Operational Excellence Manager

Industry : Aviation

This role is essentially a site-level Operational Excellence / Continuous Improvement leader in an aerospace environment. The person will work closely with the General Manager, shop floor, support functions, and corporate Customer Support teams to improve the site's performance while implementing company-wide initiatives.

Duties

• Drive Lean & Six Sigma projects to improve quality, turnaround time, cost, productivity, and safety.

• Identify process problems, conduct root-cause analysis, gap analysis and PDCA, and implement sustainable solutions.

• Lead cross-functional improvement projects from identifying the problem through implementation and measuring results.

• Partner with the General Manager as an internal adviser, providing analysis and supporting operational decisions.

• Implement corporate/customer-support initiatives locally and ensure the site is aligned with global company priorities.

• Support the site's digital transformation initiatives.

• Train, coach and mentor employees in Lean, Six Sigma and problem-solving tools.

• Establish project KPIs and monitor whether improvement projects are delivering the expected results.

• Act as the site's escalation/contact point for improvement matters and coordinate with the wider corporate Progress & Digital Transformation network.

• Develop both short- and long-term operational improvement strategies, with a focus on reducing costs and inefficiencies.

• Manage projects, risks, stakeholders and change across different functions.

The job is looking for someone who can combine three roles:

1. Continuous Improvement / Lean expert
   Someone experienced with Lean Six Sigma, root-cause analysis, PDCA, process optimisation and structured problem solving.

2. Project & Change Manager
   Someone who can lead cross-functional projects, influence people without necessarily having direct authority, and implement corporate initiatives at site level.

3. Business/Operations Partner to the GM
   Someone who can analyse operational performance, identify improvement opportunities, advise management and translate corporate strategy into practical actions on the ground.

Requirements

The strongest requirements are:

• Bachelor's degree.

• 5+ years of Lean Six Sigma / improvement project experience.

• Aviation or aerospace experience is required.

• Lean/Six Sigma certification, preferably Black Belt.

• Strong project and risk-management capability.

• Experience leading cross-functional teams and change initiatives.

• Understanding of aerospace/aviation terminology.

• Good analytical, communication and stakeholder-management skills.

• Microsoft Office proficiency; Microsoft Project is preferred.

• PMP/PRINCE2 is a bonus.