L

LEGO

Produces and licenses construction toy sets

Operations Readiness Director

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/23/2026
$158.4k - $237.6k+ Bonus
Expert
Bachelor's
Richmond, VA, USA
Hybrid
Manufacturing & Production Operations

About the job

Requirements
  • Proven experience leading large-scale industrial or automation start-ups, ideally in greenfield or new factory environments.
  • Significant expertise in start-up of production lines, technology ramp-up, and operational readiness.
  • Strong end-to-end operations and value chain understanding across manufacturing, quality, engineering, and supply chain.
  • Experience embedding readiness frameworks such as CQV, DQP, FMEA, PDCA, and associated risk and quality tools.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead through complexity, ambiguity, and fast-paced change.
  • Experience working with and influencing global and local partners.
  • Capability-building leadership, including competency models, training plans, capability uplift, and readiness validation.
Responsibilities
  • Lead the end-to-end start-up journey for the LVA Greenfield factory, ensuring robust and empowered operations.
  • Translate global program achievements into local readiness actions and create a unified delivery roadmap.
  • Lead the Global Start-Up Management Framework and ensure operational ownership beyond technical sign-off.
  • Drive continuous risk mitigation, activate assessments, and ensure visibility throughout execution.
  • Build organizational capability and readiness, including training plans and operational management systems.
  • Establish performance acceleration routines to support a fast, stable ramp-up of operations.
  • Integrate automation and digital tools into operations, ensuring maturity and full lifecycle readiness.
  • Ensure detailed DQP compliance and facilitate decision-making across R&D, suppliers, and partners.
Desired Qualifications
  • Advanced education in engineering, manufacturing, operations, or a similar field, or equivalent experience.
  • Experience supporting multi-site or multi-technology ramp-ups.
  • Familiarity with Lean, DfM, continuous improvement, or structured problem-solving frameworks.
  • Understanding of digital manufacturing, including MES, SCADA, data analytics, traceability, and automation platforms.
  • Willingness to relocate to other sites globally over the long term to support future LEGO growth.

About the company

LEGO designs, manufactures, and sells plastic interlocking construction toys and related experiences for children and adults. Its bricks use a stud-and-tube system that provides clutch power, allowing bricks from any era to connect and build within the LEGO System in Play. The company differentiates itself through private family ownership, a unified building system, licensed franchises, and a diversified ecosystem that includes LEGOLAND, digital games, films, and educational products. Its goal is to inspire learning and creativity through constructive play and to grow the brand across licensing, media, retail, and education.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Billund, Denmark

Founded

1932

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • H1 2026 revenue rose 21% to DKK 41.9 billion, with operating profit up 22%.
  • 2025 revenue hit DKK 83.5 billion, and consumer sales outpaced the toy market.
  • LEGO launched 332 H1 2026 sets, sustaining constant novelty and shelf dominance.

What critics are saying

  • Oil and tariff shocks raise plastic and logistics costs before Virginia opens in 2027.
  • Licensed hits like Pokémon, Star Wars, and Formula 1 create franchise dependency.
  • If adult demand cools, LEGO loses the premium growth engine behind recent record results.

What makes LEGO unique

  • LEGO’s 2025-2026 growth proves unmatched brand power across children, adults, and licensed franchises.
  • SMART Play and sensor-enabled bricks extend the core system without abandoning physical play.
  • Virginia factory opening in 2027 strengthens regional manufacturing near the largest market.

