Sr. Manager, Operational Excellence (Manufacturing)

Location: Benson, North Carolina, United States; regular presence on the production floor is required. Must be a U.S. Person due to access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.

Company

hirify.global manufactures American rare-earth permanent magnets for critical industries including defense, aerospace, and automotive.

What you will do

• Establish the site's integrated management system, ISO framework, documentation hierarchy, document control, change governance, internal audit program, CAPA workflow, and management review cadence.
• Prepare the facility for certification, surveillance, customer, and regulatory audits while ensuring alignment between quality, EHS, and PSM practices.
• Own the continuous improvement portfolio, deploy DMAIC and A3 problem solving, lead value stream mapping, and drive improvements in yield, first-pass quality, OEE, changeover time, scrap, and conversion cost.
• Build the internal Yellow, Green, and Black Belt program, facilitate kaizen events, and coach leaders in structured improvement methods.
• Design and deploy the plant operating system, including tiered accountability meetings, KPI and OKR cascades, escalation paths, visual management, and daily, weekly, and monthly review rhythms.
• Develop organizational structures, decision rights, cross-functional workflows, operational standards, assessment models, layered process confirmation, and frontline leadership empowerment.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, such as mechanical, chemical, industrial, or materials engineering.
• Six Sigma Black Belt certification with completed projects and verified financial benefits; Green Belt is considered only with substantial enterprise deployment experience.
• Direct experience designing and deploying a plant operating system, including tiered accountability, KPI cascades, structured problem solving, and layered process confirmation.
• Experience owning manufacturing training and qualification programs, including skills matrices, certification and requalification standards, competency assessment, and audit-ready records.
• Ability to influence without authority, work across site functions, and operate both strategically and directly on the production floor.
• Excellent facilitation, written communication, and executive presentation skills.

Nice to have

• Experience in a PSM-regulated or high-hazard environment and familiarity with integrated process safety, quality, and EHS systems.
• Background in powder metallurgy, thermal or chemical processing, precision machining, or advanced materials.
• Experience with organization design, span-of-control analysis, role architecture, decision rights, and middle-layer leadership development.

Culture & Benefits

• Regular work in a manufacturing environment that may be hot, humid, or noisy.
• Required use of PPE, including respirators, and compliance with safety and regulatory procedures.
• Physical ability to climb stairs, stand and walk for extended periods, navigate the facility, complete fit testing, and respond safely to changing production conditions.
• Opportunity to build workforce capability as the site scales from roughly 70 employees to more than 800.