Operational Excellence Manager

Workspace Plus Inc.•Thorp, WI

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Operational Excellence Manager serves as a strategic link between Product Engineering, Process Engineering, Operations, and Continuous Improvement, with responsibility for improving product construction standards, manufacturing processes, and operational execution through sustained, long-term initiatives. This role owns operational alignment to engineering intent, drives consistency in how products are built, and ensures product and process changes are implemented with discipline, documentation, and measurable results. Rather than event-based improvement activity, the position focuses on durable plant-level improvements that support quality, delivery, cost, and capacity objectives while operating across functional boundaries and reporting directly to the WB President.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Product Development, Operations Management, or related field required.
5–8 years of experience in manufacturing operations, process engineering, or product/manufacturing engineering.
Experience improving product construction quality and process consistency.
Experience working with ERP systems, BOMs, and routings.
Proven ability to partner with Engineering and Operations on sustained improvements.
Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
ERP systems (Insight 20/20 or similar).
Production data analysis and time study tools.

Nice To Haves

Lean / Six Sigma preferred.

Responsibilities

Own and drive improvements to product construction standards across WB product lines.
Identify and resolve recurring construction defects, assembly inconsistencies, and sources of variation using root cause analysis.
Evaluate product designs for manufacturability in partnership with Engineering, recommending changes that improve consistency and reduce CoPQ.
Maintain construction standards, visual specifications, and work instructions aligned with engineering intent.
Support ECOs by ensuring changes are communicated clearly, implemented consistently, and validated on the floor.
Serve as the primary Operations liaison to Engineering, aligning manufacturing processes to current and future product designs.
Partner with Process Engineering to translate value stream and process data into sustained improvements.
Support long-term capacity, equipment, and technology planning with operational data and process capability input.
Participate in new product introductions to assess readiness, tooling, and training requirements.
Support ERP accuracy related to routings, operation times, and BOM consistency.
Lead multi-week or multi-month improvement initiatives focused on construction consistency, labor accuracy, and material flow.
Conduct time studies and support labor standard and routing accuracy improvements.
Track improvement initiatives from identification through implementation and verification.
Coordinate with the Continuous Improvement Manager to ensure Kaizen outputs translate into lasting standard work.
Align improvement priorities across Operations, Engineering, CI, and leadership.
Provide concise updates on improvement progress, risks, and outcomes in leadership forums.
Support achievement of company objectives related to waste reduction, delivery performance, quality, and capacity growth.
Partner with supervisors to ensure changes are communicated, trained, and operationally sustained.
Support tooling standards and maintenance alignment with product quality outcomes.
Provide input on material changes from a product construction and process standpoint.
Own the maintenance of product construction and process documentation to ensure accuracy and traceability.
Ensure all product and process changes are reviewed for safety impact and comply with OSHA and company standards.
Participate in safety reviews associated with equipment, tooling, or process changes.
Perform other duties as assigned.