Brewery Operational Excellence Manager (SAPB

Manager, Brewery Operational Excellence

We are currently hiring a Manager, Brewery Operational Excellence at the Samuel Adams Brewery in Breinigsville, PA. This position drives operational excellence (OE) across the brewery by leading continuous improvement, lean manufacturing, and change management initiatives. The Manager, Operational Excellence consults, coaches and advises Brewery Leadership, plays a key role in creating sustainable processes, and helps teams adopt tools and behaviors that make the brewery more effective every day.

The ideal candidate is a proven cross-functional leader; building strong relationships across all levels of the business to drive organizational change.

What You'll Brew (Responsibilities):

• Lead operational excellence initiatives across the brewery, using lean manufacturing principles to reduce waste, improve material flow, and strengthen performance.
• Leads from the floor. Coach and train leaders, hourly coworkers, and cross-functional teams on lean tools, problem solving, continuous improvement, and value stream mapping.
• Develop and implement a site lean strategy based on performance losses, business needs, and brewery culture.
• Partner with brewery leadership, Finance, and implementation partners to align manufacturing performance with financial results.
• Build and maintain tools, systems, procedures, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that support sustained improvement.
• Analyze brewery performance data to identify opportunities to reduce costs and improve productivity, utilization, quality, and employee engagement.
• Apply 5S, visual management, Manufacturing Execution Systems, and other communication tools to improve workflow and response.
• Support implementation planning, including timelines, resource needs, and cost considerations.
• Work in production environments with loud noise, extreme hot or cold conditions, dense equipment layouts, forklifts, and other operating hazards requiring strong situational awareness.

What Ingredients You'll Bring:

Minimum Qualifications (Required):

Education: 4 year/Bachelor's degree with concentration in engineering, manufacturing, and/or related field

• 4–6 years of progressive experience in supply chain, manufacturing, or OE direct-leadership roles.
• Knowledge of Lean principles, continuous improvement methodologies, and change management.
• Experience designing and implementing business processes, implementing Lean methodologies, and leading large-scale change management efforts in complex manufacturing environments.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills. Ability to foster a collaborative work environment and promote adoption of standardized processes and systems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge and experience with Total Productive Maintenance Steps 1–7.
• Fast-moving consumer goods manufacturing experience.
• Six Sigma certification, such as Black Belt or Green Belt.
• Knowledge and understanding of the supply chain planning process.
• Workfront system knowledge and use.

Physical Requirements

• All production roles are required to pass a pre-employment physical exam to comply with their specific role requirement(s)

• Certain roles may require the use of a respirator and passing the associated fit test

• Ability to lift up to 50lbs, sometimes repeatedly

• Regular walking and standing for long periods of time (up to 11 hours a day) on concrete, metal and grated surfaces

• Responsibilities may require crouching, stepping over, crawling under, bending, twisting, climbing and reaching above head and shoulders repeatedly throughout the day

• Responsibilities may require climbing flights of stairs, working from heights or on elevated platforms

• Ability to wear assigned PPE (safety shoes, gloves, facemask, hearing protection and hard hat)

• Established dexterity so you can handle materials, operate equipment and interface with computer systems with precision

• Some roles (e.g., forklift operator) may be required to sit for a prolonged period of time and have strong peripheral vision and depth perception

Working Conditions

• There is frequent exposure production environments:

• Subject to loud and constant noise

• Non-environmentally conditioned spaces which may lead to extreme hot and…