Sr. Director, Manufacturing Excellence

Terumo•Elkton, MD

About The Position

Terumo Medical Corporation (TMC) is seeking a Sr. Director, Manufacturing Excellence to drive enterprise-wide manufacturing performance improvements across its network of manufacturing sites. This role will report primarily to the Vice President, Operations TMC with a dotted line to the CEO, TMC. The position focuses on establishing and implementing best practices, sustainable cost reduction, throughput acceleration, and operational consistency. The role will also collaborate with international sister sites to share and adopt best practices globally. The leader will partner with cross-functional and cross-regional teams to optimize direct and indirect cost structures, reduce variability, and enhance overall equipment and process effectiveness while maintaining high quality and regulatory standards for medical devices.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Business, or related field required.
Minimum of 15 years of progressive experience in manufacturing, operations, or operational excellence roles, preferably within the medical device or highly regulated industry, with a proven track record of delivering significant cost savings, productivity gains, and operational improvements across multiple manufacturing sites is required.
Deep expertise in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies required.
Experience leading enterprise or network-level operational excellence, manufacturing excellence, transformation, or productivity initiatives across multiple sites is required.
Experience in high-volume, highly regulated manufacturing environments, including medical devices, life sciences, or similarly regulated industries, is required.
Knowledge of Lean/Six Sigma, manufacturing cost drivers, KPI-based performance management, and medical device regulatory requirements.
Ability to improve throughput, reduce scrap and cost, standardize best practices, and use data to drive sustainable operational improvements.
Demonstrated leadership in matrixed, multi-site manufacturing environments, with the ability to influence senior leaders, site leaders, and technical teams without direct authority.
Executive-level communication, change leadership, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to lead transformation in regulated manufacturing settings.

Nice To Haves

MBA preferred.
Certification in Lean/Six Sigma preferred.
Experience with machining, extrusion, coatings, complex assembly, or comparable manufacturing processes is preferred.
Experience evaluating capacity, labor models, automation opportunities, and manufacturing network optimization to support strategic decision making is preferred.
Working knowledge of ERP, MES, automation, and digital manufacturing tools used to improve visibility, planning, execution, and control.

Responsibilities

Act as the Center of Excellence for manufacturing across the TMC site with initial focus on Elkton – establishing and leveraging best practices, standardizing manufacturing processes to improve efficiencies.
Focus on manufacturing cost improvement, variance reduction, and throughput optimization.
Establish and benchmark best-in-class performance standards for direct vs. indirect labor models across multiple manufacturing sites.
Assist in developing and implementing robust performance management systems, including KPIs, dashboards, and governance routines to sustain gains.
Engage with sister sites and Terumo Corporation to understand best practices and identify potential improvements at the TMC site, and to understand the potential of manufacturing network optimization for the longer term.
Work cross-functionally with site leaders, production teams, and quality teams, and closely advise engineers to optimize processes, reduce scrap, and prevent downtime.
Partner with site leadership teams to identify and execute high-impact productivity initiatives across machining, extrusion, coatings, and complex assembly operations.
Assist in driving measurable improvements in cost of goods sold (COGS), including direct labor, material yield, scrap reduction, and indirect overhead efficiency.
Champion Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, including value stream mapping, Kaizen, DMAIC, and statistical process control, to eliminate waste and reduce process variability.
Work closely and advise senior leadership (TMC leadership, TAH strategy and TC) providing data-driven insights and recommendations.
Evaluate strategic options around manufacturing footprint optimization, capacity balancing, site specialization, network rationalization.
Drive adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies, including automation, AI-enabled analytics, MES, and digital factory systems to improve visibility, decision-making, and execution.
Collaborate with Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, and R&D to ensure alignment of operational initiatives with product lifecycle and regulatory requirements.
Ensure all operational improvements maintain compliance with FDA, ISO, and other applicable regulatory standards for Class II and III medical devices.
Build and lead a high-performing team, while also influencing without direct authority across business units and regions.
Follow all established Environmental Health & Safety and Quality System policies, programs, rules and practices.