Schlierbach, Upper Austria, Austria
Senior Operational Excellence leader with 14+ years of experience driving continuous improvement, performance management, strategy deployment, and capability building across pharmaceutical and automotive manufacturing environments. Proven track record delivering measurable gains in productivity, OEE, capacity, training effectiveness, and cost improvement through Lean methods, governance systems, and cross-functional leadership. Experienced in regulated manufacturing environments. Trusted partner to senior leaders for business reviews, portfolio prioritization, executive reporting, and long-term improvement roadmaps. Earlier career includes direct line management in high-volume manufacturing; later roles focused on leading international, cross-functional transformation teams and coaching leaders in Operational Excellence.
• Lead global Operational Excellence initiatives across a network of 40+ sites, supporting site and business leaders with governance, prioritization, and value-realization frameworks. • Co-own elements of the cost improvement pipeline, supporting annual planning cycles, savings visibility, opportunity validation, and leadership decision-making. • Designed and deployed a global productivity tracker and OpEx financial playbook using Smartsheet and Power BI, creating a standardized system for opportunity tracking, reporting, and accountability across the division. • Led value stream mapping, debottlenecking, and performance improvement initiatives in regulated manufacturing environments, delivering: o 100% capacity increase in a high-volume operation without additional headcount o 60% productivity improvement in manual visual inspection o 40% productivity improvement in clinical-trial packaging o 25% OEE improvement in sterile operations • Identified and developed multi-site productivity opportunities contributing several million USD in annual savings. • Established an Operational Excellence governance model for a business unit, improving execution discipline, transparency, and leadership alignment. • Facilitated cross-site workshops in North America and Europe on changeovers, OEE improvement, productivity, and waste reduction.
• Led cross-functional initiatives to improve capability building and training effectiveness in a regulated manufacturing setting. • Reduced training time by 25% through implementation of adaptive learning systems and redesigned learning approaches. • Increased employee training engagement by 15 points through strategic redesign of learning processes. • Embedded continuous learning into workflows for 2,000+ employees, strengthening execution readiness and compliance. • Led cross-functional efforts focused on training effectiveness and performance support, linking capability development to business needs.
• Implemented tiered daily management across functional areas, strengthening performance cadence, visibility, escalation, and accountability. • Delivered Lean initiatives including supply chain automation and maintenance optimization. • Trained and coached managers on Operational Excellence, structured problem solving, and performance metrics. • Supported development of a culture of continuous improvement by linking management routines with practical Lean methods.
• Led Lean implementation and ramp-up support in manufacturing, including several months on-site at a U.S. facility working directly with local site leadership, also supporting site-level continuous improvement leadership activities. • Designed and delivered Lean training programs covering e.g.: 5S, process observation, problem solving, and leader coaching. • Built coaching structures and facilitated workshops to strengthen Lean behaviors and operational discipline. • Supported the rollout of manufacturing excellence practices across teams and sites.
Managed a team of 75 operators and 3 shift leaders in the finish area, organized daily operations in alignment with departmental strategy. Delivered process optimizations and coordinated various projects, including strategic and process workshops. Successfully completed a retrofitting project impacting over 3,000 vehicles across several locations, finishing two weeks ahead of schedule.
Organized and conducted diverse workshops (e.g.: process improvement, KPI's, strategic, problem solving), developed process descriptions, accomplished process improvements, defined indicators, supported head of the vehicle assembly in different projects.