Operations Excellence Director -Austin Texas
About The Position
This role drives integrated strategies that elevate safety, quality, cost, and delivery while cultivating a culture of disciplined problem‑solving and operational rigor. The director oversees the development of data‑driven systems and processes that strengthen decision‑making, transparency, and compliance across a 1,000‑person defense manufacturing facility. They collaborate closely with senior leadership and cross‑functional teams to align improvement initiatives with long‑term strategic objectives and customer commitments. Through strong leadership and effective change‑management, the director enables sustainable operational excellence and advances the factory’s mission.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree required (Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing, Business, or related)
- 12+ years in industrial/operations leadership in regulated or defense manufacturing environments.
- Proven execution of CI initiatives with measurable outcomes in cost, quality, and productivity.
- Demonstrated IE expertise: layout optimization, simulation, takt time, DFMA, and capacity modeling.
- Strong background in compliance with standards like ITAR, AS9100, DFARS, and internal/external audits.
- Experience building BI tools, cross-functional dashboards, and applying data insights in operations.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s or MBA preferred.
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or Master Black Belt (preferred); PMP or similar a plus.
- Advanced proficiency with data analysis and BI tools.
- Outstanding leadership, communication, facilitation, and change management skills.
- Ability to obtain Secret clearance (or higher).
Responsibilities
- Lead Lean Six Sigma and CI initiatives: Kaizen events, 5S, VSM, FMEA, root cause analysis, and other best practices.
- Coach and mentor at all organization levels to instill a culture of continuous improvement tools and methodologies.
- Establish KPI tracking, dashboards, and ROI metrics to highlight impact, decision-making and operational performance
- Shape and execute an industrial engineering strategy that optimizes facility layout, throughput, takt time, labor standards, capacity planning, and simulation modeling.
- Elevate standardized work, visual management, and digital factory tools to ensure consistency and efficiency.
- Design and implement training programs on Lean, Six Sigma, CI tools, industrial engineering, and compliance for all levels of the workforce.
- Establish Lean champions, CI practitioners, and cross-functional improvement teams.
- Oversee continual upskilling to maintain high standards in process discipline and data-driven thinking.
Benefits
- health, dental, and vision insurance
- health savings accounts
- a 401(k) savings plan
- disability coverage
- life and accident insurance
- employee assistance program
- legal plan
- discounts on things like home, auto, and pet insurance
- paid time off
- paid holidays
- paid parental leave
- military leave
- bereavement leave
- any applicable federal and state sick leave
- company recognition program to receive monetary or non-monetary recognition awards
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
