Operations Process Improvement Specialist

The Coca-Cola Company•Cidra, PR

About The Position

The Operations Process Improvement Specialist analyzes Production and Maintenance performance and implements sustainable, data-driven improvements to safety, quality, reliability, productivity and operational efficiency. The role is Operations’ primary technical resource for continuous improvement, reliability and adoption of digital systems. It identifies opportunities, leads analyses and projects, defines operational requirements, coordinates implementation and validates results. Engineering and Automation retain responsibility for engineering design, specialized technical solutions, and controls programming or configuration. The role leads primarily non-capital operational improvement projects from opportunity identification through implementation, results validation and sustainability. It integrates production, maintenance, quality and digital systems data to prioritize losses and support decisions, and coordinates technical resources across functions while respecting each function’s responsibilities. It also develops capital project justifications and supports execution when analysis, operational testing, change management, standardization or post-implementation stabilization is needed. The position is based in Cidra, Puerto Rico, with 0%–25% travel and no relocation provided.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical or Chemical Engineering, Manufacturing or Operations; alternatively, a technical associate degree in a related discipline and at least seven years of progressive experience in manufacturing, maintenance or continuous improvement, including at least two years leading data-driven, cross-functional projects.
Three or more years of experience in manufacturing, production, maintenance, reliability, process engineering or continuous improvement, with demonstrated experience leading cross-functional projects.
Knowledge of data analysis, structured problem-solving, project management, reliability principles, TPM, Lean/Six Sigma, GMP and applicable management systems.
Spanish and English proficiency sufficient to prepare reports and participate in technical discussions.
Analytical thinking and ability to translate data into decisions and actions.
Project leadership without direct authority and ability to influence cross-functional teams.
Comprehensive understanding of how processes, equipment, people, materials and digital systems interact.
Executive and technical communication, facilitation, negotiation and effective priority management.
Discipline in documentation, benefits validation and ensuring sustainability.
Results orientation, sense of urgency, collaboration and a continuous improvement mindset.

Nice To Haves

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification.
Experience in TPM, reliability or formal project management.

Responsibilities

Integrate and analyze Production, Maintenance, Quality and cost data to identify trends, chronic losses, constraints, recurring failures and improvement opportunities.
Develop and maintain dashboards, reports and review routines for operational indicators, including OE, output, schedule adherence, downtime, MTBF, MTTR, preventive maintenance, waste, productivity and cost.
Ensure consistent definitions, traceability, integrity and proper use of operational data; translate analyses into priorities, recommendations and action plans with defined impacts, owners and metrics.
Lead or facilitate root cause analysis, FMEA, Pareto analysis, criticality analysis and other methods to eliminate recurring failures, minor stops, process losses and operational risks.
Lead TPM initiatives focused on basic equipment conditions, autonomous maintenance, loss reduction and operational standards.
Collaborate with Maintenance to evaluate preventive, predictive and inspection strategies, providing operational data and effectiveness analyses; monitor results and confirm reduced recurrence and operational benefits.
Lead Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, TPM and SMED initiatives to improve process stability, productivity, cycle times, changeovers and asset utilization, and reduce waste.
Design and implement operational process improvements that require neither capital investment nor engineering design changes, using authorized methods, standards, parameters and resources.
Facilitate cross-functional teams, define current and future states, coordinate execution and establish controls to sustain results.
Develop or coordinate updates to procedures, standard work, visual aids, one-point lessons and training materials affected by improvements; serve as the primary contact for continuous improvement committees.
Lead non-capital Production and Maintenance improvement projects from opportunity identification and justification through implementation, benefits validation and handover to the process owner.
Define project scope, deliverables, timelines, resources, risks, dependencies, acceptance criteria and success metrics.
Coordinate testing, implementation, training, documentation, change management, validations and post-startup follow-up.
Identify when initiatives require engineering design, programming, capital investment or specialized technical intervention, and formally transfer or escalate those components to the responsible function.
Communicate project progress, risks, required decisions, results and sustainability to Operations leaders; serve as an initiator and evaluator of Management of Change (MOC) requests for Production and Maintenance initiatives.
Serve as the primary Operations contact during evaluation and implementation of new Production and Maintenance digital systems.
Gather and document user requirements, current processes, data needs, business rules, use cases, priorities and acceptance criteria.
Coordinate user testing, operational validation, training, documentation, change management, adoption and post-implementation follow-up.
Support optimization of SAP, Power BI, Ignition, OEE/SPC, CMMS and other operational platforms without assuming responsibility for systems programming, architecture, cybersecurity or technical administration.
Ensure solutions developed by Engineering or Automation address operational needs and can be sustained by process owners.