Associate - Operational Excellence Leader

Location: Triangle

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We are a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our employees around the world work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism.

We give our best effort to our work, and we put people first. We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.
** Organization Overview:
** Lilly RTP is a new state of the art Parenteral, Device Assembly, and Packaging Facility in Durham, North Carolina.  This is an exciting opportunity to help the site grow and develop.

The Operational Excellence (OpEx) team provides leadership in operational excellence and productivity efforts by combining knowledge of pharmaceutical manufacturing with Lean principles and tools. Methods used to deliver these productivity improvements include both event-based (i.e. kaizen), as well as non event-based daily improvements.

The focus of the OpEx Leader is to partner with primarily the operations leaders in his/her area to solve problems using lean and six sigma methodologies while developing people in their lean behaviors and competencies. Results include, but are not limited to, cycle time reduction, increased asset efficiency, changeover improvement, strategy deployment, improved quality and safety, as well as increased employee morale at all levels due to more time being spent on value-added activities.
** Responsibilities:
** The OpEx leader will be responsible for the following:
1.  Leading breakthrough Improvement Projects
* Partner with site leadership to identify and prioritize major improvement opportunities
* Participate in scoping and charter development, targets definition, data analysis, milestones, and problem solving.
* Partner with Business Area Leaders to facilitate the chosen methodology for the given project (e.g. Lean Lighthouse, Kaizen Event)
* Ensure lean principles and tools are integrated into both project execution and solution design
* Provide support to ensure robust Organizational Change Management and Monitoring Plans are in place to sustain improvements
* Identify and manage anticipated resistance
* Influence others to adopt a different point of view on difficult concepts
* Influence the cross functional team and drive solutions and decision making to solve complex issues
* Engage routinely and proactively with sponsors and Lean Champion to provide status, project issues, team feedback/engagement and escalate where appropriate as issues arise
* Acts as Project Manager for initiative/projects with significant implications for the business such as upcoming deadlines and/or initiatives that will require a great deal of collaboration within several functions
* Present progress and findings with members of the Site Leadership Team (SLT) to influence decision-making and action
2.  Actively support Lean Deployment
* Lead launch events to train Lean leaders and support deployment of Lean in assigned areas
* Provide training to Lean users and partner with leadership to ensure all employees are part of the Lean journey
* Serve as ongoing Lean coach for areas already deployed, ensuring the discipline to sustain Lean remains in place
* Coach leaders, team members, others peers and new members of the OpEx team on Lean manufacturing methodology and Lean Management Systems.
* Assess areas already deployed to promote ongoing continuous improvement of lean deployment
* Contribute to the Lean program design, developing elements which are common across process areas
* Capture benefits of Lean program and celebrate successes
* Ensure 2-way open communication throughout the OpEx Team.  This includes keeping the OpEx Champion informed of program status and progress and ensuring coordination of activities between other OpEx partners, including capturing lessons learned of initiatives and projects.
3.  Promote Operational Excellence Principles with a focus on Continuous Improvement and an organization of continuous learning
* Promote learning and…