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.

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.

• 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