Senior Manager, Continuous Improvement

Summary of Objective

The Sr. Continuous Improvement Manager is a hands-on operational leader responsible for driving measurable performance improvements across manufacturing and business processes. This role requires a strong foundation in process engineering, data-driven problem solving, and Lean methodologies. The ideal candidate combines deep technical process expertise with structured continuous improvement leadership to deliver sustainable gains in efficiency, quality, cost, and throughput. This role works cross-functionally with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Maintenance to design, optimize, standardize, and control critical processes. This role will serve a member of the Site Leadership Team and dotted line into the Site Leader.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Create in conjunction with the Global OPEX Director / Site Leader, the lean vision for the site and implement the Lean Maturity Index to establish an Operational Center of excellence.
• Facilitate and Coach A3 projects, cross functional kaizen events and multi practitioner teams to drive best practice in process improvement.
• Lead end-to-end process analysis, mapping, and redesign initiatives.
• Identify bottlenecks, constraints, and variability drivers in manufacturing and operational workflows.
• Develop and implement process control strategies to reduce waste and improve stability.
• Apply statistical analysis and data modeling to validate improvements.
• Optimize cycle time, yield, OEE, capacity utilization, and labor efficiency.
• Drive standard work creation and process documentation discipline.
• Lead Kaizen events, value stream mapping sessions, and root cause investigations.
• Deploy Lean, Six Sigma, and structured problem-solving methodologies (DMAIC, PDCA, A3).
• Establish KPIs and dashboards to track improvement initiatives.
• Build a continuous improvement roadmap aligned with business objectives.
• Mentor and coach supervisors, engineers, and frontline leaders in CI tools.
• Ensure sustainability of improvements through governance and audit systems.
• Partner with SLT to manage organizational change and increase adoption of process improvements.
• Analyze process data to identify trends, variability, and improvement opportunities.
• Develop financial justifications and ROI models for improvement initiatives.
• Track cost savings, productivity gains, and quality improvements.
• Present performance results to senior leadership.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related field.
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification
• 8-10 years of experience in manufacturing, operations, or process engineering.
• 3+ years leading continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong hands-on experience with process mapping & value stream mapping
• Strong hands-on experience with root cause analysis (A3, 5-Why, Fishbone)
• Strong hands-on experience with OEE and productivity improvement
• Proven track record of delivering measurable cost savings and efficiency gains.
• Experience implementing Lean manufacturing systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification.
• Experience in high-volume or complex manufacturing environments within Food industry, Aerospace, Pharmaceutical or other GMP industries.
• Experience with ERP/MES systems and data visualization tools.
• Project management certification (PMP a plus)