Operational Excellence Engineer

Location

US-TX-Orange

ID

2026-2157

As a strategic partner to plant leadership, you will lead plant-level continuous improvement that delivers measurable, year-over-year gains in cost and productivity, with savings that at minimum offset inflation. You will translate company initiatives into prioritized projects on the plant floor, and own the KPIs that track cost, maintenance, automation and reliability.

This role sits within the Operational & Engineering Center of Excellence and has a dotted-line relationship to the local Plant Leader.

What you'll do

Find and deliver savings

Review plant practices, workflows and systems to spot waste and improvement opportunities that affect production and business results.
• Design and implement solutions that raise operational efficiency and lower cost, with the goal of maximizing EBITDA.
• Use data, not assumptions, to decide which opportunities to pursue.

Lead improvement and capital projects

• Manage capital, plant and cost-reduction projects from scoping through completion.
• Run improvement projects across departments using standard OPEX tools and methods.
• Investigate performance issues using lean tools such as DMAIC, value stream mapping, 5-Why, Ishikawa diagrams, FMEA and Kaizen, then build and execute action plans.
• Lead root cause analysis and put corrective actions in place for process problems.

Create a Continuous Improvement Culture

• Create and update process documentation and workflows, and make sure the business sustains them.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to build a culture of continuous improvement.
• Train and coach employees at every level on operational excellence principles, new processes and tools.
• Build safety and health considerations into every improvement.

Measure, report and keep learning

• Develop and track KPIs for cost, maintenance, automation and reliability.
• Monitor implemented initiatives and adjust when results fall short.
• Report on FPP initiatives and their impact to leadership.
• Share knowledge with plant resources, engineering, sister plants and internal or external consultants, and bring forward new technologies and methods worth testing.

- Bachelor's degree in engineering (required)

What you'll bring

• 10+ years in engineering, maintenance, reliability, project management, Six Sigma/Lean, productivity or continuous improvement roles.
• A track record of delivering measurable cost and productivity savings in a plant or operations setting.
• Hands-on use of lean and Six Sigma problem-solving tools (DMAIC, VSM, 5-Why, Ishikawa, FMEA, Kaizen) and working knowledge of statistical process control (SPC).
• Experience managing capital and cost-reduction projects.
• Experience building KPIs and tracking the results of improvement initiatives.
• Proven ability to lead and coach teams, and to drive change across functions without direct authority.
• Strong analytical skills: you gather data from many sources, interpret it accurately and document results with precision.
• Comfort presenting results to senior leadership and connecting plant-level detail to the bigger business picture.

Preferred

• Six Sigma Black Belt certification.

Tools and systems

• Microsoft Office: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio, OneNote
• Power BI
• Minitab or similar statistical analysis software
• ERP systems

About Arcwood

Every advancement-from the products we use to the medicines and technologies we depend on-creates waste that must be handled responsibly. For more than 50 years, Arcwood Environmental has helped organizations across the United States manage the byproducts of progress safely and thoughtfully. With deep expertise and innovative waste management technology across a growing nationwide footprint, Arcwood protects people, communities, and the environment through work that often happens behind the scenes.

Our Values

We move forward together, one team with a shared purpose, counting on each other every day. Our core values demonstrate how we work together to deliver value for our customers, putting them at the center of all we do:

• Lead with Safety: We uphold the highest safety and compliance standards to protect our teams, our customers and the communities that count on us.
• Solve Problems Creatively: We push for better - advancing technologies, processes, and ideas that protect human health and the environment.
• Own It Together: We are individually and collectively accountable for our work and our impact, knowing that progress is only achieved by working together - with our customers, and with each other.
• Deliver for Customers: We put customers at the center of all we do. When we live our values - lead with safety, solving problems creatively, and owning our work together - the result is clear: we deliver exceptional value for our customers.

We've reached a unique point as a company: big enough to deliver broad capability and consistent performance, while striving to be nimbler and more responsive to our customers' evolving needs. Come join Arcwood and be part of our legacy of environmental leadership!

Arcwood offers stability you can count on and opportunities to grow. We provide steady work, competitive pay, and above-market benefits that reflect the importance of what we do. As we continue to grow, you'll have the chance to build skills, take on new challenges, and build a career. When you join Arcwood, you join a team that honors its legacy, values hardworking people, and shows up every day to protect people, communities, and the future we share.

Arcwood is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability or protected veteran status, in accordance with applicable federal laws.

A post-offer drug screen and background check will be required.

Physical Job Requirements