Continuous Improvement Manager

Continuous Improvement Manager

We are partnering with a rapidly growing food and beverage manufacturer that is leading the industry in innovation! They are looking for a Continuous Improvement Manager who will work to enhance safety, quality, productivity, and financial performance by leveraging training, coaching, and advanced Op-Ex tools. This position will act as a key change agent while ensuring alignment with organizational goals while driving operational transformation and efficiency. This role requires extensive hands-on expertise, coupled with the ability to inspire cultural change and champion continuous improvement through strong leadership and collaborative efforts and will report to the Director of Continuous Improvement.

Location: Greater Rochester, NY (relocation assistance available)

Job Responsibilities:

• Lead the implementation of the Operational Excellence framework and its site to deliver measurable performance improvements
• Provide strategic leadership, training, and mentorship to employees at all levels, fostering the effective adoption of Operational Excellence principles.
• Ensure that there is an effective and efficient system of internal controls including data integrity, asset protection, segregation of duties, budgeting, financial reporting, information systems, and adherence to corporate policies and governmental regulations (GAAP, SOX compliance, etc.).
• Develop and deliver targeted training programs that engage employees across all organizational levels, ensuring broad participation and understanding.
• Lead proactive development of contingency plans, productivity improvement, and corrective actions to ensure facility financial results are optimized. Organize and facilitate Problem Solving workshops and Kaizen events to achieve significant, measurable process enhancements.
• Oversee the Op-Ex Scorecard and design strategic Continuous Improvement (CI)/Kaizen roadmaps aligned with company objectives.
• Define, monitor, and analyze performance metrics, identifying gaps and driving actionable solutions for improvement.
• Collaborate with finance teams to monitor and report financial outcomes, ensuring ROI (Return on Investment) for Operational Excellence initiatives.
• Strong expertise daily management, tier’s meetings cascade, problem solving, standard work, single minute exchange of die (SMED)
• Excellent organizational, time management, and project management skills
• Demonstrated ability to create strong working relationships and lead the work of others.
• Ability to gather and analyze data and draw logical conclusions.

Required Skills/Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree required in engineering, business, or technical discipline
• 5 - 10 years of proven project management and process improvement skills including strong knowledge of root cause analysis, Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, certifications a plus.
• Experience in process improvement implementation
• Experience training others in the use of Lean and/or Six Sigma tools, and experience with lean approaches to improvement.
• Strong leadership, communication, and team-building skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment.
• Ability to travel up to 10%.