Operational Readiness Manager

New Flyer is North America's heavy-duty transit bus leader and offers the most advanced product line under the Xcelsior® and Xcelsior CHARGE® brands. It also offers infrastructure development through NFI Infrastructure Solutions™, a service dedicated to providing safe, sustainable, and reliable charging and mobility solutions. Further information is available at www.newflyer.com.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Operational Readiness Manager owns the operational readiness process for assigned new products, major product changes, and critical production launches. This position leads the Launch Management team in driving cross-functional readiness and ensuring successful product and contract introductions.

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

• Lead and develop New Product Introduction (NPI) and Production Launch Managers, assigning projects based on business needs, risk, complexity, and team capacity while providing coaching and performance support.
• Own and continually improve the Operational Readiness framework, including Manufacturing Readiness Levels for new product introductions.
• Provide accurate, concise status reporting and recommendations to senior leadership, including decisions required, unresolved exposure, and recovery status for NPI launches and customer production orders.
• Provide mentorship and hands-on training to launch management team in all production facilities.
• Analyzes and provide support to Production Leadership regarding waste reduction.
• Establish and maintain launch-planning and execution tools, including dashboards, Power BI reporting, SharePoint records, and Oracle-derived data.
• Establish KPIs based on Retrospective Review and Readiness Escape continuous-improvement process to constantly evaluate the effectiveness of the Operational Readiness framework.
• Partner with Sales, Customer Program Management, Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Supply Management teams to improve launch performance, reduce recurring issues, and drive customer satisfaction.

Requirements

WHAT YOU NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL:

• 5+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing, production, new product introduction, launch management, program management, engineering, quality, supply chain, or a closely related function.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional work in a complex manufacturing environment
• Experience managing product or process changes from development through production launch and stabilization.
• Experience with risk management, readiness reviews, root-cause analysis, corrective action, performance measurement, and continuous improvement.
• Advanced analytical, organizational, facilitation, written communication, and executive-presentation skills.
• Ability to assess incomplete or conflicting information, identify risks, and drive clear decisions, priorities, accountability, and action plans.
• Advanced capability with Microsoft Excel and proficiency with Power BI, Word, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams, and related Microsoft 365 tools.
• Working knowledge of Oracle or comparable ERP systems and experience using production, schedule, and transaction data.
• Prior leadership, supervisory, or team-development experience preferred.

Benefits

• Extended Healthcare Plan (Medical, Disability, Dental & Vision)
• RPP - Group RRSP
• Group Life - AD&D - Critical Illness Insurance
• Paid Time Off Benefits
• Training & Development
• Employee Discounts
• Employee Assistance Program - Counseling