Senior Director of Operational Excellence

The Opportunity

Kettle Cuisine is seeking a transformational Senior Director of Operational Excellence to elevate manufacturing performance, strengthen operational discipline, and build a culture of continuous improvement across our U.S. manufacturing network.

Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, this highly visible leadership role will shape and execute our Operational Culture, leadership and plant capabilities, Operational Excellence strategy, establish a scalable manufacturing operating system, and deliver measurable improvements in productivity, efficiency, cost, and profitability.

The ideal leader combines strategic vision with hands-on manufacturing expertise, a proven ability to influence across multiple facilities, and a relentless focus on execution. Success requires more than implementing continuous improvement methodologies—it requires developing leaders, creating ownership at every level, and translating operational opportunities into sustainable business results.

What You'll Lead

Operational Excellence Strategy & Transformation

• Develop and execute a network-wide Operational Excellence strategy aligned with business growth and manufacturing priorities.
• Design and deploy a standardized manufacturing operating system that strengthens performance visibility, accountability, and operational consistency.
• Partner with plant leadership to establish improvement roadmaps, performance expectations, and disciplined execution practices.
• Identify and scale best practices across manufacturing locations to accelerate organizational performance.

Manufacturing Performance & Financial Impact

• Lead strategic initiatives that improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), throughput, labor productivity, asset utilization, and manufacturing capacity.
• Drive sustainable cost reduction through waste elimination, improved material yields, equipment reliability, and manufacturing efficiency.
• Partner with Finance and Operations to quantify opportunities, validate savings, and deliver measurable EBITDA improvements.
• Establish meaningful performance metrics and management routines that reinforce ownership, accelerate problem-solving, and sustain results.

Continuous Improvement & Operational Discipline

• Advance the adoption of our KCOP Continuous Improvement program, and structured problem-solving methodologies.
• Strengthen operational consistency through standard work, visual management, root cause analysis, and performance accountability.
• Lead cross-functional improvement initiatives that eliminate manufacturing losses and unlock capacity.
• Build sustainable systems and capabilities that embed continuous improvement into everyday operations.

Leadership, Culture & Capability Building

• Champion a high-performance, merit-based culture grounded in personal accountability, operational ownership, and measurable results.
• Coach and influence plant leaders and cross-functional teams to strengthen execution, problem-solving, and change leadership.
• Develop organizational capabilities through targeted training, leadership development, and knowledge sharing.
• Foster collaboration across Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, and Human Resources to accelerate transformation.

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Business, or a related discipline; advanced degree preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive leadership experience in manufacturing operations, Operational Excellence, or continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated success designing, implementing, and sustaining manufacturing operating systems across multiple facilities.
• Experience in food manufacturing, consumer packaged goods (CPG), or comparable high-volume manufacturing environments strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to deliver measurable improvements in OEE, productivity, waste reduction, manufacturing costs, and profitability.
• Strong command of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, TPM, and structured continuous improvement methodologies; Black Belt or equivalent certification preferred.
• Financial acumen and the ability to connect operational performance to measurable business value.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and influencing skills, with experience driving organizational change across functions and locations.

The Impact You'll Make

This role offers the opportunity to shape the future of manufacturing performance at Kettle Cuisine. As a strategic partner to the COO and plant leadership teams, you will help build a more efficient, accountable, and scalable manufacturing organization, one where continuous improvement is embedded in the culture and operational excellence delivers lasting competitive advantage.