Operational Excellence Manager

Ensuring Chart’s Success…

At Chart, we design and build some of the world’s most advanced cryogenic equipment—that’s how our “Cooler By Design®” tagline was born. But it’s not just our technology that’s cool. It’s our people. We solve complex problems as a team, making us truly Cooler Together. And with the addition of Howden to the Chart family, we’re Stronger Together, too.

Our customers don’t simply bring us equipment specs—they bring us challenges. That’s where you come in. From concept and design to installation and commissioning, you’ll help create solutions that support a wide range of industries and applications.

• Launching rockets into space

• Delivering Nexus of Clean™ solutions for clean water, clean power, clean food, and clean industrials

• Powering the carbonation in your favorite fast-food beverage

• Making nitro coffee and even nitro ice cream possible

Want to see our impact in action? Explore Chart City: https://chartcity.chartindustries.com/. We’re looking for bright, driven talent excited to build a career in an evolving, high‑growth industry. Along with competitive compensation and meaningful work, Chart offers development programs designed to grow future leaders. That could be you. If you’re passionate about design engineering and think a career at Chart sounds pretty cool, let’s talk.

The Operational Excellence Manager is responsible for developing and executing the operational excellence roadmap across assigned business units to drive sustainable improvements in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and customer satisfaction. This role serves as a strategic partner to operational leadership, leading continuous improvement initiatives, building organizational capability, and fostering a culture of accountability, standardized processes, and performance excellence. 

The Operational Excellence Manager drives measurable business results through Lean, Six Sigma, project management, and change leadership methodologies. This position collaborates closely with operations, supply chain, quality, engineering, and site leadership teams to identify opportunities, eliminate waste, optimize processes, and deliver operational and financial improvements aligned with business objectives. 

This is an onsite position and can be located at either Stafford, TX, Medina, OH, Richburg, SC, or Brentwood, NH.

What Will You Do?

1. Strategic Leadership

• Develop and execute the operational excellence strategy and roadmap aligned with business objectives and growth plans.
• Partner with site and functional leaders to establish annual operational improvement priorities, targets, and performance metrics.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and operational discipline across all levels of the organization.
• Translate strategic objectives into actionable initiatives that deliver measurable operational and financial results.
• Champion change management efforts to ensure successful adoption and sustainment of process improvements.

1. Continuous Improvement & Lean Transformation

• Lead enterprise-wide Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement initiatives focused on safety, quality, productivity, cost reduction, delivery performance, and customer experience.
• Facilitate Kaizen events, value stream mapping activities, root-cause analysis, and problem-solving workshops.
• Establish and maintain standardized improvement methodologies, tools, governance processes, and reporting mechanisms.
• Identify and remove systemic barriers impacting operational performance.
• Ensure sustainability of improvements through robust control plans, auditing processes, and performance reviews.

1. Operational Performance Management

• Analyze operational performance data to identify trends, opportunities, and risks.
• Develop dashboards, KPIs, and management operating systems that drive visibility, accountability, and decision-making.
• Partner with site leadership to improve key performance indicators including:
  • Safety performance
  • Quality metrics
  • On-time delivery
  • Productivity
  • Inventory management
  • Cost performance
  • Customer satisfaction
• Support capacity planning, process optimization, and resource utilization initiatives.

1. Organizational Capability Building

• Provide coaching, mentoring, and training to leaders and employees on Lean, Six Sigma, problem-solving, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Develop internal operational excellence capabilities to create self-sustaining improvement cultures.
• Build cross-functional engagement and ownership for continuous improvement activities.
• Promote knowledge sharing and replication of best practices across facilities and functions.

1. Project & Change Management

• Lead complex, cross-functional improvement projects from identification through implementation and sustainment.
• Manage project portfolios, timelines, resources, risks, and benefits realization.
• Ensure improvement initiatives are aligned with strategic priorities and deliver measurable ROI.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to effectively manage organizational change and gain commitment to new processes.

Your Physical Work Environment Will Require…

• Ability to move throughout office, warehouse, and production environments.

• Ability to sit, stand, walk, bend, and perform routine office tasks.

• Ability to occasionally lift up to 15 pounds.

• Exposure to manufacturing environments, including varying noise levels.

• Ability to work in a fast-paced manufacturing and office environment while managing competing priorities.

• Ability to travel to sites as needed.

Your Experience Should Be...

• 7 or more years of progressive experience in manufacturing, operations, supply chain, or operational excellence environments.
• Proven success leading Lean transformations and business process improvement initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to influence leaders and drive change across multiple functions and locations.
• Experience managing large-scale improvement projects with measurable operational and financial results.
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing systems, operational metrics, and continuous improvement methodologies.

Desirable skills, knowledge & behaviours 

• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or Master Black Belt
• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Change Management Certification

Your Education Should Be…

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Supply Chain, Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, or a related field required.
• Master's degree preferred.

Our Benefits Package...

• Medical, dental and vision insurance

• Employer contributions to an HSA account

• Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

• Company-paid short-term and long-term disability coverage

• Basic life insurance with the option to purchase supplemental individual, spouse and dependent child coverage

• Up to two weeks of paid family leave

• 401k retirement savings plan including a company match