-and-motion observation, and gemba walk methodology to build an evidence-based picture of value loss.
Distinguish between process friction, configuration friction, and relationship/strategic friction, assigning findings to the appropriate teams (LOC, ES, CVP).
Quantify improvement opportunities in operational terms such as cycle time reduction, FAI compliance rates, NCR open-to-close time, shop floor documentation hours, and defect escape rates, linking them to VRF KPIs.
Produce formal Lean Assessment Reports detailing findings, prioritized opportunities, OCM considerations, and recommended actions.
Develop and execute site-specific Organizational Change Management (OCM) plans addressing observed resistance patterns.
Build an internal champion base to sustain process changes after engagement.
Work with customer operations leadership (Directors, VPs) to build visible executive sponsorship for process changes.
Facilitate kaizen events, standard work development sessions, and cross-functional alignment workshops.
Address specific objections raised by shop floors against standardization and digitalization with evidence-based counterarguments.
Develop and maintain a 30-60-90 day OCM plan for each site engagement with documented milestones and checkpoints.
Translate lean assessment findings into specific, prioritized Solumina configuration recommendations for Expert Services.
Brief Expert Services on operational context, resistance patterns, and OCM progress to ensure configuration aligns with lean direction.
Provide the operational translation layer to Expert Services during configuration, explaining how features map to workflows and potential pushback.
Identify and build the operational case for enabling relevant Solumina capabilities that are not currently activated.
Brief the assigned Customer Value Partner (CVP) on lean assessment findings to ensure VRF reflects operational reality and KPIs are grounded.
Provide the CVP with documented, quantified improvement findings for QBR materials and executive conversations.
Serve as the operations credibility resource in customer-facing sessions, including steering committees and executive QBRs.
Flag account-level signals to the CVP indicating the need for additional LOC engagement.
Contribute lean assessment findings and OCM approaches to iBase-t’s internal knowledge base.
Participate in iBase-t’s Solumina User Group (SUG) and Excelerate conference as a subject matter expert.
Collaborate with the Principal Customer Value Partner on methodology development for lean assessment frameworks, OCM templates, and engagement structures.