Operational Excellence Manager

Job ID: [[id]]
CRH Americas Building Products is reinventing what's possible in building solutions. We are the leading provider of innovative outdoor living products and utility infrastructure solutions for the water, energy, and communications markets throughout North America. We're a trusted and strategic partner to engineers, contractors, distributors, specifiers, retailers and homeowners alike as the manufacturer of precast concrete, polymer concrete, and plastic infrastructure products. Our portfolio of brands includes Oldcastle APG, Oldcastle Infrastructure, Belgard® hardscape, Echelon® Masonry, RDI® railing, Catalyst™ Fence Solutions, Sakrete® packaged concrete, Amerimix® mortar, Pebble Technology International® pool finishes, and Techniseal® sands and sealant technologies.
Job Summary
This position will be a key resource in developing and completing manufacturing process improvement projects, including lean manufacturing implementation and capital improvement projects at locations in the Mid Atlantic Region. These improvement projects will increase profitability, throughput, and quality; improving the Region’s competitive position. This person should be self-motivated and able to work effectively in a decentralized and matrixed team environment. This position will work closely with Production, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Environmental Health and Safety. This is a heavy travel role consisting of 75%-90% travel between North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York.
Job Location
This is an onsite position and will be located near one of our plants in Concord, NC, Raleigh, NC, Fuquay, NC, Fayetteville, NC, Avon, CT, Telford, PA, or Croydon, PA.
Job Responsibilities
Develop, evaluate and improve production methods utilizing lean tools, knowledge of product design, materials and parts, tooling and production equipment capabilities, process methods, and quality control standards
Help identify opportunities for significant improvement at Regional locations by working with operations and/or sales teams to understand opportunities to apply lean process improvement initiatives and/or capital investment to improve profitability and competitive advantage
Provide oversight and guidance, planning, training and mentoring to plant-level teams executing lean process improvement activities
Drive manufacturing process change through active hands-on communication and coordination with plant-level teams
Optimize plant layout and flow to reduce inefficiencies and reduce costs
Oversee and lead plant improvement workshops to identify, diagnose and address bottlenecks and inefficiencies in production processes
Provide training on kaizen, 5S and lean tools and techniques
Provide follow-up and tracking to ensure identified improvement opportunities are completed as planned
Translate operational needs into project requirements and specifications
Force rank improvement opportunities – develop and implement project analysis techniques and processes to select opportunities that optimize the following desired attributes: Profit impact, Time to complete, Complexity, Risk, Cost to Implement
Evaluate and prioritize capital project proposals in partnership with operations teams.
Develop capital project business cases, including scope, justification, and financial analysis.
Perform ROI analysis for capital and continuous improvement initiatives.
Support plant leadership in identifying and prioritizing high-value investment opportunities.
Manage and approve project-related commitments and expenditures, monitoring costs to ensure budget compliance and effective financial stewardship throughout the project lifecycle.
Ensure that the policies, practices, and equipment running in plants comply the Operational Excellence framework and best practices
Essential Duties and Functions
Establish close working relationships with manufacturing personnel to ensure safety, quality, and productivity requirements are met by providing technical training and technical assistance
Facilitate communication forums for plant-based subject matter experts and provide technical assistance to plant management and engineering staff who will manage non-major projects
Ensure that the policies, practices, and equipment running in plants comply the Operational Excellence framework and best practices
Identify and manage innovation opportunities for operations
Lead preparation of assigned capital project white papers and scopes in cooperation with local and business leadership teams
Administer standards for next-level plant design that support long-term commercial strategies

Employment type
Full Time