Black Belt - Continuous Improvement Manager

What You'll Do

• Lead enterprise-wide Lean Six Sigma and Continuous Improvement initiatives focused on sustainability, standardization, and measurable business impact.
• Partner with senior leaders across Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, and other functions to identify and prioritize high-impact improvement opportunities.
• Apply structured problem-solving, data analysis, and root cause methodologies to improve operational efficiency, throughput, quality, service, and cost.
• Establish clear measurement systems and performance indicators to baseline performance, monitor progress, and sustain project results.
• Serve as a change leader and global CI resource, coaching and influencing stakeholders from shop-floor teams through executive leadership.
• Coach, mentor, and develop Lean Six Sigma Green Belts, junior staff, interns, and co-op students while supporting formal CI training and capability building.
• Support knowledge sharing, standard work, and scalable best practices across Neogen sites in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
• Deliver project outcomes aligned with strategic goals across people, safety, quality, delivery, and cost (PSQDC), with global travel as business needs require.

What Success Looks Like

• High-impact CI projects deliver measurable, sustained improvements aligned with Neogen's strategic and operational priorities.
• Leaders and site teams use clear measures, standard work, and structured problem-solving to sustain improvements after implementation.
• Productive partnerships are established across functions, sites, and regions, enabling solutions to be shared and scaled globally.
• Green Belts, junior team members, interns, and co-op students build stronger Continuous Improvement capability through effective coaching and mentorship.

What You Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification from a recognized institution or a comparable company-sponsored certification program.
• 7-10 years of progressive experience leading and implementing Lean Six Sigma or Continuous Improvement initiatives in a manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated success diagnosing operational issues and delivering measurable, sustainable performance improvements through structured problem-solving and root cause analysis.
• Strong change-management, communication, facilitation, and stakeholder-engagement skills, with the ability to influence across functions, organizational levels, and cultures.
• Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally approximately 30%-50%.

Work Environment & Physical Requirements

This is an on-site role based in Lexington, Kentucky, with regular collaboration across manufacturing and business functions. The position requires global travel approximately 30%-50% to support Neogen sites across the U.S., Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Reasonable accommodations may be available for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Helpful, not required

Experience in food safety, animal safety, biotechnology, regulated life sciences manufacturing, GMP/FDA/EU environments, or lab-based production settings; an MBA or formal business/operations management training; experience developing formal training programs; and Spanish or other second-language skills.