POSITION:  Director of Continuous Improvement

JOB LOCATION:  Chicagoland, Washington DC, or New Jersey preferred; or Remote with travel

REPORTS TO: VP, Supply Chain and Continuous Improvement

TRAVEL: 50-75% depending on location

We are seeking a Director of Continuous Improvement to lead the development and deployment of the Lean Business System within our client company. This is an exciting opportunity to join a greenfield environment as they begin their Lean journey. The Director of CI will be responsible for driving a culture of Continuous Improvement from the back office to the shop floor. They will train and educate employees while being hands-on to drive immediate value to the organization.

This role will make an immediate impact by…

·       Developing and deploying the company’s Business system within all areas of the business, including back office processes, engineering, and manufacturing shop floor

·       Training and leading employees on their Lean journey while sustaining results for long-term adaption and success

·       Partnering with key leaders to create and build out the Business System structure and roadmap to facilitate across the organization

·       Partnering with each Business Unit leadership team on standardized implementation, documentation, templates, etc. to ensure alignment

·       Coordinating with BUs on their continued progress as the system scales and matures

·       Aligning Business System tools and principles to short- and long-term business needs

·       Training and developing team members from senior leadership to shop floor associates on Lean

·       Driving the culture of the company with Kaizen and continuous improvement at the core

·       Creating sustainable processes to ensure buy-in and education on Lean manufacturing tools

·       Leading central Kaizen funnel review and facilitating events at plant locations

·       Assuring effectiveness of Kaizen events by accounting for proven sustainability of event results and training site-level teams

·       Building a team of self-sufficient Lean champions at key operational sites and functions to drive daily best practices and waste reduction

·       Utilizing Lean tools, bowlers, problem-solving process, and action plans

·       Reporting and quantifying the impact of the Business System on key KPIs

·       Preparing for the rollout of Policy Deployment as the Business System matures to achieve breakthroughs for the long-term strategy of the business

·       Develop roadmap for Business System deployment across business units and key sites within the company

·       Introduce and work to establish a culture of Continuous Improvement across the business through training, Kaizen events, and establishment of key foundational Lean tools (Standard Work, Daily/Visual Management, 5S, etc.)

·       Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, or related field

·       Minimum 5 years of experience deploying Lean in a manufacturing environment

·       Minimum 10 years of overall experience within Operations, Continuous Improvement, and/or Supply Chain roles

·       Demonstrated knowledge of Visual Management, Standard Work, Kaizen, Kanban, SIOP, Daily Management, 5S, Visual Management, 3P, SMED, TPM, Transactional Process Improvement, etc.

·       Experience in a complex and/or engineered-to-order manufacturing environment preferred

·       Experience leading improvement initiatives with an emphasis on problem-solving

·       Ability to collaborate cross-functionally and engage with all levels of the organization, from the leadership team to the shop floor

·       MS Office Suite proficiency, strong MS Excel skills