Operational Excellence Lead (PENA)

Job Title: Operational Excellence Lead (PENA)

Shift: Monday-Friday

Department: Continuous Improvement

Job Summary: 

The purpose of this position is to Support the business in achieving and sustaining Operational Excellence, through teaching, coaching & deployment of the PENA Production System.

The position will optimize SQCDP results by reducing non-value-added waste and reduce process variation in business-critical areas. The Lead will be responsible for collecting data, performing analysis, developing countermeasures, implementing improvement projects, and ensuring the desired outcome is sustained through machine health, operator work planning and material flow standard work.  The Lead will assist with training and coaching Yellow/Green Belt, RCA A3 training sessions and driving the business value stream to align with PENA’s Production System and employee development.

This is a fulltime role located at our Reno, NV location.

Essential Duties:

• Needs to be a key advocate of the PPS system and communicate out to business the importance of a process mindset.
• Foster the growth of Operational Excellence/HPC behaviors within the business through coaching, mentoring, and training teams
• Work effectively with operations and support functions to translate process findings to Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, Productivity, and People (SQCDP) improvements and standard work implementation
• Serve as either Technical or a Project Team Leader of improvement specialists with the tracking of Fiscal impact/savings/value of each project
• Executes established method for benefit quantification. Conducts data analysis on program results to establish and mitigate risks, ensures that process improvement initiatives are aligned to business Hoshin requirements
• Communicate effectively with various levels within the business to educate in lean/Six sigma methodologies and how recommended changes can cut waste from operating procedures, influencing and motivating both proactively and reactively
• Deploy appropriate methodologies to surface and solve problems.
• Ensure the escalation process for problem solving is effective (CIG)
• Perform workplace audits and monitor the completion of tasks and ensure good performance and record on appropriate systems

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Requirements:

• To ensure the health and safety in the workplace and for the protection of our employees, wearing PPE is a possibility and may include equipment such as a full Tyvek suit, safety shoes, gloves, safety glasses, face mask, bump cap, and a full hazmat suit that includes a respirator.

The foregoing description is not intended and should not be construed to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills and efforts or work conditions associated with the job. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the general nature and level of the job.

Qualifications: Requirements - Required and/or Preferred

Education:

• Basic/Required: Four (4) degree in Industrial/Mechanical/Manufacturing/or equivalent Engineering/Technical (science/technology) type field
• Preferred:  Master’s Degree in Engineering or a related field, and/or Accredited Black Belt, or equivalent Professional Lean certification

Essential Requirements:

• Minimum of 5+ years of Operational excellence/continuous improvement involvement experience
• With an ability to lead and drive organizational and systematic change
• Lean Manufacturing knowledge required and ability to implement lean manufacturing tools and methodologies I.E. FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis), Kaizen/A3 (continuous improvement and problem solving) Process mapping, value stream mapping, and Poka Yoke (error proofing) techniques
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills
• Ability to learn and understand complex equipment capabilities, operation/material flow, and data flow
• Ability to successfully navigate involvement in multiple projects/deadlines/deliverables

Preferred:

• Minimum of 6+ years in industrial/automotive/aerospace/manufacturing/process engineering strongly desired
• Proven track record in operational roles in a Production/Manufacturing environment
• Understanding of Business core principles, I.E.  Panasonic’s seven (7) core principles (contribution to society, fairness and honesty, cooperation and team spirit, untiring effort for improvement, courtesy and humility, adaptability, gratitude)
• Technical Project Management leading experience 
• Strong technical background, preferably in a high-volume manufacturing environment

 About Us:

Panasonic Energy of North America (PENA) is collaborating with Tesla at a massive battery factory near Reno, Nevada which is known for its quality of life and expansive outdoor adventures. Panasonic's role at the Gigafactory is to manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells to Tesla for their electric vehicles and energy storage systems.

Over the past few years, the Gigafactory has grown to the largest lithium-ion battery factory in the world. Together with our partner Tesla, we continue to revolutionize the lithium-ion battery space and accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy and transportation.

Our mission at PENA is to make the vision of affordable Electric Vehicles a reality by producing the world’s safest, high quality, and lowest cost batteries.  Through this effort we will create a clean energy society and our products will change society’s use of and perceptions of electric power.

In addition to an environment that is as innovative as our products, we offer competitive salaries and benefits.

Supplemental Information:

Pre-employment drug testing is required. Due to the high volume of responses, we will only be able to respond to candidates of interest. All candidates must have valid authorization to work in the U.S. without restriction.

Panasonic is an Equal Opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by law.  All qualified individuals are required to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation.

Thank you for your interest in Panasonic Energy of North America.

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