Operational Excellence Engineer

Sedro-Woolley, WA - Ferry St, 222 Ferry St, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284, USA

Pay or shift range: $83,000 USD to $145,000 USD. The estimated range is the budgeted amount for this position. Final offers are based on various factors, including skill set, experience, location, qualifications and other job-related reasons.

Janicki Industries is an innovative, family-owned aerospace company located at the foot of the Cascades. We focus on engineering and manufacturing complex projects for companies in the aerospace, defense, and space industries.
We are looking for a Operational Excellence Engineer to join our growing team.

The Operational Excellence (OE) team partners with every part of Janicki to drive improved documentation, training, and standardization in support of our engineering and manufacturing processes. We identify inefficiencies, build scalable solutions, and equip teams across the organization to do their best work as Janicki continues to grow. We’re hiring an Operational Excellence Engineer to serve as the technical backbone of how we capture, standardize, and scale operational knowledge across our engineering and manufacturing teams.

This is a hands‑on, cross‑functional role that partners directly with engineers, technicians, and operators to translate deep technical know-how into clear, usable standards that drive performance. This is not a back‑office documentation role. You will spend time on the floor, in design reviews, and alongside subject matter experts — building the SOPs, work instructions, and training that keep our operations consistent, compliant, and continuously improving.

You will also identify where our standards and training fall short and lead the work to close those gaps. This role has a clear growth path into continuous improvement, process engineering, or program management within our broader Operational Excellence organization.

This position is located on‑site in Sedro‑Woolley, Washington State.

• Partner with engineering, manufacturing, and quality teams to develop and maintain standard operating procedures, work instructions, and process documentation.
• Translate tacit knowledge from subject matter experts into clear, repeatable standards that hold up on the shop floor.
• Own the lifecycle of internal training programs: maintain existing content, develop new materials, and facilitate training with technical audiences.
• Identify gaps in documentation and training by analyzing quality data, audit findings, support requests, and direct observation of operations.
• Partner with stakeholders to author and refine requirements for documentation, training, and process improvement work; sequence that work against competing priorities; and validate at implementation that the requirements have been met and the intended outcomes delivered.
• Lead initiatives to close those gaps — scoping the work, partnering with the right SMEs, and validating that improvements actually moved the needle.
• Support New Product Introduction (NPI) and process change activities by ensuring documentation and training are in place before launch.
• Contribute to continuous improvement projects, kaizen events, and root cause analyses as part of the broader OE team.
• Champion documentation and training as strategic tools for quality, safety, and operational performance — not as administrative overhead.

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline (mechanical, manufacturing, industrial, quality, or related) — or equivalent technical experience in a manufacturing or engineering environment.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in a manufacturing, engineering, or technical operations environment.
• Demonstrated ability to write clear technical documentation — SOPs, work instructions, training materials, or equivalent.
• Comfort presenting and delivering training to technical audiences, including engineers, operators, and technicians.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to identify root causes, patterns, and systemic gaps.
• Due to our ITAR and EAR regulations, applicants must be a US Citizen or of Legal Permanent Resident Status as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b (a)…