VALUE STREAM LEADER

Want to help shape tomorrow? At Bendix, we set the standard with advanced dynamic solutions that drive improved commercial vehicle performance and safety. We’re part of the Knorr-Bremse Group, the global leader in braking technologies. As part of our team, you’ll collaborate with a world of talented and dedicated colleagues whose sense of purpose complements your own. You’ll find rewarding opportunities, diverse experiences, partnerships, and an unwavering commitment to ethics and integrity.

Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer. It is the policy of the Company to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.

Position Summary: The Value Stream Leader is the end-to-end operational and people leader for an assigned manufacturing value stream within the Acuña campus. The position is accountable for sustainable Safety, People, Quality, Delivery, Cost, Productivity, Inventory, and Continuous Improvement performance while building the organizational capability required for continued growth. The VSL leads production supervisors and works through a cross-functional value-stream team that includes Quality, Materials, Engineering, Maintenance, HSE, KPS, Finance, and Human Resources. The VSL translates customer demand and business strategy into executable capacity, staffing, material, equipment, launch, and improvement plans. This role is intended for a strong operations leader who can stabilize current performance, develop people, lead transformation, and build scalable operating systems. It is an important leadership-pipeline position for future Plant Management and broader Operations leadership opportunities; advancement is based on performance, readiness, and business need.

Essential Functions: Business and Operational Ownership

• Own end-to-end value-stream performance across Safety, People, Quality, Delivery, Cost, Productivity, Inventory, and Continuous Improvement.
• Translate customer demand into aligned capacity, labor, equipment, material, and production plans.
• Establish operating plans that improve schedule adherence, flow, constraint performance, and customer delivery.
• Manage the value-stream operating budget and identify opportunities to improve conversion cost, labor efficiency, overtime, scrap, inventory, and working capital.
• Maintain transparent performance reporting with corrective actions, accountable owners, timing, and escalation thresholds.

People and Organization

• Lead, coach, and develop production supervisors, line leaders, and assigned team members.
• Build succession coverage for critical roles and maintain actionable development plans for direct reports.
• Create development opportunities through rotations, improvement projects, cross-functional assignments, and expanded leadership responsibilities.
• Set clear expectations, reinforce accountability, recognize strong performance, and address performance gaps consistently.
• Build an inclusive working environment based on respect, trust, collaboration, and direct communication.

Operational Excellence and Problem Solving

• Lead deployment and maturity of the Knorr Production System within the assigned value stream.
• Strengthen daily management, visual performance management, standard work, layered accountability, and escalation discipline.
• Lead structured problem solving using A3, 8D, root-cause analysis, and other applicable KPS methods.
• Develop and execute a value-stream transformation roadmap supported by measurable productivity, quality, delivery, and capacity improvements.
• Ensure Lean training is converted into completed projects and sustained operating results.

Cross-Functional and Customer Leadership

• Lead an integrated value-stream team across Materials, Quality, Engineering, Maintenance, HSE, KPS, Finance, and HR.
• Anticipate risks involving demand, capacity, material, quality, staffing, launches, and equipment readiness.
• Maintain strong relationships with Product Groups, central functions, suppliers, and internal and external customers.
• Communicate risks factually and early, including impact, containment, corrective action, accountable owner, and recovery timing.
• Ensure customer requirements and commitments are translated into priorities at every level of the organization.

Growth, Industrialization, and Digital Transformation

• Support new-product introduction, product transfers, automation, equipment installation, capacity expansion, and launch-to-serial-production handover.
• Develop readiness for advanced manufacturing, mechatronics, machining, automation, and digital operations as applicable.
• Use SAP, operational dashboards, and data analysis to improve decisions and identify emerging risks.
• Participate in campus-wide standardization, One Acuña initiatives, and cross-plant improvement projects.
• Build processes that can scale with future volume, product, customer, and technological complexity.

Compliance and Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with company policies, product-safety requirements, IATF 16949, ISO 14001, HSE standards, and applicable legal requirements.
• Maintain the authority and responsibility to stop production when safety, quality, or product-compliance conditions require it.
• Ensure standards, process controls, training qualifications, and corrective actions are sustained and audit-ready.

Measures of Success

• Safety and environmental performance
• Customer delivery, backlog recovery, schedule adherence, and plan attainment
• First-time-through, scrap, rework, and cost of poor quality
• Productivity, conversion cost, labor efficiency, and overtime
• OEE, constraint capacity, equipment reliability, and downtime
• Inventory and working-capital performance
• KPS maturity and completed improvement projects
• Supervisor and line-leader capability, succession coverage, and internal readiness

Knowledge:

• Working knowledge of SAP, Power BI, MES, S/4HANA, or comparable manufacturing systems.

Experience:

• Five or more years of progressive manufacturing or operations experience.
• At least three years leading supervisors, technical teams, or multidisciplinary manufacturing organizations.
• Demonstrated accountability for Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, People, and sustained continuous-improvement results.
• Proven experience implementing Lean manufacturing and structured problem solving.

Preferred

• Experience in automotive, commercial vehicles, industrial equipment, or another regulated manufacturing environment.
• Experience with high-mix manufacturing, automated assembly, precision machining, electronics, or mechatronics.
• Experience leading a new-product launch, industrial transfer, capacity expansion, operational turnaround, or major productivity program.
• Experience in a global or matrixed organization and a track record of developing successors.

Skills:

• Ability to analyze operational and financial data and convert findings into executable actions.
• Strong coaching, decision-making, communication, and change-leadership capabilities.
• Availability to work on site and provide leadership support across shifts when required.
• KPS, Lean, Six Sigma, A3, 8D, or equivalent problem-solving qualifications.
• Professional proficiency in English and Spanish.

Education/Certifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field, or equivalent progressive manufacturing-leadership experience.

Assignment Flexibility

The initial assignment will be based on business needs and the selected candidate’s strengths. The successful candidate should be willing to develop across different plants, products, shifts, and manufacturing technologies within the Acuña campus.