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Industrial Engineering Team Lead

Location: 

Batu Kawan, MY

Employment Type:  Permanent

 

About VAT Group

At VAT, we change the world with vacuum solutions. As the world’s leading supplier of high-performance vacuum valves, we have been driving innovation for more than 60 years. With over 3,200 employees worldwide, we operate from our headquarters in Haag, Switzerland, with manufacturing sites in Switzerland, Malaysia and Romania, as well as sales and service hubs around the world. We are guided by our passions integrity, teamwork, customer centricity, and innovation – always working together as #oneVAT.

Joining us means becoming part of a passionate, international team where your voice is heard, your ideas matter, and your career growth is supported.

 

Aa an Industrial Engineering Team Lead, you will be responsible for leading and coordinating the team's efforts to optimize production processes, improve efficiency, and implement lean manufacturing principles. This role requires strong technical expertise, leadership capabilities, and the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams 

 

Your responsibilities include, but not limited to: 

  • Lead, coach, and develop a team of Industrial Engineers to achieve departmental and business objectives. 

  • Establish clear performance expectations, competency development plans, and succession planning for team members. 

  • Provide technical mentoring and guidance on industrial engineering methodologies, lean manufacturing tools, and problem-solving techniques. 

  • Lead capacity planning activities, including machine, labor, space, and infrastructure requirements to support business growth and customer demand. 

  • Develop short-, mid-, and long-term capacity models to support strategic planning and investment decisions. 

  • Drive production ramp readiness activities through capacity validation, bottleneck management, and risk mitigation planning. 

  • Support make-or-buy analysis and resource allocation to optimize production effectiveness. 

  • Lead data-driven productivity improvement initiatives focusing on labor efficiency, utilization, throughput, and cost optimization. 

  • Conduct time studies, work measurement, MTM analysis, line balancing, and process flow analysis to identify improvement opportunities. 

  • Drive cycle time reduction, OEE improvement, setup reduction, material flow optimization, and waste elimination initiatives. 

  • Establish and maintain engineering standards, productivity benchmarks, and labour standards. 

  • Drive implementation and sustainability of Lean Manufacturing principles, including: 

    • 6S; Visual Management; Standard Work; Value Stream Mapping; Pull Systems / Kanban; Waste Elimination; Continuous Improvement Programs 

  • Lead Kaizen workshops and value stream improvement projects to improve business performance. 

  • Collaborate with Operational Excellence teams to deploy plant-wide lean initiatives. 

  • Design and optimize factory layouts, material flow, warehouse interfaces, and workstation ergonomics. 

  • Evaluate and recommend automation, digitalization, and Industry 4.0 solutions to improve productivity and operational efficiency. 

  • Support investment justification through business case analysis, ROI evaluation, and capacity studies. 

  • Lead implementation of approved automation and process optimization projects. 

  • Collaborate closely with Production, Process Engineering, NPI, Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, Finance, and Project Management teams. 

  • Support new product introductions, transfer projects, and facility expansion projects from an industrial engineering perspective. 

  • Lead process improvement and industrialization projects from concept through implementation. 

  • Define project scope, objectives, timelines, deliverables, and resource requirements. 

  • Ensure projects deliver measurable improvements in productivity, quality, capacity, and cost. 

  • Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) related to productivity, labour efficiency, utilization, capacity, lead time, and cost performance. 

  • Prepare reports, presentations, and management updates summarizing achievements, project status, risks, and future improvement opportunities. 

  • Ensure compliance with company standards, safety requirements, and applicable industrial engineering practices. 

  • Stay updated on emerging industrial engineering methodologies, digital manufacturing technologies, and industry best practices. 

  • Benchmark and deploy innovative solutions to improve plant competitiveness and operational performance. 

  • Support all other duties and assignments as directed by Management. 

 

Minimum Qualification 

  • Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, Operations Management, or a related field. Master's degree is a plus. 

  • Minimum 6-8 years of Industrial Engineering experience in a manufacturing environment. 

  • Minimum 2-3 years leading engineers or cross-functional improvement projects. 

  • Experience in high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environments is preferred. 

  • Experience supporting capacity expansion, production ramp-up, automation, or relocation projects is an advantage. 

  • Strong attention to detail and ability to work with complex data and system configurations. 

  • Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills. 

  • Effective communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work closely with cross-functional teams. 

  • Ability to handle multiple tasks and prioritize effectively in a fast-paced environment. 

 

Preferred Qualification 

  • Lean Six Sigma Green Belt / Black Belt 

  • Lean Master Certification 

  • Project Management Professional (PMP) 

  • MTM Practitioner Certification 

  • Industry 4.0 / Smart Manufacturing Certification 

 

Our commitment to inclusion, fairness and equal opportunities

We believe in meaningful careers, continuous learning, and equal opportunities for everyone to drive our innovation and success. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and respectful workplace. If you have concerns, our compliance channel is available at our website. All reports are handled with strict confidentiality and in accordance with our Code of Conduct.

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