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Benefits

  • Family Care Leave
  • Insurances
  • Wellbeing
  • Colleague Discount
  • Bonus

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

15%

1 year growth

15%

2 year growth

15%
Yahoo Finance
Oct 20th, 2026
LEGO revenue jumps 21% as adults buy sets for themselves

LEGO's revenue rose 21% globally from June to August, helped by adults buying sets for themselves. The Danish toymaker has posted a 12% gain this year overall. Chief product and marketing officer Julia Goldin told The Wall Street Journal the company targets adult nostalgia and discovery. Its adult-friendly range includes Van Gogh's Sunflowers, a Nintendo Game Boy, houseplants, and a Polaroid camera. Of more than 2,700 sets on its website, 225 sit in its adult gifts and collectibles section, 13 more than in early June. The trend extends beyond LEGO. Circana reports adult-only households made up 55% of US toy sales in the first half of the year, and toy sales to buyers aged 18 and older rose 25% from a year earlier.

Yahoo Finance
Aug 27th, 2026
Lego sales surge 21% as toymaker bans AI from design process

Lego reported a 21% revenue surge in the first half of the year, with operating profit jumping 22%. The Danish toymaker outpaced the broader US toy market, which grew 17%, as well as rivals Mattel and Hasbro. CEO Niels Christiansen attributes part of the success to relying on human creativity rather than artificial intelligence for product design. Lego's data suggests algorithms cannot emotionally or tactilely connect with children. The company's human designers launched over 330 new sets during the period. Lego does allow AI use for administrative tasks to free up designers' time. Whilst shunning AI for design, Lego embraces digital innovation through its Fortnite partnership with Epic Games and a new digitised version of its blocks using sensors for interactive play.

Yahoo Finance
Aug 25th, 2026
Lego turns fads into $13B revenue machine with 330 new products in six months

Lego reported record revenue of $6.55 billion in the first half of 2026, up 21% year-on-year, with pre-tax profit rising a third to roughly $1.77 billion. The Danish toymaker launched over 330 new products during this period, including sets based on the FIFA World Cup, Formula 1, and Kpop Demon Hunters. The company's growth accelerated from 12% in 2025, when it recorded full-year revenue of $13.05 billion. Lego overtook Mattel as the world's largest toy company by revenue a decade ago. The toymaker remains privately held, with 75% owned by the Kirk Kristiansen family and 25% by the Lego Foundation. This structure allows it to fund expansion from free cash flow without quarterly investor scrutiny. The company attributes its success to diversification across multiple franchises rather than relying on single properties.

Yahoo Finance
Aug 25th, 2026
Lego H1 revenue hits record $6.5B, up 21% on broad product appeal

Lego reported record first-half revenue of 41.9 billion Danish kroner ($6.5 billion), up 21% year-on-year. In constant currency terms, revenue grew 26%. Operating profit climbed 22% to 10.9 billion Danish kroner ($1.7 billion), whilst net profit rose 32% to 8.6 billion Danish kroner. Consumer sales grew 22%, driven by demand across the product range. The company introduced 332 new sets in the period, with bestselling themes including Speed Champions, Botanicals, Technic, Icons and Star Wars. Lego now operates 1,106 branded stores worldwide. The company invested 1.9 billion Danish kroner to acquire 29 Lego and Legoland Discovery Centres from Merlin Entertainments. Capital spending on factory expansion rose to 4.6 billion Danish kroner.

PR Newswire
Jul 23rd, 2026
Lego unveils SMART Play Gateway at San Diego Comic-Con with interactive Pokémon and Star Wars experiences

The LEGO Group unveiled the LEGO SMART Play Gateway at San Diego Comic-Con 2026, an interactive booth experience featuring two immersive destinations. Attendees can explore a LEGO Pokémon Lab and a Mos Eisley Cantina recreation, both powered by SMART Play technology. The SMART Play platform centres on the SMART Brick, a 2x4 brick containing over 20 patented technologies that enable real-time interactive play through motion sensing, light and sound synthesis. The company also revealed new sets at the event. The LEGO Icons Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Bridge, a 1,701-piece set priced at $199.99, launches 1 September exclusively at LEGO stores and online. The LEGO Donkey Kong Arcade, also $199.99, becomes available 1 August. The LEGO Minifigures Shrek Series releases 1 September at $4.99 per mystery box. The booth ran from 23-26 July at booth number 2829.