Lead Operations Engineer

Location: Greater Birmingham, Alabama Area

This position will support the launch of a new manufacturing facility in the southwest Birmingham metropolitan area.

• Develop and maintain a strong working knowledge of the Product Development Process (PDP) and assigned products, processes, and customer requirements.
• Lead plant activities through the PDP process to support the flawless launch of assigned programs and achievement of established launch deliverables.
• Represent the plant on Product Development Teams (PDTs), provide plant input for Gate Reviews, identify operational risks, and drive timely escalation and resolution of open issues.
• Represent the plant in scheduled Manufacturing System Design (MSD) workshops and ensure plant requirements are incorporated into program and process planning.
• Lead scheduled Operations System Design (OSD) workshops at the plant and coordinate resulting actions with cross-functional team members.
• Maintain overall launch and Engineering Change Request readiness through regular cross-functional reviews of equipment, tooling, processes, materials, quality, staffing, and production requirements.
• Develop, execute, and track Zero Defect Launch (ZDL) and production ramp-up plans for new programs to support a stable transition into JIT/JIS production.
• Lead the analysis, planning, timing, implementation, and validation of assigned engineering changes while minimizing disruption to production and customer delivery.
• Maintain accurate and current manufacturing Bills of Materials and other assigned manufacturing documentation to support production and sequencing requirements.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on safety, quality, cost, productivity, sequencing accuracy, material flow, and operational performance.