APAC Director, Lean & Continuous Improvement
Position Overview
We are partnering with a leading global industrial manufacturing company to appoint an APAC Director, Lean & Continuous Improvement.
This is a regional leadership role responsible for driving Lean transformation, operational excellence and continuous improvement across manufacturing operations in Asia Pacific. The successful candidate will work closely with regional and plant leadership teams to build a sustainable Lean operating system, improve manufacturing performance, strengthen problem-solving capability and create a strong continuous improvement culture across multiple sites.
The role requires a senior manufacturing leader who combines strong Lean / CI technical expertise with the ability to influence plant and regional leadership teams, rather than someone focused purely on Lean tools or individual improvement projects.
Key Responsibilities
APAC Lean & CI Strategy
- Develop and drive the APAC Lean and Continuous Improvement strategy in alignment with global operational and business priorities.
- Lead regional deployment of Lean principles, operating systems and continuous improvement methodologies across multiple manufacturing sites.
- Establish a structured roadmap to improve productivity, quality, cost, delivery, inventory and operational efficiency.
- Translate business and operational challenges into measurable improvement initiatives.
Manufacturing & Operational Excellence
- Partner with Plant Managers, Operations Directors and functional leaders to identify opportunities across the manufacturing value stream.
- Lead improvement initiatives covering shop-floor operations, manufacturing flow, material movement, capacity, quality, maintenance and supply chain interfaces.
- Drive application of Lean methodologies including Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen, 5S, Standard Work, Visual Management, SMED, TPM and structured problem solving.
- Support sites in reducing waste, improving throughput and increasing manufacturing stability and efficiency.
Transformation & Performance
- Lead complex, cross-site improvement and transformation programs across APAC.
- Establish appropriate Lean maturity and operational performance tracking mechanisms.
- Identify systemic performance gaps and ensure improvement programs deliver sustainable business outcomes.
- Facilitate sharing and replication of best practices across APAC manufacturing locations.
Lean Culture & Capability Building
- Build a strong Continuous Improvement culture across regional manufacturing operations.
- Coach Plant Managers, Operations leaders and functional teams in Lean leadership and structured problem-solving.
- Develop Lean champions and internal CI capability within individual manufacturing sites.
- Move the organization from project-based improvement toward daily continuous improvement embedded into operating routines.
Regional & Global Stakeholder Management
- Act as the senior Lean / CI partner to APAC Operations and Manufacturing leadership.
- Collaborate with global Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement teams to ensure regional alignment.
- Influence senior stakeholders across Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain and other functions.
- Support major operational transformation and manufacturing excellence initiatives across the region.
Candidate Profile
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management or a related discipline; advanced degree would be advantageous.
- Significant experience in Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, Operational Excellence or Manufacturing Transformation within industrial manufacturing.
- Strong preference for experience within machinery, industrial equipment, engineered products, automotive components, precision engineering, industrial components or other complex manufacturing environments.
- Proven experience driving Lean / CI across multiple manufacturing sites, ideally with regional or APAC responsibility.
- Deep practical knowledge of Lean methodologies such as VSM, Kaizen, Standard Work, 5S, SMED, TPM, Visual Management and structured problem-solving.
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or equivalent Lean / Operational Excellence certification would be advantageous.
- Strong understanding of manufacturing KPIs including OEE, productivity, quality, scrap, cycle time, lead time, inventory and on-time delivery.
- Demonstrated ability to lead transformation through influence, particularly across different plants, cultures and leadership teams.
- Strong capability in change management, leadership coaching and capability building.
- Comfortable operating in a matrixed, international manufacturing organization.
- Willingness to travel regularly across APAC manufacturing locations.
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