Operational Excellence Manager

OPEX Manager

Eaton's Electrical Sector America - ARS/Fibrebond division is currently seeking an OPEX Manager for its new manufacturing facility located in North Little Rock, AR. This role is a critical member of the inaugural leadership team of the facility. Relocation assistance is available to candidates currently residing in the US.

In this role, you will influence and partner to deploy the Eaton Business System to achieve strategic growth, productivity, and quality objectives. Key responsibilities include but are not limited to deploying the Eaton Continuous Improvement System, executing high-impact projects, managing capital investments, driving cost-reduction initiatives, and advancing the site's maturity within the Eaton Business System framework. This role will also play a critical role in the greenfield project management and ramp up of our new manufacturing facility in North Little Rock.

Fibrebond, an Eaton company, designs and manufactures pre integrated modular buildings and power enclosures that protect mission critical equipment for data center, industrial, utility, and communications customers. Headquartered in Minden, Louisiana, Fibrebond is known for its engineered to order solutions that support complex infrastructure projects across North America. In 2025, Fibrebond was acquired by Eaton, expanding Eaton's modular solutions portfolio while preserving Fibrebond's strong engineering expertise, customer focus, and manufacturing operations in Louisiana.

The expected annual salary range for this role is $130000 - $190000 a year. This position is also eligible for a variable incentive program. Please note the salary information shown above is a general guideline only. Salaries are based upon candidate skills, experience, and qualifications, as well as market and business considerations.

What You'll Do:

• Drive continual improvement in the implementation of the Eaton Business System throughout the facility and plant organization.
• Support project activities with the new greenfield site opening including: project management, training, hiring and onboarding a new team
• Drive the Eaton Continuous Improvement System (ECIS) deployment through training, facilitation, and deployment resources.
• Leads in the development of methods and practices to reduce manufacturing variation and support the development and launch of new products, processes and services.
• Lead the site Strategy Deployment Process and development of the Annual Operating Plan
• Facilitate the implementation and reporting of Balanced Scorecard metrics; particularly for OpEx. Report Balanced Scorecard results to the leadership team.
• Work with the Leadership Team to lead the Continuous Improvement Council, ensuring alignment with established strategies and action plans, and monitoring performance.
• Manage the capital appropriation process to ensure return expectations are met. Forecast capital expenditures for the current and future years. Ensure capital is maximized for the benefit of Minden's capabilities.
• Responsible for manufacturing engineering which provides maintenance of line support, future state value stream map and quality plan deployment.
• Responsible for facility project activities including championing the use of Eaton project management tools and the management of contract resources.
• Drive Industry 4.0 transformation by implementing advanced technologies such as IoT, AI, and automation to optimize manufacturing processes, enhance data-driven decision-making, and improve operational efficiency.
• Lead the site's Operations Assessment (OpA) process, coordinating assessments, identifying gaps, and driving improvement aligned with operational excellence.
• Other duties and projects assigned.

Qualifications:

Basic (required) Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.
• Five (5) or more years of experience in operations, CI or OPEX; working in a manufacturing environment.
• One (1) or more years of experience managing direct reports.
• Ability to travel up to 50% for the first 18-24 months in role (mainly to Eaton Fibrebond in Minden, LA).
• Eaton will not consider applicants for employment immigration sponsorship or support for this position. This means that Eaton will not support any CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT plans, F-1 to H-1B, H-1B cap registration, O-1, E-3, TN status, I-485 job portability, etc.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or master's degree in business administration or engineering from an accredited institution.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification.
• Lean | Six Sigma Certification.

Skills:

• Effective interpersonal skills to resolve conflict, develop employees and facilitate corrective action while fostering an environment that supports Eaton values & philosophy.
• Strong leadership and coaching skills, ability to give and receive feedback to stakeholders.
• Comfortability managing ambiguity and ability to pivot as business priorities evolve.
• Ability to communicate effectively at all levels of the organization including leading presentations and report outs to senior business leaders.
• Change agent with strategic focus and executive command.
• Ability to direct and lead cross functional process improvement teams.
• Understanding of manufacturing technologies and processes.