Operations Excellence Manager

The Wonderful Company•Del Rey, CA

7d•$110,000 - $115,000

About The Position

POM Wonderful is seeking an Operations Excellence Manager to develop and implement advanced manufacturing technologies and continuous improvement strategies that improve safety, quality, reliability, productivity, cost, and overall equipment effectiveness. The role combines automation, robotics, machine vision, manufacturing data, artificial intelligence, Lean methodologies, and structured problem solving to achieve measurable, sustainable operational results. The manager partners with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, EHS, IT/OT, Finance, equipment manufacturers, and system integrators to identify opportunities, build business cases, lead implementation, support operational adoption, and verify benefits. The position develops a prioritized manufacturing and continuous improvement roadmap, evaluates automation and analytics opportunities, and leads projects from initial identification and business-case development through design, commissioning, startup, stabilization, and operational handoff. It also applies structured improvement methods, analyzes manufacturing performance, develops capital requests and project plans, coordinates cross-functional technical reviews, and ensures improvements are adopted and sustained. The listed compensation range is $110,000–$115,000, with final compensation dependent on skills and experience. A bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical discipline is preferred. At least five years of progressive experience in manufacturing, engineering, automation, continuous improvement, or advanced manufacturing is required, including leadership of cross-functional projects from concept through implementation and benefits verification. Equivalent combinations of technical education, certifications, and manufacturing experience may be considered.

Requirements

Demonstrated experience leading manufacturing improvement and automation projects in an industrial environment.
Strong working knowledge of Lean manufacturing, TPM, Six Sigma, A3, DMAIC, root-cause analysis, or comparable continuous improvement methods.
Working knowledge of industrial automation technologies, including PLCs, HMIs, VFDs, servo systems, industrial networks, sensors, instrumentation, robotics, machine vision, and machine-safety systems.
Experience leading or supporting robotics, machine-vision, equipment-integration, process-automation, or automated material-handling projects.
Experience developing project scopes, business cases, capital requests, budgets, schedules, operational targets, and ROI analyses.
Ability to analyze OEE, downtime, throughput, capacity, quality, waste, labor, reliability, energy, and cost data.
Experience coordinating OEMs, contractors, technology vendors, and system integrators.
Experience participating in design reviews, FAT, SAT, commissioning, production startup, and operational handoff.
Ability to communicate complex technical and analytical topics to technical and nontechnical audiences.
Proficiency with manufacturing analytics, visualization, project-management, process-mapping, and collaboration tools.
At least five years of progressive experience in manufacturing, engineering, automation, continuous improvement, or advanced manufacturing, including demonstrated leadership of cross-functional projects from concept through implementation and benefits verification.
A bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical discipline is preferred; equivalent combinations of relevant technical education, industry certifications, and demonstrated manufacturing experience may be considered.

Nice To Haves

Bilingual English and Spanish.
Food, beverage, consumer packaged goods, or other high-speed manufacturing experience.
A bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical discipline.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain a prioritized advanced manufacturing and continuous improvement roadmap aligned with plant and business objectives.
Identify and evaluate opportunities involving robotics, collaborative robots, machine vision, automated inspection, intelligent sensors, automated material handling, process automation, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence.
Lead automation and manufacturing improvement projects from opportunity identification and business-case development through design, implementation, commissioning, startup, stabilization, and operational handoff.
Analyze capacity, constraints, downtime, reliability, waste, quality, labor, and OEE to identify and prioritize improvement initiatives.
Lead A3 problem solving, DMAIC, root-cause analysis, Kaizen, value-stream mapping, TPM, standard work, and other structured continuous improvement activities.
Determine whether manufacturing losses are best addressed through automation, maintenance, training, process redesign, standard work, or another countermeasure.
Translate operational needs into project charters, functional requirements, scopes of work, acceptance criteria, budgets, schedules, and implementation plans.
Develop capital requests and ROI analyses that define the problem, investment, risks, expected operational impact, and financial return.
Coordinate cross-functional technical and design reviews with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, EHS, IT/OT, OEMs, and system integrators.
Participate in factory acceptance testing, site acceptance testing, commissioning, performance validation, and project closeout.
Ensure automation projects address machine safety, food safety, hygienic design, sanitation, maintainability, software backups, spare parts, technical documentation, training, and lifecycle support.
Evaluate practical AI applications, including predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, computer vision, process optimization, automated reporting, knowledge management, and operator decision support.
Partner with Electrical and Controls leadership to establish requirements for equipment integration, controls architecture, industrial networking, data collection, system backups, and documentation.
Establish project baselines, performance targets, control plans, and benefits-verification methods, and confirm completed improvements are sustained.
Coach cross-functional teams in structured problem solving, data-driven decision making, and effective adoption of new processes and technologies.
Maintain a prioritized project portfolio showing ownership, timing, investment, status, expected value, and realized benefits.
Communicate project priorities, risks, status, and results to plant and senior leadership.

Benefits

Medical coverage.
Vision and dental plans.
401(k) with match eligibility.
24/7 online physician consultations.
Virtual mental health resources.
Life coaching.
Employee community groups.
Cash rewards for healthy habits and fitness reimbursements.
On-demand fitness videos.
Career progression and internal mobility opportunities.
Learning and development resources, including people-manager and leadership training, webinars, and eLearning courses.
Company-wide mentorship program.
Continuous improvement training.
Company-provided charitable giving funds through Wonderful Giving.
Opportunities to participate in community service projects through Wonderful Neighbor.