Circular Economy Lead

Job Title:  Sr. Circular Economy Lead

Job Code(s): RMU506   

Revision Date:   12/18/24

Location: Hybrid in Granville or Remote work arrangement

The Sr. Circular Economy Lead role requires collaborative project execution in pursuit of key Circular Economy agendas, specifically responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing strategies to minimize waste generation and waste to landfill at Owens Corning.  This role involves analyzing waste streams, establishing accurate measurement, and reporting practices, developing reduction, recycling, and reuse projects in collaboration with various functions to advance OC’s Zero Waste to Landfill Goal.

This position will have direct and immediate impact on several Owens Corning (OC) sustainability goals and guiding aspirations for 2030, which include halving the negative impact of our operations and having a positive impact on our communities through waste reduction and development of a circular economy.

Reports to:  Circular Economy Leader

Span of Control:  Individual Contributor

Waste Management Strategy (25%):

• Support the integration of OC’s waste reduction goals and reduction strategies across plants in the OC Network.
• Collaborate with business operations to identify and prioritize waste reduction and recycling opportunities.
• Quantify the value of waste reduction and landfill avoidance to support the development of business justification for investments in technology, process improvements, and personnel support.
• Promote OC’s circular economy agenda internally and externally.
• Report progress on active projects to key stakeholders in the business operations and enterprise.
• Stay updated on industry trends and innovations in waste reduction and recycling technologies.

Drive Programs in Waste Reduction, Recycling, and Diversion (75%):

• Develop waste loss maps, analyze, and collaborate with plant teams and business operations to identify opportunities to optimize processes to improve material efficiency and reduce waste generation.
• Identify, develop, and support the execution reduction projects. 
• Develop and deploy waste management standards at plants. Implement consistent waste segregation practices, develop waste measurement methods where required, and streamline waste reporting.  
• Working with members of the circular economy team develop and expand diversion of waste to external outlets. Support the waste material qualification and testing process with external outlets, work with the plant to establish staging and material handling practices to facilitate movement.
• Support the evaluation of solutions waste pre-processing to facilitate diversion and recycling. Collaborate to establish effective test and learn approaches with external vendors and internal R&D teams.
• Track and report on waste metrics including reduction, recycling rates, cost savings.
• Train employees and stakeholders on waste management best practices and various best practices associated with different sustainability initiatives.
• Monitor market developments and identify alternate applications for OC waste and develop specifications to waste material reuse and recycling.
• Support enterprise data monthly reporting for waste metrics and inputs to the annual Sustainability Report.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• B. S. Eng, Sciences, Operations
• 7 years of experience
• Ability to travel up to 30%.

EXPERIENCE:

• Strong knowledge of waste management systems, recycling process, and sustainability principles
• Proficiency in data analysis tool and techniques to track progress and report metrics.

• Excellent project management skills and ability to prioritize and meet deadline. Experience preferably in waste reduction, recycling/reuse, diversion, material sourcing or continuous improvement initiatives in manufacturing environment.

• Strong Communication and interpersonal skills to collaborate across functions and to influence key stakeholders.

• A background supporting and company with global operations and comfort operating across cultures and language barriers.
• A business-oriented approach to one’s work with sound judgement.  Effective collaborator that creatively thinks through how best to accomplish business goals.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES:

• Manufacturing operations, process engineering, material sciences, environmental engineering knowledge.
• Ability to quickly learn technical details of process, product, and materials.
• MS Excel – advanced user with pivot tables, graphs, data manipulation.
• Power BI experience a plus.
• Continuous improvement/TPM certifications a plus.
• Experience in plant operations a plus.
• Certification in waste management or sustainability a plus.
• Experience with circular economy or closed-loop systems a plus.

LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES & PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS:

• Connection: Collaborates across the enterprise and functional areas working in partnership that meet business needs toward shared goals. Influences, inspires, and energizes others to engage in learning and achieve shared goals.  Builds strong relationships internally and externally. Embodies inclusion and empowers others to grow.
• Evaluation:  Must be detail and numbers-oriented, with ability to analyze data, circumstances and connect the dots.
• Action:  Must be a self-starter with ability to multi-task and get results by being flexible, accessible, and focus on top priorities that will result in achievement of company goals and objectives with limited direction or supervision.
• Ideation:  Demands continuous improvement in oneself and embraces curiosity.  Values learning and achievement.  Openly shares mistakes, recognizing failure as a valuable part of learning.

Join an organization that believes that every employee owns a piece of our bold growth and sustainability goals, and ultimate success. We are a market-leading innovator that has earned a place on the Fortune 500® for 66 consecutive years, and on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for 12 consecutive years. Owens Corning is devoted to delivering sustainable solutions across our three business segments while striving to ensure our people and products make the world a better place.

We take pride in having an inclusive and diverse workplace with employees around the globe.  A holistic sense of community exists across our entire organization as our talent grows globally. We are a company that fully recognizes the importance of paving a path to a sustainable and safe enterprise through investing in our people. Our desire to make an impactful difference in the world flows from top down to all levels of the organization. By being a company that instills pride within every employee, we aspire to build market-leading businesses; global in scope - human in scale.