Lead - Operations Excellence

 

BE PART OF SOMETHING REAL

 

POSITION TITLE:                              Lead  – Operations Excellence

REPORTS TO:                                   Senior Manager – Operations Excellence

As Lead Analyst in the Operations Excellence team, you will play a leading role in preparing QUIET’s and AEO’s distribution centers for increased processing capabilities in order to best support the growth of the business. You will lead peers and champion activities or projects in which you can apply lean and six sigma principles to drive and create a continuous improvement culture within the organization. You will mine data, report on data and turn analytics into actionable information. You will work closely with the Senior Manager of Operations Excellence, as well as with senior leadership in Global Logistics and fulfillment Operations to develop and deploy solutions through various cross-functional project teams. Most importantly, you will be partnering with Associates and supervisor to dive deep process improvement, implement, standardize and support the capacity and productivity within the DCs. You will work with cross functional teams to develop meaningful information that is used to direct and deploy solutions that improve the operational success of the fulfillment centers. These outputs will assist in identifying areas to apply our continuous improvement activities that will improve velocity, cost and service levels

 

Your responsibilities include:

• Enhancing FC efficiency through deployment of lean methodologies, coaching and mentoring of team and associates, effective leadership of continuous improvement projects with exceptional data collection and visualization.
• Performing a wide variety of data analyses in various formats, using different applications, and extracting data from various data warehouses and repositories.  You will turn data into useful information.
• Collecting and translating raw data into information that enable us to identify process improvement opportunities, where they are, historical trends, and then quantifying the impact of anticipated improvements.
• Producing daily reports to a variety of distribution lists to provide information regarding daily performance, forecasted workloads and various trend updates.
• Ensuring all process improvement initiatives support the long-term strategic needs of the FCs (including but not limited to automation, innovation and other process improvement topics) and building/managing the capital outlay
• Actively partnering with leadership across the Supply Chain and FC network to ensure alignment and best-practices cross-sharing where appropriate.
• Preparing QUIET and AEO  for increased processing capabilities by benchmarking practices and procedures with other companies; identifying the right lean and continuous improvement initiatives for greatest impact
• Map the current state, identify the future state, and develop standard work for normal and abnormal workflow in order to streamline and standardize tasks
• Practicing and teaching fundamental problem solving to find problems, define them, fix them and keep them from coming back; working closely with DC Operations to provide coaching and mentoring (especially with project leads) 
• Developing the flow logistics concepts for the FC –  striving towards zero waste and continuous movement of goods through the distribution center
• Inspiring superior performance through your leadership, role modelling, building positive relationships and influencing others effectively
• Coauthoring with FC leadership and corporate support teams to develop baseline financial metrics to document savings/benefits of projects / initiatives
• Supporting initiatives that ensure the FC operates with industry best practices in the areas of Innovation, Efficiency, Customer Service/Service Level, Inventory Management and Quality
• Additional responsibilities as assigned

 

Experience required:

• Needs to understand and have proven track record of personally applying, and teaching in a Lean and / or process / workflow improvement oriented capacity
• Establish a data driven culture - always question anecdote based statements and prove/disprove with data
• Strive towards quick turnarounds – don’t make perfect the enemy of progress
• Ability to apply mathematics / analysis to quantify problems and impacts made by improvements to processes
• Knowledge of supply chain execution systems including WMS, COFE, and forecasting and planning systems
• Good organization and planning skills, and conflict resolution skills
• Effective verbal and written communication
• Ambitious and driven; motivated by a dynamic environment
• Self-starter with a proven ability to handle multiple programs/ projects
• High proficiency of MS Office Suite, Outlook & Internet applications; highly organized, efficient, strong attention to detail
• Travel 50% of time

Education & Experience:  

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain/Logistics, or related field
• 3+ years of experience leading technical or project teams with direct reports
• 3+ years of experience in a Retail or Manufacturing Industry
• Lean / Six Sigma Training or Certification preferred
• Experience documenting/designing business processes, performing business analysis, and requirements definition preferred
• Formal training in change management methodology preferred

 

AEO is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to complying with all federal, state and local equal employment opportunity ("EEO") laws. AEO prohibits discrimination against associates and applicants for employment because of the individual's race or color, religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, marital or partnership status, domestic violence or stalking victim status, genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. This applies to all AEO activities, including, but not limited to, recruitment, hiring, compensation, assignment, training, promotion, performance evaluation, discipline and discharge. AEO also provides reasonable accommodation of religion and disability in accordance with applicable law.