Site Operational Excellence Lead

Job Description

The Cedar Creek Site Operational Excellence (OEX) Lead owns the day-to-day execution of the Agilent Operational Excellence program at the site. This individual will work directly with site leadership and the Global OEX team to lead identification and implementation of improvements across direct and indirect functions, with a mandate to deliver measurable results in a regulated manufacturing environment. The Site OEX Lead will act as the site’s link to the Global OEX team, translating enterprise strategy into site-level plans and priorities, embedding OEX into daily management practices, and building local capability. This is not a project-based role. It is a permanent site function responsible for how the site operates every day. The Site OEX Lead will coordinate with the Regional OEX Deployment Lead and OEX Specialist to report initiative progress and submit high-impact projects to the OEX portfolio.

• Own the site OEX deployment plan and execute against defined savings, performance targets, and value maximization
• Conduct production floor analysis to identify throughput constraints, process waste, and capacity recovery opportunities across direct and indirect labor
• Build and sustain daily management systems including visual controls, leader standard work, escalation routines, and production analysis boards
• Lead structured problem solving on chronic quality and delivery issues using data from site systems (SAP, quality records, production logs)
• Work within the site’s quality and regulatory framework to improve process flow without compromising compliance requirements
• Translate diagnostic findings into phased implementation plans with clear ownership, timelines, and measurable outcomes
• Coach supervisors and operators on floor-level problem identification and countermeasure development
• Deliver training and develop local OEX talent by leveraging global OEX curricula and tools
• Capture and share high-impact learnings and best practices with global OEX and other sites
• Coordinate with the Regional OEX Deployment Lead and OEX Specialist to align site initiatives with the global OEX portfolio and report progress

Qualifications

• BA/BS degree in science, engineering, or business
• At least 4+ years leading operational improvement initiatives in a manufacturing environment, preferably in life sciences, diagnostics, or regulated production
• Strong Lean practitioner with hands-on experience deploying standard work, value stream analysis, material and information flow design, and daily management systems on the production floor
• Demonstrated ability to deliver sustained results, not just project completions, through system-level thinking and daily management discipline
• Experience reading and acting on production data including cycle time, throughput, yield, and labor utilization
• Comfortable working on the production floor with operators, supervisors, and site leadership equally
• Experience in environments where quality and regulatory constraints shape how improvements are implemented
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build trust and drive results across different business groups and management levels
• Preferred: experience working within a formalized production system such as the Danaher Business System, Toyota Production System, Honeywell Operating System, or equivalent enterprise operating model