VP Operational Excellence

Corporate Office Tampa
Tampa, FL 33614, USA

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Our vision is both simple and ambitious: to put our drinks on every table.

We are the leading global independent beverage solutions provider. We serve a broad range of national and international retailers as well as Global, National and Emerging (GNE) brands. Our products are distributed worldwide from our production sites in Europe, North America, and Australia. Although our own branding may not appear on the labels of the beverages we produce, there is a good chance you are reading this while sipping one of our drinks.

Our ambition is to continually improve and it’s what keeps us at the top of our game.

We are solutions-based.

We are innovative. We seek out new challenges and conquer them. This is our company ethos, but it’s our people’s too:

Refresco is at the cutting edge of a fast-moving industry because we have passionate people pushing the boundaries of what’s best.

Stop and think: how wouldYOUput our drinks on every table?

Summary

Description:

Reporting to the Vice President of Operations North America, the Vice President of Operational Excellence is responsible for setting and leading the North American strategy for operational excellence, operational transformation, maintenance excellence, and operations workforce capability development.

Responsible for driving operational performance, leading transformation initiatives, and ensuring alignment between business strategy and operational execution. This role blends leadership, process optimization, equipment reliability, and change management to improve efficiency, quality, and profitability across the organization.

Essential Job Functions:

Enterprise Operational Excellence & Transformation Leadership

• Lead the development, deployment, and governance of the North American Operational Excellence and Transformation strategy aligned with corporate objectives
• Establish and manage a multi-year transformation roadmap integrating Continuous Improvement, Maintenance Excellence, and Training initiatives
• Drive enterprise-wide adoption of standardized systems, tools, and processes across all facilities
• Partner with executive leadership to align transformation priorities with business strategy and financial goals

Leadership of Continuous Improvement, Maintenance Excellence & Training

• Provide strategic leadership and direction to the leaders of:
• Maintenance Excellence
• Operational Excellence
• Manufacturing Training
• Ensure alignment and integration across functions to deliver end-to-end operational performance improvements
• Build strong leadership capability and succession pipelines within each function

Targeted Improvement & Problem-Solving Approach

• Ensure all improvement initiatives are grounded in clearly defined business problems and measurable outcomes
• Differentiate strategies by plant maturity, capability, and performance gaps rather than applying uniform solutions across all sites
• Lead structured problem-solving processes to identify root causes and prioritize high-impact opportunities
• Balance standardization with flexibility to enable site-specific optimization
• Drive a disciplined approach to initiative selection, focusing on value creation, speed, and sustainability
• Build problem-solving capability at all levels, from plant leadership to frontline associates

Operational Excellence System & Continuous Improvement

• Oversee and strengthen the Refresco Manufacturing System (RMS) ensuring consistent implementation across all sites and performance management is embedded in daily management systems
• Champion Lean, TPM, and continuous improvement methodologies to drive safety, quality, delivery, and cost improvements
• Ensure standardization of KPIs, tools, and processes to enable sustainable results and benchmarking across plants
• Leverage Kaizen events, coaching and training to eliminate waste, improve flow, and run better through sustained process improvement
• Move the organization from project-based improvement to habitual, leader-led continuous improvement

Maintenance & Asset Reliability Excellence

• Oversee the North American Maintenance Excellence strategy and roadmap execution
• Ensure implementation of best-in-class asset management, reliability, and maintenance practices to improve OEE and reduce downtime
• Drive integration of predictive and preventive maintenance programs supported by CMMS/EAM systems
• Align maintenance strategies with operational and financial performance targets
• Drive a zero-breakdown mindset across all facilities, shifting from reactive to proactive and predictive maintenance
• Champion Autonomous Maintenance (AM) as a core pillar of operational excellence, ensuring clear ownership at the line level
• Ensure strong integration between maintenance, operations, and training to sustain equipment reliability improvements
• Focus on long-term system health vs short-term fix

Workforce Capability & Training Strategy

• Establish enterprise-wide manufacturing training and capability-building strategies aligned with…