Operational Excellence Manager - Opex, Operations Excellence

What you’ll do:

• Champion ECIS, EBS, Lean, and Six Sigma across the site to deliver short- and long-term improvements in safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, working capital, and customer satisfaction.
• Partner with the plant leadership team to develop, deploy, and sustain the site’s continuous improvement strategy, governance process, and annual improvement priorities.
• Build a culture of structured problem solving through leader standard work, daily accountability, visual management, process checks, Gemba walks, and disciplined follow-up.
• Serve as the site expert and champion for the Eaton Business System, helping leaders connect business priorities to practical operating routines and improvement actions.
• Lead Operational Assessment (OpA) preparation, execution, and follow-up by identifying gaps, building action plans, and sustaining progress across the organization.
• Use Lean and Six Sigma tools to eliminate waste, improve flow, reduce variation, and strengthen operational performance across manufacturing and functional processes.
• Coach, train, and mentor employees and leaders through Kaizen events, Rapid Improvement Events (RIE), Six Sigma projects, benchmarking, leader standard work deployment, and capability-building activities.
• Analyze operational metrics, identify performance gaps, and recommend data-driven action plans that improve results and sustain accountability at the operating level.
• Lead site cost-out and productivity initiatives to achieve annual savings commitments and support long-term financial performance.
• Influence and engage cross-functional teams by translating complex improvement opportunities into clear priorities, practical actions, and measurable outcomes.

Qualifications:

Required (Basic) Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
• Minimum of seven (7) years of experience in manufacturing, operations, engineering, quality, supply chain, or another cross-functional discipline in a manufacturing environment.
• Minimum of three (3) years of experience in continuous improvement, Lean, Six Sigma, or operational excellence.
• Minimum of three (3) years of experience leading people, projects, and cross-functional teams.
• Eaton will not consider applicants for employment immigration sponsorship or support for this position. This means that Eaton will not support any CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT plans, F-1 to H-1B, H-1B cap registration, O-1, E-3, TN status, I-485 job portability, etc.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree from an accredited institution.
• Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification.
• Project management experience or PMP certification.
• Experience or certification in Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), set-up reduction, structured problem solving, Kaizen, or Lean material flow.

Skills:

• Strong understanding of Lean management systems and their connection to business strategy, daily operations, and waste elimination.
• Broad knowledge of Lean tools and principles, including value stream mapping, 5S/workplace organization, continuous flow manufacturing, set-up reduction, TPM, error proofing, pull systems, and standardized work.
• Proven analytical, facilitation, and problem-solving skills with the ability to turn data into action.
• Ability to prioritize multiple time-critical tasks and maintain momentum across several improvement initiatives.
• Ability to lead, influence, and develop cross-functional process improvement teams across all levels of the organization; both a strategic partner and a hands-on coach on the shop floor.
• Ability to apply structured problem-solving methods, including 8D and statistical analysis, to define root causes, validate solutions, and prevent recurrence