Operational Excellence Director Latam

Responsible for fostering, promoting, and deploying Continuous Improvement methodologies across LATAM, following the Lean Production System (LPS) and Integrated Work System (IWS) within the framework of the Amcor Manufacturing System (AMS).
The role leads the regional implementation and governance of AMS, integrating legacy methodologies (Performance Boost / O+ and BOS) into a unified operational excellence model. It plays a key role in defining the regional roadmap, building capabilities, and driving sustainable performance improvement, loss elimination, and cultural transformation across all sites.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Facilitate and integrate the philosophy of Lean Production System (LPS) and Integrated Work System (IWS) as part of the Amcor Manufacturing System (AMS), embedding continuous improvement into the organizational culture.
• Lead the deployment and standardization of AMS across LATAM, ensuring alignment with global standards and integration of Performance Boost (PB), O+ and BOS.
• Support operations to ensure production of high-quality products, delivery on customer commitments, and continuous improvement in efficiency and productivity.
• Develop, coach, and motivate site and regional leaders to build strong management and problem-solving capabilities throughout the CI and IWS journey.
• Maintain a strong presence on the shop floor (Gemba) to communicate expectations, evaluate results, and reinforce IWS principles and Daily Management System (DMS) discipline.
• Promote the use of Daily Management, including tiered meetings, Gemba walks, and visual management to ensure effective performance control and issue resolution.
• Lead Kaizen events, pillar workshops, and improvement initiatives to accelerate loss elimination and performance improvement.
• Define and execute the regional IWS roadmap, including capability assessments, pillar maturity evaluations (AM, PM, FI, E&T, etc.), and deployment tracking.
• Partner with Plant Directors, Engineering, and OpEx teams to identify and prioritize the most impactful cost-out and waste reduction projects.
• Coach and support local CI Managers and pillar owners in developing site-level IWS capabilities and ensuring standard work execution.
• Drive policy deployment and KPI alignment to ensure clear visibility of operational objectives and consistent performance governance.
• Ensure consistency and governance of AMS practices through audits, maturity assessments, and continuous feedback loops.
• Communicate progress, best practices, and success stories to regional and global stakeholders, fostering a strong CI and AMS community across LATAM.

Education, qualifications, training  & experience required 

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Economics or related field (Master’s a plus)
• Certified Lean/Six Sigma Master Black Belt
• Minimum 5 years leading regional or multi-plant Continuous Improvement / Operational Excellence program
• Proven experience implementing Integrated Work System (IWS) or similar methodologies (TPM, WCM, OpEx) with measurable impact.
• Demonstrated success in developing and deploying pillar structures (Autonomous Maintenance, Planned Maintenance, Focused Improvement, Education & Training, etc.) at site or regional level.
• Experience in manufacturing, operations, or supply chain management, with strong exposure to shop-floor environments.
• Track record of coaching CI leaders and site managers through maturity assessments and cultural transformation.
• Experience integrating different operational systems or legacies into a unified excellence model (e.g., PB, BOS, AMS).

Skills/Competencies

• Knowledge transfer
• Analytical capacity
• Problem solving, Focus on results
• Team effectiveness
• Flexible
• Ambiguity management
• Assertive Communication
• Impact and Influence
• Analysis and data processing
• Systemic approach, Lean Manufacturing tools, 6 sigma tools, problem solving tools, process mapping, kaizen event facilitation.
• Business Acumen
• Change and thought leadership
• Certified Lean/Six Sigma Master Black Belt
• Critical thinking and conflict resolution
• Strategic mindset