Operational Excellence Principal Engineer in Charles City, Iowa at Cambrex

The Principal Engineer, Operational Excellence is a senior technical improvement leader responsible for identifying, leading, and sustaining high-impact operational improvements that increase capacity, improve throughput, reduce cycle time, improve yield, strengthen schedule attainment, and eliminate waste across manufacturing and support functions.

This role serves as a subject matter expert in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, engineering, and operational performance improvement within a regulated pharmaceutical manufacturing environment. Working closely with cross functional teams, the Principal Engineer applies chemical engineering principles and data-driven problem solving to remove production constraints, optimize process performance, and deliver measurable business results.

Safety Culture

• Inspire and drive a site culture focused on safety for all employees as per our commitment to “Safety is non-negotiable”

• Collaborate with cross functional teams to improve process robustness, equipment utilization, reliability, and manufacturing efficiency.
• Apply statistical analysis, root-cause analysis, FMEA, process capability analysis, regression, and Design of Experiments to complex operational problems.
• Analyze process flow, chemistry, variability, constraints, and resource utilization to improve manufacturing predictability and performance.
• Lead DMAIC, PDCA, Kaizen, and other structured problem-solving efforts.

• Evaluate automation, digital, and emerging technology opportunities that simplify work and improve operational visibility or control.

• Support sustainment of Lean Manufacturing, TQM Daily Management, leadership standard work, visual management, tiered accountability, 6S, and structured problem-solving systems.
• Mentor Lean Six Sigma practitioners, and cross-functional project teams to strengthen site capability.

• Advanced knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and operational excellence systems.
• Strong chemical engineering fundamentals and the ability to apply them in a manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated ability to lead large, cross-functional improvement initiatives with measurable results.
• Understanding of process capability, variation reduction, bottleneck management, and waste elimination.
• Strong project leadership, facilitation, coaching, and change-management skills.
• Financial acumen and the ability to quantify, communicate, and validate business impact.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills.

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from an accredited institution.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification at minimum, higher belt preferred
• 7+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing, process engineering, operational excellence, or continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated experience leading significant cross-functional projects that delivered measurable improvements in operational or financial performance.