Associate Director Operational Excellence

Job Description

Join Us in Shaping the Future of Animal Health

Our company is investing $895 million in expanding our manufacturing and research & development facilities in De Soto, Kansas — the state’s largest economic development project to date.

Job Summary:  

As an Associate Director Operational Excellence, you will be part of a world-class team at our Center of Excellence in the Animal Health Corridor, contributing directly to the production of veterinary products that improve animal health and welfare globally.

In this role, you would work as a Lean Practitioner/Coach and Project/Program Manager. As an internal lean practitioner and coach, you will identify, analyze, act upon, and instruct others on improvements both strategically and based on daily problems. In this position, you will lead or be involved with teams on all facets of the value stream to improve business outcomes.   You will apply lean tools, thinking, and change management methodologies as you develop colleagues at all levels so that continuous improvement is in everyone's DNA.

As a project and program manager, you will lead projects to improve supply, increase productivity/reduce cost. You will lead teams with value-scouting exercises and lead more complex projects to achieve business outcomes.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Initiate, implement, and coach improvement projects using Lean tools (Standardization, 5S, Poke Yoke, Kaizens, Value Stream Mapping, Visual Management, etc.) to create flow and work smarter to improve performance, safety, quality, delivery, and cost.
• Hands-on support for operational problems and cross-functional investigations by conducting thorough scientific problem-solving techniques.
• Coach lean roadmaps and provide training.
• Continue to develop yourself in lean, inclusion, and change management. With this knowledge, you develop colleagues at all organizational levels by leading by example during improvement initiatives and coaching sponsors and stakeholders.

Primary Responsibilities of Project/Program Manager:

• Demonstrated senior leadership behaviors

• Facilitating value scouting workshops at sites.
• Project lead on larger cost savings projects.
• Lead regional cost-saving project governance and reporting.
• Additional duties as assigned

Required Experience and Skills:

• Bachelor's degree in project management, biology, engineering, or a relevant field.
• 5-7 years of demonstrable work experience with continuous improvement in one of the following fields: biopharmaceuticals, manufacturing, or quality.
• Experience in coaching staff in incorporating continuous improvement into their departments.
• Experience in facilitating project teams and project management.
• Result-oriented and able to manage many different tasks/projects and demonstrated ability to adapt to changes in priorities.
• Proficient in working with data, making trends visible, and performing data analysis.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Project, etc.)
• Team player with a "go-to-the-shop-floor" attitude, analytical & eager to learn.
• A pleasant, communicative skilled personality who can connect and coach colleagues in production as well as within management. Demonstrated ability to coach and influence management and change management.
• Experience with deploying and coaching lean in multiple environments
• Demonstrated use of all commonly used lean tools and concepts.
• Experience deploying strategy (Hoshin Kanri, Policy Deployment) and A3 Thinking in multiple levels of an organization.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Master's degree in management or business.
• Project Management Certification
• Formal training in Lean

Required Skills:

Lean Methodologies, Manufacturing, Manufacturing Operations, Manufacturing Production, Manufacturing Productivity, Operational Excellence (OpEx), Process Efficiency Improvements, Process Improvements, Process Optimization, Process Standardization, Project Management

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.

As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.  As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.  For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit:

EEOC Know Your Rights

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We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively.

Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts

The salary range for this role is

$129,000.00 - $203,100.00

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.

The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits.  Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.

You can apply for this role through https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (or via the Workday Jobs Hub if you are a current employee). The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.

San Francisco Residents Only: We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Los Angeles Residents Only: We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully 
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company.  No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails. 

Employee Status:

Regular

Relocation:

Domestic

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

Yes

Hazardous Material(s):

N/A

Job Posting End Date:

10/22/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.