Operational Excellence Lead

Job Description/Responsibilities

Join our Operational Excellence team and help drive measurable improvements across Sazerac’s manufacturing network. As an Operational Excellence Lead, you will partner with plant operations and cross-functional teams to improve productivity, reduce costs, and strengthen performance across Safety, Quality, Service, Cost, and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). This role combines data-driven problem solving, continuous improvement methodologies, and hands-on project execution to develop scalable solutions and standardize best practices across operations.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and support continuous improvement initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, TPM, and structured problem-solving methodologies to improve manufacturing performance.
• Identify productivity and cost-saving opportunities across line efficiency, throughput, waste, yield, labor, changeovers, materials, energy, and utilities.
• Analyze operational data, identify performance gaps, develop business cases, and track project results and benefits against established targets.
• Partner with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Supply Chain, and Engineering teams to identify root causes, develop solutions, and implement sustainable improvements.
• Support standardized work practices, performance management systems, visual management, operational audits, and sharing of best practices across sites.

Qualifications/Requirements

Required

• Bachelor’s degree.
• 4+ years of relevant experience in operational excellence, continuous improvement, manufacturing, engineering, operations, or a related field.
• Knowledge of Lean manufacturing principles with Lean Six Sigma certification or relevant project management experience.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, project leadership, change management, communication, and stakeholder management skills with the ability to use data to drive decisions and influence others.

Preferred

• Experience leading or supporting continuous improvement and cost-reduction initiatives within a manufacturing environment.
• Experience applying Lean, Six Sigma, TPM, Kaizen, or other structured continuous improvement methodologies.
• Experience coaching cross-functional teams and standardizing operational best practices across manufacturing lines or sites.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to travel up to manufacturing sites as needed
• Ability to move throughout manufacturing facilities and between worksites as needed.

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