Operations Excellence Manager - Columbus, IN

DESCRIPTION · Job Summary · We are looking for a talented Operations Excellence Manager to join our DWU Team for our location in Columbus, IN. In this role, you will lead and coach DWU team members while driving the advancement of Operations Excellence across the plant. You will ...

Job description

DESCRIPTION

Job Summary

We are looking for a talented Operations Excellence Manager to join our DWU Team for our location in Columbus, IN. In this role, you will lead and coach DWU team members while driving the advancement of Operations Excellence across the plant. You will guide the organization toward World Class Manufacturing by applying the principles of the Cummins Operating System (COS) and the Operations Excellence Key Processes outlined in the Operations Excellence Guidelines. This position plays a critical role in improving the overall effectiveness of one or more functions, supporting end‑to‑end value stream performance, and enabling better outcomes for customers. You will partner across the business to shape improvement strategies, build capabilities, and lead initiatives that elevate plant performance, functional maturity, and operational reliability.

As an Operations Excellence Manager, you will manage a team of DWU employees and apply deep knowledge of Operations Excellence methods to improve processes, systems, and working standards. You will influence and collaborate with key stakeholders, business leaders, and functional partners, ensuring alignment around plant maturity goals and the broader Corporate Operations Excellence strategy. In addition to leading cross‑functional improvement projects, you will coach leaders to identify real issues, prioritize opportunities, and execute meaningful improvements that produce measurable, sustained impact. This role also contributes to developing plant subject‑matter expertise, advancing continuous and step‑change improvements, and supporting stronger customer outcomes.

In this role, you will make an impact in the following ways:

• Leading Work Studies: Conducts detailed work studies on new and existing production lines to identify efficiencies, validate capacity, and ensure processes align with operational goals.
• Defining Standard Work: Develops and maintains standard work methods for current and future production lines, ensuring consistency, repeatability, and high-quality execution across all operations.
• Driving End-to-End Process Implementation: Leads project efforts to design, develop, and implement complete manufacturing processes that meet safety standards, production targets, business outcomes, and product requirements.
• Applying Advanced Manufacturing Principles: Utilizes deep knowledge of manufacturing principles and best practices to optimize equipment performance, enhance process capability, and support continuous improvement.
• Maintaining Cummins Manufacturing Standards: Ensures alignment with Cummins manufacturing standards while also developing new standards to support evolving production needs.
• Influencing Key Stakeholders: Leads communication with external stakeholders, business leaders, and cross-functional partners to build alignment, influence direction, and drive successful execution.
• Coordinating Internal and External Resources: Partners with internal teams, suppliers, and technical experts to execute assigned project deliverables and maintain strong collaboration throughout the project lifecycle.
• Coaching and Relationship Management: Maintains productive relationships with key stakeholders and provides coaching to support adoption of manufacturing best practices across the organization.

RESPONSIBILITIES

To be successful in this role you will need the following:

• Communicates Effectively: Demonstrates the ability to deliver clear, concise, and tailored communication across multiple formats, ensuring that diverse audiences understand expectations, decisions, and technical information.
• Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Expertise: Applies strong knowledge of manufacturing processes, industrial engineering principles, ergonomic standards, and safety fundamentals to design, optimize, and improve processes that meet both operational and human‑centric needs.
• Data‑Driven Process Improvement: Uses analytical tools, manufacturing simulations, digital modeling, and structured problem‑solving methods to evaluate performance gaps, enhance process flow, minimize waste, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Operational Planning & Work Optimization: Evaluates work content, balances production lines, interprets technical drawings, and develops efficient process layouts to support changing customer demand, increase throughput, and maintain high-quality manufacturing performance.
• Collaboration & Stakeholder Partnership: Builds strong relationships across teams, values diverse perspectives, and partners effectively with internal and external stakeholders to achieve shared objectives and ensure smooth execution of projects and improvements.

Education, Licenses, Certifications:

• College, university, or degree in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) or related field, or equivalent experience required.
• This position may require licensing for compliance with export controls or sanctions regulations.

Experience:

• Intermediate level relevant work experience required.

QUALIFICATIONS

This is an Operations Excellence Manager role. Manages a team DWU Employees.

This role:

• Guides and coaches to support progression towards a World Class Manufacturing organization under the guiding principles of the Cummins Operating System (COS) and the Operations Excellence Key Processes described in the Operations Excellence Guidelines.
• Leads improvement for the overall effectiveness of one or more functions. Consults and supports processes, capabilities, systems and data for the function aligned to end-to-end value stream performance goals. Partners to drive improvement activities within the function to deliver performance objectives of impacted value streams and improve outcomes for customers.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manages a team of DWU Employees
• Leads by applying the knowledge of Operations Excellence principles and practices as they are applied to Cummins.
• Impacts the work by utilizing continuous improvement tools, following the Cummins Operations Excellence standards, and leading the development of manufacturing standards and working methods.
• Leads the communications with and influences key stakeholders, business leaders, and functional members.
• Maintains relationships and coaches key stakeholders. Coordinates the creation of plant maturity goals in collaboration with business leaders, other functional leaders and end-to-end process owners.
• Executes the Corporate Operations Excellence Strategy and roadmap to achieve plant maturity goals.
• Coaches business leaders, other functional leaders to proactively identify real issues and opportunities, develop prioritized improvement initiatives and coach them through to successful implementation.
• Contributes by utilizing business knowledge and experience to identify growth opportunities for the functions internal to plant to improve outcomes for the customer.
• Works alongside end to end process owners and operations excellence peers to prioritize continuous improvement efforts for the plant.
• Leads projects in a cross-functional environment.
• Leads and/or coaches complex manufacturing issues and provides solutions across the Cummins network.
• Contributes to improvements that are measurable and significant.
• Leads and participates in knowledge sharing to develop plant subject-matter expertise in one or more functions.
• Championing and leading continuous and step-change improvement.

Core Competencies:

• Action oriented - Taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Manages ambiguity - Operating effectively, even when things are not certain or the way forward is not clear.
• Collaborates - Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Customer focus - Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Drives engagement - Creating a climate where people are motivated to do their best to help the organization achieve its objectives.

Job Manufacturing

Organization Cummins Inc.

Role Category On-site with Flexibility

Job Type Exempt - Experienced

ReqID

Relocation Package Yes

100% On-Site Yes

Due to the operational nature and specific job duties of this role, work is required to be completed 100% in person/On-site.

Cummins and E-Verify

At Cummins, we are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer dedicated to diversity in the workplace. Our policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to race, gender, color, disability, national origin, age, religion, union affiliation, sexual orientation, veteran status, citizenship, gender identity and/or expression, or other status protected by law. Cummins validates the right to work using E-Verify and will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with information from each new employee's Form I-9 to confirm work authorization. Visit to know your rights on workplace discrimination.