Director Operational Excellence

Build your career at Sazerac! With almost 400 years of rich history, Sazerac Company has thrived as an independent, American family-owned company with operations in the United States and around the world. Since the 2000s, Sazerac has averaged double digit growth every year! Sazerac Company produces and markets the most award-winning bourbons and whiskeys in the world, including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, Traveller, and Sazerac Rye. Additionally, Sazerac owns many popular brands across a range of spirits, including Fireball, Svedka, Wheatley, BuzzBallz, Southern Comfort, Seagram’s V.O., Myers’s, Goldschläger, Parrot Bay, 99 Brand, and Platinum Vodka.

We’re proud of our award-winning culture and distilleries. Our Louisville office has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in Kentucky” four times, and our Buffalo Trace Distillery has earned the title of “world’s most award-winning distillery” through the dedication of our craftsmen for well over 200 years. Whether you’re a recent graduate or an experienced professional, Sazerac provides extraordinary opportunities for growth with competitive salaries and benefits in an exciting, entrepreneurial industry.

The Director of Operational Excellence will be responsible for deploying the Company’s Operational Excellence Operating Model (Lean + TPM) across all operations functions and markets. You will be accountable for driving measurable improvements in operational performance across manufacturing sites. You will partner closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, Finance, and other support functions to identify opportunities, standardize best practices, and scale proven solutions. Ultimately, you are responsible for translating strategy into execution and delivering tangible productivity gains across the network.

This role is responsible for:

• Enhance capabilities and performance across Operations to operationalize and deliver the Business Strategy.
• Execution of a continuous improvement way of working to improve and sustain the Company’s Operating Model and value creation.
• Leads the definition and execution of productivity strategies, focusing on efficiency, cost, waste reduction, throughput, quality, and service while ensuring alignment with business objectives.
• Oversee productivity initiatives, from opportunity identification and business case development through implementation and benefit realization. This includes establishing governance, tracking KPIs, solving problems, actions, ensuring benefits delivery, and embedding a culture of continuous improvement. The role also drives data-based decision making through robust performance management, supports capacity optimization and network initiatives, and champions change management to ensure sustainable adoption of new ways of working.
• Lead Value Engineering initiatives in partnership with Brand Managers, Product Development, Packaging Engineering, Procurement, and Manufacturing teams to optimize product and process design, reduce cost, and improve manufacturability while maintaining quality and customer requirements, embedding design-to-value thinking and systematic cost optimization into daily operational routines.
• Serves as advisor providing general oversight and guidance on significant matters relating to policies, programs, capabilities, and short and mid-range goals.

 Key Responsibilities for this role include:

 Global Operational Excellence Program

• Lead the implementation of the Company’s Global Operational Excellence Program across all manufacturing and operations facilities, including foundational and advanced maturity stages.
• Define and tailor each foundational block with standardized tools, processes, and deployment methodologies aligned with Lean and TPM principles.
• Conduct maturity assessments to identify gaps versus future-state performance, and translate findings into prioritized site-level roadmaps.
• Drive structured continuous improvement plans across sites, delivering measurable financial and non-financial impact through performance management, loss analysis, and productivity initiatives.

 Operating Standards & Governance:

• Partner cross-functionally to deploy and cascade operational policies, procedures, and guidelines, ensuring a consistent, standard way of working across the manufacturing network.
• Establish robust governance frameworks, internal controls, and KPI management systems to mitigate risk, ensure operational discipline, and sustain performance.
• Ensure effective training and enablement of site teams to drive adherence to standards and embed Operational Excellence practices into daily operations.

 Capabilities Development:

• Partner with Organizational Development to assess operational capabilities and define targeted development plans to strengthen performance across people, process, and equipment.
• Lead the deployment of globally developed training programs and workshops in Lean, TPM, problem solving, performance management, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Build organizational capability in structured loss analysis, root cause problem solving, and equipment reliability.
• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous learning across operations, creating clear pathways for capability growth and leadership development.

 Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement:

• Collaborate closely with Manufacturing and Operations leadership to define, plan, and execute the Operational Excellence agenda across sites.
• Engage site leaders and cross-functional stakeholders to ensure alignment, commitment, and ownership throughout the lifecycle of transformation initiatives.
• Partner with Finance, Supply Chain, Engineering, and other functions, HR, IT, to integrate Operational Excellence foundations with broader business priorities.
• Act as a strategic advisor to senior stakeholders, incorporating feedback and business needs into improvement roadmaps and execution plans.

 Change Management and Adoption:

• Lead change management efforts to ensure successful adoption of new processes, behaviors, and capability-building initiatives.
• Communicate effectively at all organizational levels to build understanding, engagement, and sustained commitment to transformation.
• Proactively address resistance, monitor adoption metrics, and adjust approaches as needed to ensure lasting impact.

 Best Practices and Benchmarking:

• Identify internal and external best practices and serve as a conduit for knowledge sharing and standardization across the supply chain.
• Lead benchmarking activities to understand leading and lagging performance, using insights to prioritize improvement opportunities and elevate network capability.

Personal Competencies

• Leadership Competencies
  • Energy, passion and INTENT
  • Being Credible and accountable
  • GOES extra mile
  • Puts their Point in a modest, but clear way.
  • Lives the Winning behaviors
  • Coaching skills
• Driving for results
  • Execute with Speed
  • Keeps it Simple and Safe
  • Looks for Persistent output and sustainable
  • Practical and seizes opportunities
• Customer/Consumer Focus
  • Partners with Customers and consumers with an understanding and be sensitive to their needs.
• Analytical and problem solving skills
  • Ability to analyze complex issues, identify root cause and develop effective solutions
• Cross team Interaction and Communicating with Impact
  • Alignment and Collaborative across functions
• Empowering the team Members and build consensus

What You Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years’ experience in operations management, process improvement, project management, or related roles, preferably within complex, multi-site organizations, with demonstrated experience leading an Operational Excellence program from design through full deployment.
• Proven change management capability, including the ability to manage resistance, influence stakeholders, and drive sustained adoption of new processes and initiatives.
• Deep expertise in Lean manufacturing practices, including 5S, Performance Management, structured loss analysis, problem solving and root cause analysis, and equipment reliability, with a strong track record of improving OEE, reducing downtime, eliminating chronic losses, and driving cost efficiency.
• Strong understanding of performance management systems across multiple organizational levels, including tiered governance, KPI deployment, and visual management.
• Experience with value stream mapping and loss cost tree design to identify improvement opportunities and prioritize initiatives across the organization.

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A career at Sazerac offers you the opportunity to reach your full potential as part of a creative, decisive, high-performance team. Sazerac values the needs and wants of our team members and offers inclusive benefits to attract and retain the best talent. Our culture is built upon the values of hard work, diligence and personal responsibility.

Sazerac Team Members enjoy:

• Competitive Pay
• Comprehensive Benefits from Day One including medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance.
• Family Coverage: Options to cover family members, including domestic partners.
• 401(k) Plan: Immediate access to a matching 401(k) plan.
• Flexible Time Away: Enjoy paid time off (PTO), holidays, and parental leave.
• Mental Health and Wellness: Access to mental health care and wellness incentive programs.
• Educational Support: Benefit from tuition reimbursement and our scholarship program for dependents of Sazerac team members.
• Fun Extras: Enjoy branded apparel, fun events, and a team member bottle purchase program.
• Training and Development: Opportunities for professional growth and development.

Benefits, salary range, and programs may vary by role or location. For roles within our commercial team - the Salary range refers to base salary only and does not include car allowance, annual bonus, fuel or cell phone reimbursement. Please ask your Talent Acquisition Partner for more information about our total rewards package. Sazerac is committed to equality of opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, veteran status, age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, physical or mental disability or any other legally protected status.