Operational Excellence Director

About the company:

Viant is a global medical device partner providing design, development, manufacturing, and assembly services through capabilities in materials, plastics, metals, extrusion, and automation. With nearly 6,000 employees across 24 locations worldwide, it delivers high-quality, life-enhancing products with the scale and expertise to bring devices to market efficiently. Learn more at Viant Medical’s website or on LinkedIn.

About the role:

The Director of Operational Excellence, AMS drives continuous improvement, Lean transformation, and operational performance across Viant's Advanced Metal Solutions network of seven manufacturing sites. Reporting to the Center of Excellence, this hands-on leader partners with site teams to deliver cost savings, improve efficiency, develop talent, and support strategic business objectives.

This role combines strategy and execution, leading Lean initiatives, kaizen events, and problem-solving efforts while building a culture of operational excellence. The ideal candidate brings multi-site manufacturing experience, preferably within metal machining, turning, or drawing environments, and thrives as a player-coach who can effectively lead, coach, and execute.

This is not a corporate training role; it is hands-on. Individuals who succeed in this role act as a player-coach, able to seamlessly switch between coaching, facilitating, and doing.

Key Responsibilities:

• Identify and deliver multi-year road map of savings to achieve annual savings target
• Work with business unit and functional leaders to identify and implement operational improvements including OEE, tiered daily management, and leader standard work
• Facilitating kaizens spanning multiple sites, functions, and programs to deliver transformational business results including technology adoption and culture change
• Develop and upskill all individuals in the OpEx network, ranging from individual coaching to identifying and facilitating enterprise-wide trainings through external training partners
• Influence OpEx at all levels within the organization, driving adoption of best practices and continuous improvement

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, Operations Management, or related field (Master’s or relevant certification preferred).
• 8+ years of experience in operational excellence, process improvement, or operations leadership, preferably in a manufacturing or regulated environment.
• Proven track record of leading large-scale change management, transformation and continuous improvement initiatives
• Trainer-level competency in Lean, Six Sigma, or similar problem-solving methodologies with demonstrated enterprise-level execution experience.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and project management skills; proficiency in data analysis and performance metrics.
• Demonstrated experience with implementation of automation, standard work, and technology in operational settings
• Exceptional communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills; strong active listening and interpretation abilities; proven capacity to influence and build alignment across all levels of the organization.
• Willingness and ability to travel (approximately 20-50%)

Benefits: 

• New employees are eligible for the following benefits effective date of hire!
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Company-paid life insurance and disability benefits
• Generous Paid time off and 10 paid Holidays
• 401k Plan with Company Match
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Voluntary Universal Life and Long-Term Care
• Voluntary Legal Plan
• Pet Insurance
• Home Ownership Program