Operational Excellence (OpEx) Manager – EMEA
QAD, Inc.JobsCloseBy Editorial Insights
QAD, Inc. is hiring an Operational Excellence Coach/Manager for EMEA who will spend most of their time on factory floors coaching operators and leaders to adopt Lean using the Redzone platform, managing five to six accounts through 90 day cycles with intense four week on-site deployments. This high travel, hands-on role favors proven plant leadership in manufacturing, with preference for Food and Beverage or CPG, strong adaptability across environments, and full professional fluency in English; Mandarin is a plus for an APAC role. To apply, tailor your resume to show shop floor impact, quantify ROI, and highlight Kaizen and Lean facilitation, cross-functional collaboration, and willingness to travel up to 90 percent. A compelling cover letter should map your impact to immediate productivity gains and lasting behavior change.
Company Description
At QAD | Redzone, we don't just provide software; we transform shop floors. We are the leading Connected Workforce solution in manufacturing, enabling factories to achieve hard dollar savings in productivity, compliance, and reliability within 90 days. We believe that technology is only as good as the people using it. That’s why we partner with manufacturing plants to change behaviors, elevate frontline workers, and drive sustainable operational excellence.
Job Description
We are seeking a high-energy, ambitious Operational Excellence (OpEx) Coach / Manager to drive end-to-end frontline transformations across our EMEA customer base. This is not a desk job or a standard 40-hour work week. You will spend 90% of your time on the factory floor, coaching everyone from frontline operators to plant leadership on how to win using the Redzone platform. You will simultaneously manage 5 to 6 customer accounts across their 90-day engagement cycles, spending intense, targeted 4-week physical onsite deployments with each.
Note: Out of the three open vacancies, one specific position prefers full professional fluency in Mandarin alongside English to support our expanding APAC manufacturing footprint.
Key Responsibilities
Drive Behavior Change: Coach, mentor, and influence frontline operators, supervisors, and plant managers to adopt Lean behaviors and maximize the Redzone platform.
Execute Onsite Deployments: Lead intensive, hands-on onsite implementations, managing multiple customer accounts through high-stakes, fast-paced transformation cycles.
Deliver Measurable ROI: Partner with plant leadership to challenge the status quo, tackle difficult site cultures, and unlock immediate productivity and efficiency gains.
Facilitate Kaizen & Lean Rituals: Run shop-floor continuous improvement events, coaching teams on Lean, Six Sigma, TPM, and Operational Excellence frameworks.
Qualifications
Qualifications & Requirements
Proven Factory Leadership: Substantial hands-on experience as a Plant Manager, Production Manager, Continuous Improvement/Lean Leader, or Manufacturing Consultant. You must have run a shop floor, not just contributed to it.
Industry Domain Expertise: Deep roots in manufacturing sectors; experience in Food & Beverage or CPG is highly preferred, though Automotive experience is valued.
Demonstrated Agility & Growth: A proven track record of career progression and adaptive flexibility, ideally shown through successful transitions across different manufacturing environments every 2–3 years.
Uncompromising Travel Flexibility: Willingness and hunger to sustain ~90% travel (away from home Monday morning through Friday night, minimum 42 weeks a year).
Language Skills: Full professional fluency in English is required for all roles. Fluency in Mandarin is desired for the specialized APAC support vacancy.
Expert Communicator: Exceptional presence with the confidence to challenge senior executives and inspire frontline operators alike.
Additional Information
Location: Remote (EMEA Field-Based)
Travel: ~90% (Minimum 42 weeks/year, Monday–Friday field travel)
Compensation: £70,000 – £85,000 base salary + quarterly bonuses + car allowance
About QAD and QAD Redzone:
QAD Inc. is a leading provider of adaptive, cloud-based enterprise software and services for global manufacturing companies. Global manufacturers face ever-increasing disruption caused by technology-driven innovation and changing consumer preferences. In order to survive and thrive, manufacturers must be able to innovate and change business models at unprecedented rates of speed. QAD calls these companies Adaptive Manufacturing Enterprises.
QAD Redzone helps to enable QAD’s vision for the Adaptive Enterprise. Labor productivity improvements directly impact efficiency. Productive and empowered employees increase the effective capacity of your plant and accelerate time to productivity for new employees giving manufacturers the agility to increase production beyond what was previously possible without having to invest in production equipment or new plants, and reduce the amount and impact of employee attrition. Empowered employees with a growth mindset take extreme ownership of challenges that impact their production goals, creating resilience in the face of disruption.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.
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