Title: Operations Excellence (OpEx) Lead

Location: Grand Prairie, Texas

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Covenant is a global defense company headquartered in Washington, D.C., building long-range precision strike weapons for the United States and its allies. Its flagship munition, Anthem, combines heavy payload and long range at a fraction of the cost of comparable legacy systems, with production volumes designed to meet the demands of prolonged conflict. Designed as an end-to-end weapon system that is simple to store, transport, and field, Anthem is produced in the United States, Germany, and Israel. For more information, visit covenant.com

THE ROLE

As the Operations Excellence (OpEx) Lead, you will play a critical leadership role in establishing and driving operational rigor across Covenant's Grand Prairie manufacturing facility. You will serve as the connection between site leadership and daily plant execution, ensuring that department leaders are aligned to business priorities and that performance is consistently measured, managed, and improved.

You will own the development and standardization of manufacturing processes, lead cross-functional continuous improvement initiatives, and establish the operating systems and metrics required to drive safety, quality, delivery, cost, people, and environmental performance. Working closely with Production, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain, and site leadership, you will help build a culture of accountability, standardization, and continuous improvement as Covenant scales production.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Lead the development, communication, and tracking of the site's annual business plan and operational priorities.
Establish and manage site-level Manufacturing Excellence metrics across Safety, People, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Environment.
Translate company strategy into clear operating priorities, measurable goals, and actionable plans for plant leadership.
Serve as the business owner for manufacturing process documentation, standards, and requirements.
Develop, document, implement, and continuously improve standardized manufacturing processes and operating procedures.
Establish standards for built-in quality, short lead times, workplace organization, 5S, standard work, and employee engagement.
Lead cross-functional continuous improvement initiatives focused on Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, and operational efficiency.
Identify bottlenecks, process inefficiencies, and recurring operational issues and drive structured problem-solving efforts.
Develop and execute internal audit programs to validate adherence to manufacturing processes, requirements, and operating standards.
Partner closely with the Quality Assurance Leader to ensure manufacturing processes meet ISO and other applicable regulatory requirements.
Track corrective actions and ensure process improvements are implemented, sustained, and incorporated into standard work.
Drive improvements in production schedule adherence, throughput, labor efficiency, and overall plant performance.
Establish visual management systems, performance dashboards, and operating reviews to create clear accountability across the facility.
Facilitate regular performance reviews with Department Heads and site leadership.
Coach leaders and teams on Lean principles, root-cause analysis, standard work, and continuous improvement methodologies.
Ensure manufacturing requirements and processes are clearly documented, communicated, and consistently executed.
Help establish the operating cadence, governance, and management systems required to scale the Grand Prairie facility.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Manufacturing, Business, or a related field.
10+ years of experience in manufacturing, operations, or industrial environments.
Significant experience leading continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives within a manufacturing environment.
Proven experience developing, documenting, implementing, and auditing manufacturing processes and requirements.
Strong understanding of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, 5S, standard work, and structured problem-solving methodologies.
Experience developing and managing manufacturing KPIs and performance management systems.
Experience conducting internal process audits and driving corrective and preventive actions.
Strong analytical skills with the ability to use operational data to identify problems, prioritize opportunities, and drive measurable improvements.
Demonstrated ability to influence and align cross-functional leaders without relying solely on direct authority.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to create clear and effective process documentation.
Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
Willingness to work onsite in Grand Prairie, Texas.
U.S. Person status required.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, or equivalent certification.
Experience launching or scaling a new manufacturing facility or production operation.
Experience in aerospace, defense, automotive, robotics, or other highly regulated manufacturing environments.
Experience working within ISO 9001, AS9100, or similar quality management systems.
Experience developing manufacturing operating systems, annual operating plans, or Manufacturing Excellence Plans.
Experience with ERP, MES, manufacturing analytics, or production management systems.
Experience leading high-rate or high-volume manufacturing operations.
Experience with value stream mapping, Kaizen, root-cause analysis, process capability, and statistical process control.
Experience working in a high-growth company where processes and operating systems are being built from the ground up.

WHAT MAKES YOU SUCCESSFUL

You turn strategy into execution and ensure the plant's priorities are reflected in what happens on the manufacturing floor.
You bring structure and discipline to complex manufacturing environments without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
You use data to identify problems, prioritize opportunities, and measure whether improvements actually work.
You are comfortable challenging established ways of working and driving meaningful change across an organization.
You build alignment across leaders and hold teams accountable to measurable outcomes.
You understand that operational excellence is not a one-time project—it is a daily operating discipline.
You are equally comfortable in a leadership meeting, analyzing performance data, auditing a process, or working directly with teams on the factory floor.
You have a strong bias toward action and follow improvements through from identifying a problem to implementing and sustaining the solution.
You thrive in environments where there is significant ambiguity, rapid growth, and a need to build scalable manufacturing processes from the ground up.