Continuous Improvement (OpEx) Engineer (m/f/d)

Johnson & Johnson is currently seeking a Continuous Improvement (OpEx) Engineer (m/f/d) to join our Abiomed Team located in Aachen. 

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/. 

Abiomed’s global Lean and Operational Excellence Team oversees and manages all manufacturing and logistics efficiency programs that drive the company towards its corporate goal “Operational Excellence”.  As part of this team, you will have a major impact on driving the organization towards world class standards and ensuring cohesive programs that are driven throughout the organization globally. Major responsibilities include: (1) participate in identifying and supporting significant lean initiatives and scale-up projects, (2) participate and support facilitating Kaizens and other Continuous Improvement events globally, (3) assist in establishing and maintaining lean/six sigma recurring training for operators and engineers, and (4) benchmarking current state and quantifying improvements to clearly communicate to senior management..  This position reports directly to the Manager of Operational Excellence and will participate in driving a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence in all aspects of Supply Chain and Operations. The ideal candidate will have a strong interest in implementing lean methodologies and continuous improvement techniques and a willingness to learn and grow in a highly regulated and manual manufacturing environment. This role will require a high level of collaboration with cross-functional teams and a strong focus on data analysis and metrics. This position will require excellent communication skills and the ability to effectively work with cross-functional teams.

Principle Duties and Responsibilities :

• Support identification and execution, and tracking of continuous improvement activities and projects in production, quality inspection, and logistics by utilizing standardized Lean tools and methods to achieve scale-up goals


• Utilize data analysis and establish metrics to measure the effectiveness and impact of process improvement initiatives and utilize analysis to make data-driven decisions


• Support the development and implementation of lean methodologies in production, quality inspection and logistics to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and enhance quality in the manufacturing process


• Establish knowledge of and serve as contact person to all in Operations regarding Lean tools (e.g. VSM, Kanban, line balancing, theory of constraints, single piece flow, standard work, SMED, 5S, Quality at the Source, process capability, rolled throughput yield management, inventory reduction, etc.)


• Participate in and facilitate process improvement workshops and events, including Kaizen events, to drive continuous improvement in the organization


• Collaborate cross-functionally (production SV and associates, process engineering, quality assurance, and others) to identify areas of improvement and support the creation of action plans to address identified gaps


• Work directly with associates/operators with a “hands-on” mentality to identify, assess the impact (i.e. potential efficiency/capacity gains, etc.), prioritize, and present implemented improvement activities to the management team


• Support the development of training programs and ensure all employees receive lean training