Manager, Manufacturing Excellence & Operating Systems

Graco•Rogers, MN

11d

About The Position

Graco is hiring a Manager, Manufacturing Excellence & Operating Systems to define and maintain the Manufacturing Operating System, including its deployment roadmap, standards, governance and maturity model. The role establishes common methods for problem solving, value stream improvement, standard work, visual and daily management, leader standard work, and sustainment. It assesses adoption and performance across manufacturing locations, develops plans to close gaps, clarifies roles and decision rights, and owns the learning and capability development system while functional experts own technical training content. The manager owns the Continuous Improvement Portfolio, overseeing project intake, prioritization, resource allocation, execution discipline, benefits validation and sustainment. The role leads enterprise improvement initiatives, aligns resources with business priorities, establishes benefit measurement methods with Finance and other stakeholders, and resolves portfolio priorities and resource conflicts with site and functional leaders. The position coaches site and functional leaders, builds a network that shares and scales effective practices, and partners across Operations, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain, Information Systems and Finance. It also leads, mentors, manages and staffs the Manufacturing Excellence organization, sets goals and supports team development, and manages the annual Manufacturing Excellence budget. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a permanent and unrestricted basis. The position is not eligible for immigration sponsorship, and candidates working under temporary employment authorization are not eligible.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, business or a related field, or equivalent experience.
7+ years of manufacturing, operations or continuous improvement experience.
2+ years of people leadership or sustained program leadership experience.
Knowledge of daily management systems, leader standard work, structured problem solving, project governance, change management and benefits realization.
Ability to make cross-functional decisions, communicate with leaders and influence across multiple manufacturing locations.
Legally authorized to work in the United States on a permanent and unrestricted basis; temporary employment authorization is not accepted.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or MBA.
Operational excellence, structured problem solving or equivalent certification.
Experience building, deploying or scaling a manufacturing operating system across multiple locations.
Experience developing enterprise learning or capability systems.

Responsibilities

Define and maintain the Manufacturing Operating System, including deployment roadmap, standards, governance and maturity model.
Establish common methods for structured problem solving, value stream improvement, standard work, visual management, daily management, leader standard work and sustainment.
Set operating system maturity expectations, assess adoption and performance across manufacturing locations, and develop gap-closing plans.
Define role profiles, decision rights and interaction models for manufacturing leaders, plant teams and functional partners.
Own the learning and capability development system, including role-based learning paths, role coaching expectations and adoption measures.
Own the Continuous Improvement Portfolio, including project intake, prioritization, resource allocation, execution discipline, benefits validation and sustainment.
Lead enterprise initiatives involving portfolio simplification, operating discipline and cross-functional process improvement.
Align improvement resources with business priorities in partnership with the Value Engineering Lead and Operations & Supply Chain leaders.
Establish benefit measurement methods, validate forecasted and realized results, and provide visibility into committed, completed and at-risk results with Finance and other stakeholders.
Resolve portfolio priorities, resource conflicts and escalation needs with site and functional leaders.
Coach site and functional leaders in operating system deployment, daily management, leader standard work, structured problem solving and ownership of results.
Build a network of leaders and practitioners who apply common methods, share learning and scale effective practices.
Partner with Operations & Supply Chain leaders to strengthen operating discipline, accountability and management system effectiveness across manufacturing locations.
Coordinate with Operations, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain, Information Systems and Finance to align improvement work with business priorities.
Lead, mentor, manage and staff the Manufacturing Excellence organization; set goals, provide feedback and facilitate professional growth.
Establish, manage and be accountable for the annual Manufacturing Excellence budget.