Director, Operations Engineering and Continuous Improvement

Director, Operations Engineering and Continuous Improvement, Easton, PA

GENERAL SUMMARY:

The Director, Operations Engineering and Continuous Improvement provides overall strategic direction and leadership to the Operations Engineering and CI organization. Specifically, the position plans, leads, and executes strategies maximizing operational capacities and efficiencies for current and new products and processes. The leader will work closely with the value-stream managers, identifying areas for efficiency improvements, leading cross functional teams, both strategically and tactically, using his/her sphere of influence, to get projects done with speed. The leader will be responsible for determining the overall effectiveness of the manufacturing capabilities and determining the gap in current capabilities. Based on these assessments, he/she will build strategic plans including capex and be responsible for an overall execution of the plan. An important aspect for maintaining our cutting-edge value streams is to ensure that we keep our eyes open to identify waste, improve material flow, and keep the improvement moving forward. This role will also be responsible for leading a culture of CI across the various departments and facilities at Crayola by embracing principles of continuous improvement and enabling our problem identification and problem-solving culture.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Leads the development of the capital investment strategy for US manufacturing and new product development to ensure ROI, budget, and timing targets are achieved.
• Partners with Supply Chain and Production planning leaders to determine key capital priorities and builds an execution plan that is inclusive of capital and people resources.
• Accountable for continuous modernization of manufacturing equipment and infrastructure through automation and other advanced capabilities.
• Accountable for Capital projects execution to standard supporting all manufacturing and infrastructure projects. Develops and controls global capital and CI budgeting.
• Collaborates with the Sr. Directors of Manufacturing and Logistics to leverage Six Sigma and LEAN tools to improve product execution, manufacturing capability, and customer service globally.
• Responsible for implementing the Continuous Improvement mindset throughout the whole organization.
• Partners with business leaders in determining key initiatives to be achieved through CI efforts while managing the CI team and ensuring these CI projects are meeting or exceeding planned targets.
• Completes and uses standard processes to determine future CI projects.
• Develops training materials to meet ongoing needs for continuous improvement and training throughout the organization.
• Participates in operations strategy development as required

JOB SPECIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering required. Master's degree a plus.
• Minimum of 10 years' experience in managing product design and project engineers, continuous improvement, capital budget management, and product/package design and commercialization in a consumer product business.
• Six Sigma Black Belt certified ideal.
• Experience implementing Lean, Six Sigma and team development principles.
• 5 years of project management experience.
• 3 years supervisory/managerial experience.
• Sophisticated understanding of new product development process and chemical formulations.

• Demonstrated leadership ability with proven skills in listening, communication and interpersonal effectiveness.
• Proven skills in group facilitation and problem solving (in a team environment).
• Strong collaboration skills in working across disciplines.
• Must be able to lead and influence key leaders.
• Travel - Global travel as required in support of operations.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, talk and hear. The employee is occasionally required to walk; use hands and fingers to operate, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

Travel - Significant global travel (minimum six weeks/year) and the ability to perform duties in developing nation factory locations or are requirements for this role.

DISCLAIMER: The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

WHY CRAYOLA?

• Kid Inspired Culture
• Free Admission to Crayola Experience for Employees
• Community Volunteerism Opportunities
• Annual Bonus Potential for all Full-Time Employees
• Company Matched 401k & Employee Value Sharing Plan
• Comprehensive Healthcare Benefits for Eligible Employees
• Education Assistance Program
• Wellness Programs
• Employee Resource Groups
• Generous Product Discounts Onsite & Online
• Company Sponsored Employee Events
• Discounts on a wide variety of products and services - automotive, electronics, fitness, travel and entertainment

Green is our favorite color! Crayola cares about the environment and responsibly makes the products you love. Learn more about Crayola's creative solutions for greener tomorrows: https://www.crayola.com/about-us/sustainability

Crayola is committed to providing competitive market compensation. Our pay ranges are established using reliable market data and consider factors such as job responsibilities, industry benchmarks, and geographic location.

Individual starting pay is determined by a candidate's skills, experience and qualifications. This role is eligible to participate in an annual incentive plan as per plan guidelines. For a full list of Crayola benefits, please visit https://www.crayola.com/company/employee-benefits.

No phone calls please.

Search Firm Representatives - Please Read Carefully:
Crayola LLC is not seeking assistance or accepting unsolicited resumes from search firms for this employment opportunity. Regardless of past practice, all resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at Crayola LLC via e-mail, the Internet, or directly to hiring managers at Crayola LLC in any form without valid written search agreement in place for that position will be deemed the sole property of Crayola LLC, and no fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by Crayola LLC as a result of the referral or through other means.

Search firms are essential to the recruitment and staffing efforts at Crayola LLC, and we value the partnerships we have built with our vendors. For this reason, Crayola LLC has established and regularly maintains a preferred vendor list. Please note that even preferred vendors need to have a written search agreement signed by Human Resources at Crayola LLC in place for the specific position in order for a fee to be paid for any candidate referrals.