Job Description:

Operational Excellence Manager
Essex | Permanent |

Manufacturing Are you passionate about driving operational performance, reducing waste and creating a culture of continuous improvement?

Our client is a well-established manufacturing business with ambitious plans for growth and operational excellence. They are seeking an experienced Operational Excellence Manager to lead site-wide improvement initiatives, optimise manufacturing performance and embed a culture of sustainable continuous improvement across the operation.

Working closely with senior leadership, engineering, quality and production teams, you will act as the catalyst for operational change, identifying opportunities to improve productivity, increase efficiency and reduce costs whilst maintaining the highest standards of quality and safety.

The Opportunity This is a highly visible role where you'll have genuine influence over site performance. You'll be responsible for driving improvements across manufacturing processes, equipment effectiveness, labour utilisation and material yields, whilst coaching teams to adopt Lean principles and continuous improvement methodologies.

The successful candidate will combine strong analytical skills with the ability to engage people at every level of the business, ensuring improvement initiatives deliver measurable and sustainable results.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead site-wide continuous improvement and operational excellence programmes.
• Identify and eliminate sources of manufacturing waste, material loss and inefficiency.
• Drive improvements in production yields, asset utilisation and overall manufacturing performance.
• Conduct process mapping, bottleneck analysis and value stream mapping exercises to identify opportunities for optimisation.
• Work closely with Engineering teams to improve equipment reliability, reduce downtime and enhance operational performance.
• Develop and implement Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) frameworks and performance measurement systems.
• Build and maintain a pipeline of cost-saving initiatives that deliver measurable business benefits.
• Review workflows, processes and factory layouts to improve efficiency and productivity.
• Champion Lean Manufacturing techniques including 5S, Kaizen, Visual Management and Root Cause Analysis.
• Train, coach and mentor operational teams, building capability and ownership for continuous improvement activities.
• Develop standard operating procedures and best-practice working methods.
• Encourage employee engagement in improvement initiatives and help create a culture where continuous improvement becomes part of everyday operations.

About You We're looking for a hands-on improvement professional who can combine strategic thinking with practical delivery.

You will ideally have:

• Previous experience within a Continuous Improvement, Operational Excellence or Lean Manufacturing position.
• A proven track record of delivering measurable improvements within a manufacturing environment.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt qualification (Black Belt advantageous).
• Strong knowledge of Lean Manufacturing principles and operational excellence methodologies.
• Experience of OEE implementation, value stream mapping and root cause analysis.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• A highly analytical and data-driven approach to decision making.
• The ability to engage, coach and inspire teams at all levels.
• Resilience, drive and a passion for delivering world-class operational standards.

What's in it for You?

• Opportunity to shape and influence operational performance across a growing manufacturing business.
• High-profile role with significant exposure to senior leadership.
• Genuine autonomy to implement change and deliver measurable results.
• Long-term career development opportunities within a forward-thinking organisation.