Operational Excellence Manager

Trident Seafoods•Seattle, WA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Trident Seafoods is North America's largest vertically integrated seafood harvesting and processing company. Trident is a privately held, 100 percent USA-owned company with global operations in 6 countries and serves customers in almost 60 countries. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington (USA), Trident employs approximately 7,700 people worldwide each year and partners with over 2,700 independent fishermen and crewmembers in Alaska. Trident catches and processes virtually every commercial species of salmon, whitefish, and crab harvested in the North Pacific and Alaska. The global supply chain also encompasses cultured and wild species sourced from an international network of trusted suppliers. The Operational Excellence Manager is responsible for deploying the Trident Performance System (TPS) strategy and leveraging Lean Six Sigma manufacturing methodologies to drive process improvements supporting the SCUBA Program (Supply Chain Unlimited Business Acceleration). This role leads continuous improvement initiatives across multiple U.S. Value-Added locations, with a focus on safety, quality, cost, productivity, service, and employee engagement. This position is based at the Trident Support Center in Ballard, WA and collaborates closely with plant and enterprise teams to lead transformation efforts and build sustainable operational capabilities.

Requirements

A minimum of 8 years of cross-functional operations and/or operational excellence (continuous improvement) experience
A bachelor’s degree in engineering, supply chain management, business, or related field, or the equivalent combination of education and years of experience.
Demonstrated experience planning, facilitating, and delivering Kaizen events and Lean Six Sigma projects
Strong data analysis and problem-solving skills with a structured, analytical mindset
Excellent project management, facilitation, and organizational skills
Strong interpersonal and communication skills with ability to influence at all levels
Ability to lead change and drive adoption of new processes and systems
Strong business acumen with understanding of operational and financial impact
Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook)
Ability to collaborate across functions and manage competing priorities

Nice To Haves

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification (Black Belt preferred)
Experience with SAP and Minitab
Experience in food manufacturing or similar production environments
Exposure to automation, machine learning, or AI applications in operations
Experience improving or automating manual processes

Responsibilities

Leads Zero Loss Analysis, Lean Six Sigma projects, and Kaizen events across U.S. Value-Added plant locations
Plans, facilitates, and ensures sustainment of Kaizen events, including pre-work, execution, and follow-through
Identifies and prioritizes improvement projects in alignment with enterprise and plant-level business objectives
Acts as a change agent to drive adoption of TPS and continuous improvement methodologies across operations
Develops and maintains true-north performance metrics and reporting to track progress and impact
Ensures delivery of SCUBA savings targets and other key performance indicators (KPIs)
Provides coaching, mentoring, and training on Lean, Six Sigma, and TPM principles and tools
Shares best practices across plants to promote standardization and operational excellence
Partners with cross-functional teams (operations, supply chain, finance, HR, etc.) to drive enterprise-wide improvements
Builds strong relationships and influences local teams to adopt and sustain continuous improvement practices
Regularly works onsite to build strong team connections, collaborate across functions, and solve problems in real time.