What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Continuous Improvement position at Westrock Coffee?
The Director of Continuous Improvement (CI) for a company is the person in charge of developing, planning, and executing the strategy that results in eliminating waste, improving customer satisfaction, and increasing market share. A Continuous Improvement Director is not only highly competent as a process manager skilled in project design, planning, and implementation to ensure performance and process development, but also as a leader who drives the CI initiatives in the company.
A Director of Continuous Improvement measures and tests corporate procedures to improve production efficiency. They are analytical project coordinators, understand complicated ideas, and develop strategic decisions through problem-solving skills.
A successful Director of CI has a depth of process improvement experience in manufacturing and/or supply chain, including several years of experience leading and executing process improvement projects using Lean and Six Sigma and other continuous improvement principles. Additionally, this role requires hands-on knowledge of manufacturing, warehouse, logistics, distribution, or engineering as well as experience as a Lean transformation leader with a broad cross-functional background.
A Director of Continuous Improvement measures and tests corporate procedures to improve production efficiency. They are analytical project coordinators, understand complicated ideas, and develop strategic decisions through problem-solving skills.
A successful Director of CI has a depth of process improvement experience in manufacturing and/or supply chain, including several years of experience leading and executing process improvement projects using Lean and Six Sigma and other continuous improvement principles. Additionally, this role requires hands-on knowledge of manufacturing, warehouse, logistics, distribution, or engineering as well as experience as a Lean transformation leader with a broad cross-functional background.
Job Duties:
- Managing and facilitating all Continuous Improvement initiatives and strategy
- Driving a continuous improvement culture within the organization by prioritizing opportunities and execution of a Lean transformation strategy and metrics
- Using metrics to provide support to process owners in linking projects to strategic operational objectives
- Driving plant cost savings initiatives
- Assisting teams in developing Lean roadmaps to use in the deployment of strategic objectives
- Ensuring successful definition and execution of large, cross-functional improvement initiatives tied to annual strategic priorities
- Identifying best practices within and outside the company and serving as a channel for best-practice sharing and adoption across business units
- Providing guidance for projects and kaizen events
- Managing and facilitating continuous improvement projects and kaizen events to improve productivity and accelerate growth
- Challenging organizational leaders when necessary to create an action-based culture of continuous improvement and increase CI and Lean-oriented thinking throughout the organization
- Working with the finance department to evaluate project savings estimates, validate reported CI benefits, and ensure accurate accounting of CI productivity
- Analyzing company processes and procedures
- Developing process enhancement strategies
- Establishing norms and standards of company performance
- Monitoring staff performance and organizational processes
- Communicating ideas and opinions to other members of management
- Collaborating with other stakeholders to enhance productivity and staff satisfaction
- Training, mentoring, and guiding team members in new processes
- Staying up-to-date with developments in management and process optimization
Qualifications:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Predisposition to teach leaders and others a zero defect mentality
- Ability to weigh and manage priorities
- Skilled at synthesis and analysis
- Strategic and analytical thinker
- Leadership and coaching skills
- Project management
- 5 years of experience in process optimization, operations, or business management
- Continual Improvement Process
- Kaizen
- Six Sigma Black Belt
- Lean Manufacturing
- Advanced skills in the use of data management tools to monitor progress toward goals
- Continuous Improvement
- 5S
- Root Cause Analysis
- Value Stream Mapping
- Proficiency in commonly used and specialized software
- Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Suite, including advanced skills with Excel
- Demonstrated ability to work in high paced and changing environments
- Bachelor's Degree in business administration, process management, operations, industrial engineering, or engineering management. Some employers require a graduate degree in engineering, business or an MBA concentrating in Business Administration, Economics, Educational Management, Marketing Management, Project Management, Accounting, or a related field.
