Global Director, Operational Excellence COE

Position: Global Director, Operational Excellence COE
Company: Nouryon
Location: Houston, Texas, United States
Employment Type: Permanent, Full-Time
Vacancy Number: N0014702
Reporting To: VP, Global Operational Excellence & Digital Manufacturing
Global Travel: Approximately 15–25%
Application Status: Open until further notice

ABOUT NOURYON

Nouryon is a global specialty chemicals company providing innovative and sustainable solutions for industries including personal care, cleaning, paints and coatings, agriculture, food, pharmaceuticals and building products.

The organization operates an extensive international manufacturing network and continues to develop its operational excellence and digital transformation capabilities.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Global Director, Operational Excellence Center of Excellence (COE) is a senior leadership position responsible for establishing the strategic direction, standards, governance and organizational capabilities of Nouryon's global Operational Excellence program.

The position oversees the development and implementation of continuous improvement methodologies across 63 manufacturing sites throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.

The successful executive will lead a newly consolidated Center of Excellence bringing together Continuous Improvement methodology, Lean and Six Sigma certification, Integrated Supply Chain Learning and Development, End-to-End Process Management and Manufacturing Excellence.

The role provides significant strategic influence over productivity, operational performance, organizational capability and continuous improvement across the global manufacturing network.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Continuous Improvement Methodology, Standards and Governance

• Establish and oversee the global Operational Excellence methodology across all 63 manufacturing sites.
• Define and govern Lean and Six Sigma certification pathways, from Yellow Belt through Master Black Belt.
• Work with regional Operational Excellence Managers to translate global standards into site-level improvement plans.
• Establish governance structures, performance reviews and accountability mechanisms.
• Oversee productivity tracking and performance reporting systems, including ANT and Power BI.

Integrated Supply Chain Learning and Development

• Lead the design and continuous improvement of the Integrated Supply Chain Learning and Development program.
• Develop structured training programs covering continuous improvement, technical capabilities and leadership development.
• Direct the Learning and Development team in establishing employee development and progression frameworks.
• Connect learning investments with measurable manufacturing productivity and operational performance.
• Establish the framework for digital literacy and artificial intelligence capabilities across the Integrated Supply Chain organization.

End-to-End Process Management

• Establish process architecture, documentation standards and governance across core supply chain operations.
• Drive process modeling and SIPOC-level process design.
• Work with Global Process Owners to strengthen accountability and performance standards.
• Identify and address process gaps that create operational risks, inefficiencies or inconsistent performance.

Manufacturing Excellence

• Establish manufacturing excellence frameworks covering Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), reliability and asset performance.
• Lead the development and implementation of manufacturing improvement initiatives.
• Connect manufacturing performance data with structured operational improvement programs.
• Align manufacturing excellence with digital manufacturing, analytics and capital investment priorities.

People Leadership and Center of Excellence Development

• Lead a geographically distributed team of nine direct reports.
• Establish organizational structures, role responsibilities and succession priorities.
• Develop a high-performance culture across the global Center of Excellence.
• Build leadership capabilities and ensure consistent execution across regional teams.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Performance in this position will be assessed through:
• People Safety and Process Safety.
• Fixed Manufacturing Cost Productivity (FMC).
• Variable Manufacturing Cost Productivity (VMC).
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
• On-Time In-Full (OTIF).
• Quality Sigma Level.
• Continuous Improvement Activation Rate.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

Nouryon is seeking an executive who demonstrates:

• A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering, Operations, Business or a related discipline. An advanced degree is preferred.
• At least 15 years of progressive experience in Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement or manufacturing leadership within global, multi-site environments.
• Master Black Belt or Black Belt certification in Lean/Six Sigma, together with experience designing and governing certification programs.
• Demonstrated success leading change management initiatives within large, complex and geographically distributed organizations.
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing excellence methodologies, including OEE, TPM and reliability.
• Experience developing high-performing teams across multiple regions and organizational levels.

ADDITIONAL ADVANTAGES

• Experience in the following areas would be beneficial:
• Specialty chemicals, process manufacturing or other capital-intensive industrial environments.
• End-to-End process design and governance, including SIPOC methodologies.
• Corporate Learning and Development program design.
• Establishing and developing Centers of Excellence.
• Power BI or equivalent business intelligence and performance reporting platforms.

LEADERSHIP EXPECTATIONS

The successful executive will be expected to establish the strategic direction of the Center of Excellence, build organizational capabilities, influence senior stakeholders and create sustainable improvements across Nouryon's global manufacturing network.

This position offers significant autonomy, direct visibility into enterprise performance and the opportunity to establish a lasting operational excellence framework across an international organization.