Director of Business Excellence, Advanced Separation – Water

Role Overview

• Own and lead the ASW Business Excellence function, setting vision, priorities, standards, and governance.
• Define and deploy the enterprise operating system, including KPI architecture, review cadence, and escalation mechanisms.
• Hold leaders accountable for performance outcomes through disciplined operating reviews and corrective action governance.
• Translate enterprise strategy into operational priorities, initiatives, and measurable targets.
• Own the operational components of the Annual Operating Plan (AOP), ensuring alignment between strategy, capacity, capital, and execution.
• Drive margin expansion initiatives, including productivity, labor optimization, footprint efficiency, and working capital improvement.
• Identify and prioritize enterprise improvement initiatives that unlock growth, scalability, and profitability.
• Establish and enforce standardized manufacturing processes, workflows, and performance expectations across all sites.
• Lead capacity, footprint, and throughput strategies to support growth while controlling cost.
• Oversee enterprise KPI performance across Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Cash, ensuring transparency and accountability.
• Own the Lean and Continuous Improvement strategy, ensuring consistent deployment across all facilities.
• Build CI capability within operations leadership through coaching, training, and structured problem-solving.
• Drive waste elimination, variation reduction, and quality improvement using Lean/Six Sigma methodologies.
• Serve as the executive operational owner of ERP and manufacturing systems in partnership with IT.
• Define operational requirements for ERP, MES, automation, and analytics to enable visibility, scheduling accuracy, and execution discipline.
• Lead ERP optimization and adoption, ensuring systems drive behavior, accountability, and performance.
• Lead operational due diligence for acquisitions, assessing manufacturing capability, scalability, and integration risk.
• Own post-close operational integration, including process harmonization, KPI alignment, and ERP migration readiness.
• Ensure rapid performance stabilization and value capture post-acquisition.
• Champion a strong safety and quality culture, partnering with EHS and Quality leaders to embed standards and accountability.
• Ensure operational excellence is embedded in leadership behaviors, decision-making, and talent development.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, or related field (Master’s preferred).
• 10–15+ years of progressive leadership experience in manufacturing or industrial operations.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise-level operational excellence and transformation.
• Strong financial acumen with experience driving margin, productivity, and working capital results.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional, multi-site organizations through change.
• Deep experience with Lean, Continuous Improvement, and KPI-driven operating systems.
• ERP implementation and optimization experience in manufacturing environments.
• Experience supporting M&A operational diligence and integration strongly preferred.
• Certifications (Preferred): Lean / Six Sigma certification (Black Belt or equivalent).
• Continuous Improvement or Operational Excellence certifications.
• Regular domestic travel to manufacturing sites
• Periodic international travel
• Valid driver’s license and passport required

Tech Stack

• ERP

Benefits

• We provide a variety of medical insurance plans, with dental and vision coverage
• Employee 401(k)
• Tuition reimbursement
• Flexible work arrangements
• Professional development opportunities