This position is not eligible for Visa Sponsorship.
The Manager, Functional Development (Production, ME & SH&E) is responsible for leading the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of capability-building strategies for the Production, Manufacturing Excellence and Safety, Health & Environment functions within One Operations.
This role partners closely with ME and SH&E functional leaders, Heads of Manufacturing, HR Business Partners, and L&D to assess skill gaps, define targeted development plans, and deliver consistent, high-quality training and onboarding experiences across corporate and field/factory environments. The Manager ensures strong training foundations, effective SME partnerships, and alignment to enterprise standards and initiatives-while driving measurable improvements in workforce capability, operational excellence, safety compliance, and audit readiness.
This position is based out of Solon, OH.
Key Responsibilities- Lead functional development strategy for the Production, ME and SH&E functions within One Operations. Assess current state and partner with HRBPs and functional leaders to define and execute targeted plans to close competency gaps.
- Partner with SMEs within SH&E to ensure key elements of their training-including LOTO, PPE, safety compliance, safety onboarding, and behavior-based safety programs-are maintained, accessible, current, and under governance to enable consistent training within the function and beyond.
- Partner with SMEs within Manufacturing Excellence to ensure key elements of their training-including standard work, CILs, TPM/Lean practices, operator onboarding and certification, and front-line leader development-are maintained, accessible, current, and under governance to enable consistent training within the function and beyond.
- Partner with SMEs to establish effective ways of working and clear content ownership, ensuring POKA and other digital work-instruction platforms remain current, governed, and accessible as the source of truth for functional skills.
- Design, implement, and continuously improve functional onboarding plans aligned to business needs, ensuring a consistent and effective new-hire experience across corporate and field locations.
- Develop and sustain functional capability frameworks, including competency matrices and role proficiency requirements, to define skill expectations and enable structured capability building for Production, ME and SH&E roles.
- Partner with SMEs to build capability in problem solving & root cause analysis (RCA), continuous improvement (Lean/TPM), reliability, systems thinking, change leadership, and management of change (MOC), ensuring this content stays current and governed.
- Contribute to and implement enterprise L&D initiatives (e.g., POKA, iLearn/GROW, Training Foundations, onboarding standards, CB App standards), ensuring effective adoption and governance within the Production, ME and SH&E functions.
- Ensure fulfillment of NAOOMI requirements and alignment of functional training programs to compliance and safety expectations.
- Ensure functional training programs include both Field and Corporate One Operations employees in scope, driving consistency and accessibility in capability development.
- Assess and track skill gaps, progression, and readiness; monitor and report on key metrics (e.g., time-to-competency, compliance, training completion, adoption, and readiness) to inform decisions and track impact.
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources, Learning & Development, Engineering, Occupational Safety, or a related functional field preferred.
- 7-10 years of experience in Learning & Development, Functional Training, Operations, Manufacturing/Production, EHS/Safety, or HR-preferably within a manufacturing or operations environment.
- Experience supporting or working within operations environments (e.g., manufacturing, production, safety, supply chain), with an understanding of site-based capability needs, safety/regulatory requirements, and operational priorities.
- Certified Nestlé Trainer for classroom delivery required; floor trainer certification optional.
- Experience within the supported function(s)-ME/Production or SH&E-as a practitioner or subject matter expert, with the ability to translate real-world expertise into scalable training solutions.
- Experience designing and delivering functional training programs or capability-building strategies, including onboarding, certification, and skills-development initiatives.
- Exposure to digital learning tools and platforms (e.g., LMS, POKA, digital work instructions, learning experience platforms) and technology-enabled training solutions preferred.
- Willingness to travel as needed.
Skills & Competencies
