Strategy manager Jobs in Grand Rapids, MI

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Learn about our benefits designed for you to Thrive at work and at home.

We boldly go.

Where is the work:

Monday to Thursday, work onsite with your colleagues. Fridays, choose your work location, balancing what your work requires.

What's in it for you:

The Americas Advanced Manufacturing Strategy (AMS) Program Manager is a critical, high-impact leadership role within the Advanced Manufacturing Strategy team. This position carries a unique, dual-focus mandate: actively driving strategic manufacturing network design, while orchestrating the end-to-end execution of complex footprint transformations and regional capital programs.

The ideal candidate is a blend of a strategic operations thinker and a disciplined program integrator. You will partner closely with Business Units (BUs), Plant Leadership, and senior cross-functional executives to design optimized manufacturing networks and lead the implementation of multi-phase programs (comprising 5 to 10 highly interdependent sub-projects). In this role, you will translate long-term operations strategy into structured, phased execution plans that ensure operational excellence, capital efficiency, and long-term business resilience across our manufacturing sites.

What you will do:

Strategic Footprint & Strategy Formulation

Lead and contribute to the analytical framing, design, and continuous optimization of the Americas manufacturing footprint. Rather than reacting to localized capacity gaps, this role proactively evaluates the 5-to-10-year network architecture (focused vs. flexible plants, centralized hubs vs. regional final assembly) to support business growth and margin objectives.

Multi-Site Program Integration & Execution

Serve as the single owner of the integration through-line for complex capital programs, facility start-ups, brownfield expansions, site consolidations, and strategic work transfers. You will ensure that these intricate transitions are executed seamlessly, mitigating risk and maintaining absolute continuity for customer commitments.

Operations Strategy & Network Optimization

• Strategic Footprint Planning: Drive cross-functional teams through structured footprint and network evaluation processes, aligning corporate strategy with regional operational realities.
• Demand Scenario Modeling: Partner with Commercial teams to align capacity plans with market demand forecasts, utilizing scenario modeling to ensure network assets are designed to withstand market volatility rather than single-point forecasts.
• Network Design Principles: Help establish structural make-vs-buy, vertical integration, and factory specialization strategies. Balance the operational and financial trade-offs of centralized component manufacturing against regional localized final assembly.
• Business Case Development: Collaborate with Finance partners to co-author robust business cases, evaluating capital investment options against status-quo operational baselines while clearly quantifying strategic benefits (such as service-lead compression and supply-chain resilience).
• Geographic & Site Selection Analysis: Evaluate candidate regions and sites against critical external and internal criteria, including industrial policies, trade/tariff exposure, local labor depth, supplier ecosystem density, energy infrastructure, and local permitting timelines.

Program Management, Governance & Integration

• Orchestrate Multi-Phase Programs: Provide master integration, schedule coordination, and financial oversight for complex footprint programs containing 5 to 10 highly interdependent, concurrent sub-projects (e.g., equipment relocation, regulatory approvals, site buildouts).
• Enforce Phase-Gate Governance: Implement disciplined phase-gate methodologies to sequence program milestones, managing capital expenditure risk and establishing clear demand/utilization triggers before releasing subsequent phases of capital.
• Establish Decision Governance: Define and align clear program governance and program team operating structures among Business Unit leaders, corporate functions, and plant management to facilitate rapid, structured decision-making.
• Influence Senior Leadership: Translate complex, technical, and financial analyses into highly polished executive proposals. Pre-wire key stakeholders and present strategic options, financials, and phased roadmaps to Executive-level audiences.
• Drive Change Enablement & Workforce Readiness: Support cross-functional change management efforts during operational transitions, modernization programs, and technology integrations. Apply high organizational empathy to ensure clear communication, minimize team anxiety, support talent retention and development, and preserve valuable institutional knowledge.
• Support Operational Design: Collaborate with advanced engineering teams to leverage standard engineering conceptssuch as Design for Manufacturability/Assembly (DFM/DFA), FMEA, and Production Preparation Process (3P)to optimize process layouts during network realignments.

What you will bring:

Education

• Required: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Business, or a related technical discipline.
• Preferred: Master's degree or MBA.

Experience

• Required: 10+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing operations, industrial engineering, or supply chain.
• Preferred: 5+ years of direct leadership in manufacturing, operations strategy, or running complex capital/transformation programs within a highly matrixed industrial environment.
• Track Record of Program Leadership: Proven experience successfully coordinating multi-phase capital programs or transition initiatives, overseeing complex timelines and coordination across multiple manufacturing sites.

Technical & Leadership Competencies:

• Advanced Strategic Acumen: Ability to think holistically about long-term network architectures and challenge traditional assumptions around capacity, site selection, and operating models.
• Complex Program Integration: Mastery of program management methodologies for highly interdependent workstreams (critical path, resource smoothing, risk register management).
• Cross-Functional Fluency: A collaborative leader who can seamlessly translate and align the distinct priorities of Finance, Procurement, HR, IT, Engineering, and Plant Operations around a single program goal.
• Stakeholder Management: Exceptional interpersonal and political savvy. Experience utilizing structured decision governance models to drive alignment across competing business units or functions.
• Operational Technology Alignment: Strong understanding of advanced manufacturing technologies (MES, PLM, automation levels) and how digital infrastructure integrates across a multi-plant network.

Annual Base Salary Range or Hourly Base Pay Range:

$123,721.66 - $173,004.99

Compensation Type:

Salary

Incentive Eligible:

Yes

Sales Commission Eligible:

No

Disclaimer: We strive to provide competitive compensation for this position, tailored to a variety of factors. The actual compensation will depend on elements such as seniority, merit, geographic location, education, experience, travel requirements, and union designation. Our compensation range is generally based on the national average for the country. Additionally, benefits may vary depending on the region, business alignment, union involvement, and employee status.

Thrive at work and at home:

• Benefits kick in on DAY ONE for you and your family, including health insurance and holistic wellness programs that include generous incentives WE DARE TO CARE!
• Family building benefits include fertility coverage and adoption/surrogacy assistance.
• 401K match up to 6%, plus an additional 2% core contribution = up to 8% company contribution.
• Paid time off includes 15 vacation days, 9 paid holidays, 3 floating holidays, sick leave, and additional options to support volunteer and parental leave.
• Educational and training opportunities through company programs along with tuition assistance and student debt support.

Disclaimer: Benefit offerings may vary depending on Collective Bargaining Agreements and local/state regulations.

Safety Sensitive Role:

Yes

The company designates certain roles as Safety Sensitive. Safety Sensitive roles may require that you pass additional drug screening.

We offer competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits and programs. We are an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, pregnancy, age, marital status, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any legally protected status.