Manufacturing Cost Excellence Leader

Corning•City of Oneonta, NY

5d•$122,970 - $169,085

About The Position

The Manufacturing Cost Excellence Leader drives cost and productivity improvements that shape plant performance. This role owns the plant’s cost reduction and continuous improvement portfolio, leads initiatives in capacity, digital tools, and automation, and develops emerging manufacturing leaders. The leader works across Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Supply Chain, Planning, and Finance. Flexibility is required to support a 24/7 operation, including occasional off-shift and weekend support, with travel up to 5%.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Supply Chain, Business, or a related technical field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
10+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience.
Experience interpreting manufacturing and financial data to identify cost drivers, evaluate improvement opportunities, and track financial benefits.
Experience leading multiple complex improvement initiatives, including managing scope, milestones, resources, and risks.
Experience applying structured problem solving, including root cause analysis and corrective action development.
Working knowledge of Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, and relevant manufacturing, reporting, and operational systems.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading plant-wide cost transformation, operational improvement, productivity, or capacity expansion efforts.
Experience applying Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, value stream mapping, or similar continuous improvement methods.
Experience developing and presenting business cases, capital requests, and cost-benefit analyses.
Familiarity with manufacturing execution systems, production dashboards, and financial performance reporting.
Experience managing significant organizational or process changes through implementation and sustainment.
Experience working in a unionized manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

Lead plant-wide initiatives to improve cost, productivity, capacity, and process reliability; partner with plant leadership to set priorities and close gaps in quality, delivery, cost, and capacity.
Own the plant cost reduction and continuous improvement portfolio, driving project execution, closure, financial validation, and sustainment of results.
Identify and prioritize opportunities in labor productivity, yield, material usage, waste, energy, and process efficiency; develop business cases, project charters, and implementation plans.
Lead or support strategic initiatives involving digital tools, automation, and capacity expansion; report financial results, risks, and resource needs to plant leadership.
Coach and develop employees and emerging manufacturing leaders through feedback and targeted project assignments.