Megan Gillespie
Los Angeles,CA
Summary
Operations executive offering over 15 years of proven success in manufacturing and production, quality assurance and leadership. Highly skilled in streamlining operations and improving throughput through continuous process improvement and cross-functional collaboration. Accomplished in building high-performing teams and inspiring staff to achieve goals.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
Head of Quality and Continuous Improvement
Dandy
10.2022 - 07.2023
- Teamed with disciplinary leaders on determining annual operational targets and outlining needed quality improvements.
- Managed development and implementation of lean and continuous improvement manufacturing initiatives across production and design environment
- Championed new Lean strategies, framework and project elements to drive multidisciplinary growth and process overhaul.
- Determined quality department standards, practices and procedures.
- Scheduled and chaired quality review meetings to review effectiveness of performance mitigating risk, improving throughput and achieving customer satisfaction.
Vice President, Farm Operations
Plenty
01.2021 - 10.2022
- Establish and administer annual budget with controls to prevent overages, minimize burn rate and support sustainability objectives.
- Spearhead cross-functional initiatives across departments to achieve business goals for current and future farm deployment
- Identify opportunities to improve business process flows and overall departmental productivity.
- Establish performance goals for department and provide methods for reaching milestones.
- Direct initiatives to achieve regulatory compliance, foster good manufacturing practices and meet highest product quality standards.
- Developed operational excellence and org strategy for future farm deployment
- Lead 90-member manufacturing and product operations team over multiple locations
Director, Farm Operations
Plenty
09.2020 - 01.2021
- Focused teams on developing innovative and cutting-edge approaches with effective resource allocation and strategic planning.
- Created annual budget and developed comprehensive plan to accomplish company objectives while staying within budget.
- Worked closely with organizational leadership and board of directors to strategically affect operational direction.
- Set, enforced and optimized internal policies to maintain responsiveness to demands.
- Hired and directed teams to achieve daily and long-term operations and business goals.
- Created and applied new business analytics and reporting tool across 3 farms
Director, Continuous Improvement
Plenty
06.2020 - 09.2020
- Teamed with disciplinary leaders on determining annual operational targets and outlining needed efficiency and quality improvements.
- Focused teams on developing innovative and cutting-edge approaches with effective resource allocation and strategic planning.
- Managed development and implementation of lean and continuous improvement manufacturing initiatives across production environment.
- Acted as voice of customer for future farm design and deployment strategy
- Served as lean manufacturing resource, champion, and subject matter expert
- Implemented lean production methods to reduce waste by 50%
Senior Manager, Farm Operations
Plenty
03.2019 - 06.2020
- Developed and built operations org for Plenty in order to scale business operations.
- Scaled team from 15 to 70 over course of one year.
- Launched first production farm with highest standards of food and product safety securing sales with company's first national retailer.
- Developed and executed day to day operations to meet and exceed company objectives and key results.
- Implemented world class food safety program and achieved SQF certification.
- Rapidly scaled and trained operations headcount in order to support launch of first production farm.
Process Engineering Manager, Model 3 GA
Tesla
07.2017 - 03.2019
- Developed documentation, diagrams and specifications to meet project requirements and regulatory standards.
- Established project schedules and monitored tasks to meet milestones during each phase of Model 3 launch in General Assembly.
- Led team of 77 engineers, technicians, and contractors on several complex projects.
- Reviewed processes, identifying areas that required improvement.
- Met weekly with CEO to discuss project implementations and alleviate any issues or blockers for launch.
- Developed manufacturing processes that were robust yet simple to perform.
- Provided technical leadership for company to effectively steer strategic plans and future projects.
Quality Manager
Wolverine Advanced Materials LLC
03.2016 - 07.2017
- Followed quality standards and procedures to minimize errors and maximize customer satisfaction.
- Updated quality control standards, methods and procedures to meet compliance requirements.
- Improved quality processes for increased efficiency and effectiveness.
- Implemented corrective action strategy which resulted in root cause and closure of all customer complaints within 30 days.
- Managed and archived quality documentation and participated in internal and external quality audits.
Plant Manager
Harmon Inc
07.2014 - 01.2016
- Provided direction and leadership to all levels of employees and managers.
- Managed direction and planning for plant with focus on optimization of daily functions, exceeding customer expectations and achieving KPIs.
- Directed employees and related programs to maximize team productivity and facility output.
- Maintained quality of product with robust inspections and assessment team.
- Implemented continuous improvement culture and improved audit scores 75%.
- Facilitated kaizen improving production efficiency by 65%
Field Sales Engineer
Schaeffler Group USA
02.2013 - 06.2014
- Delivered technical sales presentations to prospects and presented benefits and value of products.
- Reviewed all customer inquiries to understand project scope while managing internal delivery mechanisms.
- Identified sales opportunities by assessing environment and devising and implementing winning strategy.
- Reviewed customer inquiries to understand project scope while managing internal delivery mechanisms.
- Managed accounts totaling $3 million in annual sales.
Production Supervisor
GE Aviation
11.2011 - 12.2012
- Maintained clean and well-organized production areas to avoid violations or unnecessary work delays due to hazards or inefficient layouts.
- Evaluated employee skills and knowledge regularly, training and mentoring individuals with lagging skills.
- Conducted routine inspections of incoming materials to check quality and compliance with established product specifications.
- Trained staff of direct labor employees to perform assembly and manufacture of specified products.
- Managed 25 employees and $8 million per month of production inventory.
Engineering Leadership Development Program
Kollmorgen, Danaher
01.2008 - 11.2011
- Participated and excelled in Danaher's ELDP rotational program.
- Spent rotations as Quality Engineer, Process Engineer, and Area Manager.
- Developed and implemented best practices in each rotation to achieve company objectives.
- Achieved or exceeded all KPIs in each rotation
- Improved production line to 100% OTD and $0 past due thorough efficiency improvements.
- Managed 4 manufacturing cells accounting for $25 million of annual revenue.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Industrial And Systems Engineering
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA05.2008
Skills
- Relationship and Team Building
- Executive Leadership
- Effective Communicator and Public Speaker
- Problem Anticipation and Resolution
- Strategic Planning and Execution
- Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement
Accomplishments
- San Francisco Business Times 2021 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business award recipient
Timeline
Head of Quality and Continuous Improvement
Dandy
10.2022 - 07.2023
Vice President, Farm Operations
Plenty
01.2021 - 10.2022
Director, Farm Operations
Plenty
09.2020 - 01.2021
Director, Continuous Improvement
Plenty
06.2020 - 09.2020
Senior Manager, Farm Operations
Plenty
03.2019 - 06.2020
Process Engineering Manager, Model 3 GA
Tesla
07.2017 - 03.2019
Quality Manager
Wolverine Advanced Materials LLC
03.2016 - 07.2017
Plant Manager
Harmon Inc
07.2014 - 01.2016
Field Sales Engineer
Schaeffler Group USA
02.2013 - 06.2014
Production Supervisor
GE Aviation
11.2011 - 12.2012
Engineering Leadership Development Program
Kollmorgen, Danaher
01.2008 - 11.2011
Bachelor of Science - Industrial And Systems Engineering
Virginia Tech