Manufacturing Excellence Manager

Bacardi · Louisville, KY

Level: Manager
Team: Lean / CI
Degree: Required
Experience asked: 5+ years
Certification: Green Belt preferred
Industry: Food & beverage
Posted: 7 days ago

The role in 30 seconds

A management continuous improvement role at Bacardi (food & beverage) in Louisville, KY. RESPONSIBILITIES - WITH OUR CONSUMER AT THE HEART YOUR KEY FOCUS WILL BE.

They ask for: 5+ years · degree required · Green Belt preferred
Tools it names: Lean, Kaizen, 5S, Value stream mapping, TPM, OEE

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

How this role compares

Against 337 other live lean / ci postings in the US.

Base pay: Not listed in this posting
Experience asked: Typical (5+ years)

Skills these teams ask for most

✓ Lean 86%
Six Sigma 54%
✓ Kaizen 51%
✓ Value stream mapping 47%
✓ Root cause 44%
✓ 5S 31%

✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.

Stands out: this posting asks for OEE, DMAIC, SAP, MES, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.

It asks for 5+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone on the team first.

At a glance

Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.

How to get in at this plant

Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.

1
Pick 2–3 people on the Lean / CI team at Bacardi
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is CI run from the plant floor or from a corporate OpEx group?
- Which metrics does leadership actually watch: OEE, scrap, cost per unit?
- The posting mentions a Green Belt. Does the company sponsor certification?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

Full description from BacardiAs posted on their careers site.Show

requirements

and reinforces Bacardi SQS Codes of Practice.

✓Regional / Cross-Area Support: Share standards and best practices and, when required, support Manufacturing Excellence priorities beyond the primary area or site.
✓Strategy Deployment Facilitation: Serve as the site owner and facilitator of the Strategy Development and Deployment process, supporting Site Leadership in defining priorities, cascading objectives, aligning resources, tracking progress, and ensuring strategic initiatives are embedded into TPM, TMS, and daily management routines.

Skills - the skills and experience needed to create your legacy

✓• Leadership & Influence: Authentic, inclusive and collaborative leader who can influence without direct authority and create alignment across multiple functions and organizational levels.
✓Strategic Thinking: Connects site and business priorities to a practical Manufacturing Excellence roadmap and translates complex issues into a clear, compelling narrative.
✓Facilitation & Coaching: Demonstrated ability to lead workshops, Kaizen events, problem-solving teams and leadership conversations while building ownership in others.
✓Systems Thinking: Understands the interaction between people, process, equipment, materials, information and management systems.
✓Data & Business Acumen: Strong analytical capability and financial awareness, with the ability to convert operational data into prioritized action and verified value.
✓Execution Discipline: Organized, detail-oriented and able to manage multiple priorities with strong follow-through, governance and independent judgment.
✓Communication: Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate effectively from frontline teams to senior leadership.
✓Change Leadership: Comfortable with ambiguity and complexity; able to build engagement, manage resistance and sustain new ways of working.
✓Digital Fluency: Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and relevant manufacturing systems such as SAP, MES, Power BI and digital performance-management tools.

Qualifications

– DEGREE, CERTIFICATION, ADDITIONAL TRAINING

✓Education: Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering or Mechanical Engineering required. A Master’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain or Business is preferred.
✓Experience: Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in manufacturing, operational excellence, continuous improvement, engineering, maintenance or related Supply operations.
✓TPM & Lean: Hands-on experience deploying and sustaining TPM and Lean Manufacturing in an operating environment, with demonstrated use of loss elimination, Standard Work and structured problem solving.
✓TMS: Experience implementing or strengthening Tier Management Systems, Daily Direction Setting, visual management, escalation and leader standard work.
✓Cross-Area Manufacturing: Experience supporting one or more ma

Show full description ↓

RESPONSIBILITIES - WITH OUR CONSUMER AT THE HEART YOUR KEY FOCUS WILL BE

•TPM Deployment & Governance: Lead the deployment, maturation and sustainment of Total Productive Manufacturing across assigned manufacturing areas, including Autonomous Maintenance, Planned Maintenance, Focused Improvement, Quality Maintenance, Education & Training, Early Equipment Management and Safety, Health & Environment, as applicable.
•Flexible Manufacturing Scope: Provide Manufacturing Excellence support based on business priorities across distillery, bulk processing, blending, bottling, packaging, maintenance, utilities, aging, warehouse, internal logistics and other Supply operations.
•Loss Elimination: Build and maintain area loss trees, prioritize the improvement pipeline, and lead structured initiatives to eliminate chronic and sporadic losses affecting Safety, Quality, Service, Cost, Productivity, Reliability and Employee Engagement.
•OEE & Reliability: Improve equipment effectiveness and process performance by addressing Availability, Performance and Quality losses through centerlining, CIL optimization, changeover reduction, breakdown elimination, defect handling and condition restoration.
•Tier Management System (TMS): Strengthen TMS routines, visual management, Daily Direction Setting, escalation, action tracking, leader standard work and disciplined follow-through at the appropriate tier levels.
•Problem Solving: Facilitate Root Cause Analysis and structured problem solving using A3, PDCA, DMAIC, 5 Whys, Fishbone, Pareto analysis and other Lean tools.
•Lean Manufacturing: Lead Kaizen events, Value Stream Mapping, 5S, Standard Work, flow, waste elimination and process optimization initiatives that deliver measurable and sustainable results.
•Capability Building: Coach operators, technicians, supervisors, managers and site leaders in TPM, Lean Manufacturing, TMS, problem solving, performance management and ownership behaviors.
•Cross-Functional Partnership: Work closely with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, SQS, Supply Chain, Planning, Finance, Warehouse and Site Leadership to align priorities and remove barriers.
•Performance Management: Define, standardize and monitor performance indicators such as OEE, reliability, productivity, labor efficiency, yield, waste, service, cost and TPM/TMS maturity. Ensure data integrity and use metrics to expose losses and guide action.
•Project & Benefits Management: Lead a portfolio of improvement projects, track milestones, risks and resources, and validate financial and operational benefits with the appropriate business partners.
•Standards & Sustainment: Develop and audit standards, management routines, health checks and confirmation processes to sustain improvements and prevent regression.
•Digital & Analytics: Leverage SAP, MES, Power BI, OEE systems and other digital manufacturing tools to improve visibility, decision making and operational control.
•Safety, Quality & Compliance: Ensure all improvement work complies with applicable Safety, Quality, Environmental and regulatory