Operations Process Improvement Specialist

Coca-Cola · Cidra

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Job Description Summary:

Analyze the performance of Production and Maintenance processes and implement sustainable, data-driven improvements to enhance safety, quality, reliability, productivity and operational efficiency. The Operations Specialist serves as Operations' primary technical resource for continuous improvement, reliability and digital systems adoption. The position identifies opportunities, leads analyses and projects, defines operational requirements, coordinates implementation and validates results, while engineering design, specialized technical solutions and controls programming or configuration remain the responsibility of Engineering and Automation.

Role Scope

• Leads operational improvement projects, primarily non-capital, from opportunity identification through implementation, results validation and sustainability.
• Integrates production, maintenance, quality and digital systems data to prioritize losses and support decisions.
• Coordinates technical resources across functions without replacing the functional responsibilities of Engineering, Automation, Maintenance, Quality or Production.
• Develops capital project justifications and supports execution when analysis, operational testing, change management, standardization or post-implementation stabilization is required.

Job Responsibilities

1. Data Analysis and Performance Management

• Integrate and analyze Production, Maintenance, Quality and cost data to identify trends, chronic losses, constraints, recurring failures and improvement opportunities.
• Develop and maintain dashboards, reports and review routines for indicators such as OE, output, schedule adherence, downtime, MTBF, MTTR, preventive maintenance, waste, productivity and cost.
• Ensure consistent definitions, traceability, integrity and proper use of operational data.
• Translate analyses into priorities, recommendations and action plans with clearly defined impact, owners and metrics.

2. Reliability and Loss Elimination

• Lead or facilitate root cause analysis, FMEA, Pareto analysis, criticality analysis and other methodologies to eliminate recurring failures, minor stops, process losses and operational risks.
• Lead TPM initiatives focused on basic equipment conditions, autonomous maintenance, loss reduction and the development of operational standards.
• Collaborate with Maintenance to evaluate preventive, predictive and inspection strategies, providing operational data and effectiveness analyses.
• Monitor the results of reliability actions and confirm reduced recurrence and operational benefits.

3. Continuous Improvement in Production and Maintenance

• Lead Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, TPM and SMED initiatives to improve process stability, productivity, cycle times, changeovers and asset utilization, and reduce waste.
• Design and implement operational process improvements that do not require capital investment or engineering design changes, using previously authorized methods, standards, parameters and resources.
• Facilitate cross-functional teams, define current and future states, coordinate execution and establish controls to sustain results.
• Develop or coordinate updates to procedures, standard work, visual aids, one-point lessons and training materials affected by improvements.
• Serve as the primary contact for continuous improvement committees.

4. Operational Project Management

• Lead non-capital improvement projects for Production and Maintenance, from opportunity identification and justification through implementation, benefits validation and handover to the process owner.
• Define scope, deliverables, timelines, resources, risks, dependencies, acceptance criteria and success metrics.
• Coordinate testing, implementation, training, documentation, change management, validations and post-startup follow-up.
• Promptly identify when an initiative requires engineering design, programming, capital investment or specialized technical intervention, and formally transfer or escalate that component to the responsible function.
• Communicate project progress, risks, required decisions, results and sustainability to Operations leaders.
• Serve as an initiator and evaluator of Management of Change (MOC) requests for Production and Maintenance initiatives.

5. Digital Systems and Functional Integration

• Serve as the primary Operations contact during the evaluation and implementation of new digital systems for Production and Maintenance.
• Gather and document user requirements, current processes, data needs, business rules, use cases, priorities and acceptance criteria.
• Coordinate user testing, operational validation, training, documentation, change management, adoption and post-implementation follow-up.
• Support optimization of the use of SAP, Power BI, Ignition, OEE/SPC, CMMS and other operational platforms without assuming responsibility for systems programming, architecture, cybersecurity or technical administration.
• Ensure that solutions developed by Engineering or Automation address operational needs and can be sustained by process owners.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical or Chemical Engineering, Manufacturing or Operations, or a technical associate degree in a related discipline and a minimum of seven years of progressive experience in manufacturing, maintenance or continuous improvement, including at least two years leading data-driven, cross-functional projects.
• Experience: Three or more years in manufacturing, production, maintenance, reliability, process engineering or continuous improvement, with demonstrated experience leading cross-functional projects.
• Knowledge: data analysis, structured problem-solving, project management, reliability principles, TPM, Lean/Six Sigma, GMP and applicable management systems.
• Language: Spanish and English proficiency sufficient to prepare reports and engage in technical discussions.
• Preferred: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification and experience in TPM, reliability or formal project management.

Key Competencies

• Analytical thinking and the ability to translate data into decisions and actions.
• Project leadership without direct authority and the ability to influence cross-functional teams.
• Comprehensive understanding of the interaction among processes, equipment, people, materials and digital systems.
• Executive and technical communication, facilitation, negotiation and effective priority management.
• Discipline in documentation, benefits validation and ensuring sustainability.
• Results orientation, a sense of urgency, collaboration and a continuous improvement mindset.

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Our Purpose and Growth Culture:

We are taking deliberate action to nurture an inclusive culture that is grounded in our company purpose, to refresh the world and make a difference. We act with a growth mindset, take an expansive approach to what’s possible and believe in continuous learning to improve our business and ourselves. We focus on four key behaviors – curious, empowered, inclusive and agile – and value how we work as much as what we achieve. We believe that our culture is one of the reasons our company continues to thrive after 130+ years. Visit Our Purpose and Vision to learn more about these behaviors and how you can bring them to life in your next role at Coca-Cola.

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