Project Lead, Operational Excellence & Transformation

Nextpower•Fremont, CA

2d•$145,000 - $155,000

About The Position

Nextpower is evolving from a solar tracker company into an integrated utility-scale energy technology platform spanning trackers, eBOS, foundations, power conversion, energy storage, robotics, and adjacent solutions. As the company expands organically and through acquisitions, it needs stronger enterprise alignment, standardization, scalability, and execution. Reporting to the Director, Operational Excellence & Transformation, the Project Lead defines improvement projects and workstreams within the Operational Excellence Office portfolio. The role works primarily with Operations teams across manufacturing, supply chain, planning, procurement, quality, logistics, and field operations, coordinating with other functions where processes cross boundaries. It applies disciplined project management, Lean and Kaizen methods, process redesign, and systems adoption to improve execution and deliver measurable operating and financial results. The role establishes project plans and reporting, maps and improves processes, supports enterprise systems and automation, tracks benefits, and coordinates communication and training to sustain changes. It also facilitates cross-functional teams, coaches participants in problem solving and continuous improvement, and identifies opportunities and lessons for portfolio planning.

Requirements

At least 8 years of experience running operational improvement projects or cross-functional workstreams in manufacturing, industrial technology, energy, or engineered products.
Hands-on use of Lean, Kaizen, Six Sigma, A3, PDCA, process mapping, or comparable problem-solving methods.
Strong project management, facilitation, analytical, and stakeholder communication skills.
Experience supporting enterprise systems, reporting, workflow automation, or digital process changes.
Ability to build business cases, establish baselines, and track benefits with Finance and process owners.
Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Business, Finance, or a related discipline.

Responsibilities

Develop project charters, current-state assessments, plans, milestones, owners, risk logs, and action logs for assigned initiatives.
Run working sessions and project reviews, follow up on commitments, and escalate decisions or barriers to the Director.
Maintain accurate status, issue, dependency, and benefit reporting for portfolio reviews.
Map workflows and handoffs, identify root causes, and implement simpler, more consistent processes with business owners.
Facilitate Kaizen events and apply standard work, visual management, A3 thinking, PDCA, and other appropriate improvement tools.
Document future-state processes, controls, training materials, and ownership to sustain improvements.
Work with IT and business users to gather requirements, test redesigned workflows, and support enterprise system and automation rollouts.
Support Oracle and other platform adoption by identifying pain points, improving data quality, and reducing manual or spreadsheet-based work.
Define useful project metrics and maintain reliable operational reporting.
Establish performance baselines and expected benefits with Finance and process owners, and track results after implementation.
Measure relevant changes in service, productivity, cost, quality, cycle time, working capital, or cash flow.
Coordinate communications, training, and follow-up with supervisors and users to embed new ways of working.
Facilitate cross-functional teams and build constructive relationships with site and functional stakeholders.
Coach project participants on basic problem solving and continuous improvement practices.
Surface new opportunities and lessons learned to the Director for portfolio planning.