Plant Planner / Continuous Improvement Lead

General Motors; Canada; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A major automotive manufacturer is seeking a Plant Planner / Continuous Improvement Lead at the Oshawa Assembly Plant. This role focuses on driving operational efficiency and spearheading continuous improvement initiatives using advanced technologies. Candidates should have over 5 years of manufacturing experience and a relevant degree. The position offers comprehensive benefits and a commitment to innovation.

Benefits

Paid time off

Healthcare benefits

Life insurance plans

Pension plan contributions

Vehicle purchase plan

Qualifications

• 5+ years of manufacturing experience.
• Excellent organization and ability to manage multiple projects.
• Effective communication with internal and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Drive operational efficiency at Oshawa Assembly.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives leveraging AI and digital tools.
• Manage budget planning and execution for special assignments.

Skills

Manufacturing experience

Organizational skills

Analytical and problem-solving abilities

Communication skills

Education

Post secondary degree or diploma

Job description

Onsite

This role is categorized as onsite. This means the successful candidate is expected to report to Oshawa Assembly on a full-time basis.

Overview

We’re seeking a strategic, forward-thinking leader for the role of Plant Planner / Continuous Improvement Lead at our Oshawa Assembly Plant. This high-impact position drives operational efficiency, leads enterprise-wide continuous improvement, and integrates advanced technologies—including AI—to elevate performance and decision-making. If you're passionate about transformation, innovation, and leveraging technology to deliver results, we invite you to explore this exciting opportunity.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Planning & Business Support
• Partner with the Functional Leader to support business operations, including strategic initiatives and special assignments.
• Lead the execution of portfolio and business planning processes, ensuring alignment with plant and enterprise objectives.
• Manage and prioritize complex projects, balancing strategic goals with operational requirements.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive business cases, including deliverables, benefits, and timelines.
• Analyze performance against business plans and provide actionable insights based on data-driven evaluations.
• Oversee budget planning and execution, while managing high-priority special assignments.

• Plant Planning & Cross-Functional Coordination
• Lead the plant planning organization, facilitating weekly meetings to align and coordinate key change initiatives across departments.
• Oversee model year change execution and program planning, coordinating timely task completion and sharing essential information with plant stakeholders.
• Be the ‘voice for Oshawa’ while serving as primary liaison between Program Teams and the plant by reviewing Change Requests (CRs) and Decision Notices (DNs) in PET meetings, distilling key information, and communicating with plant stakeholders.
• Contribute to plant engineering change meetings with emphasis on coordinating and supporting changes impacting multiple departments.

• Operational Excellence & Innovation
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives across the enterprise, leveraging AI and digital tools to optimize processes and enhance operational agility.
• Drive cost reduction and efficiency through structured improvement projects and cross-functional collaboration.
• Support GMS execution and specifically Standardization efforts as SME in the Standardization Basketweave, to ensure consistent performance across the plant.
• Champion the Plan for Change (PFC) process for consistent execution plantwide.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of manufacturing experience
• Post secondary degree or diploma OR equivalent training and experience
• Functional expertise in model year change cycle and manufacturing engineering change processes
• Excellent organization, analytical and problem-solving abilities. Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and assignments with a high level of autonomy and accountability for results
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate with diverse teams, inclusive of internal and external stakeholders, as well as Unifor
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and adapt to changing priorities and requirements
• Be a change agent for innovation
• Ability to influence without authority

Benefits

• Paid time off including vacation days, holidays, and supplemental benefits for pregnancy, parental and adoption leave.
• Healthcare, dental and vision benefits including health care spending account and wellness incentive.
• Life insurance plans to cover you and your family.
• Company and matching contributions to a Defined Contribution Pension plan to help you save for retirement.
• GM Vehicle Purchase Plan for you, your family, and friends.

GM DOES NOT PROVIDE IMMIGRATION-RELATED SPONSORSHIP FOR THIS ROLE. DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS ROLE IF YOU WILL NEED GM IMMIGRATION SPONSORSHIP NOW OR IN THE FUTURE.

About GM

Our vision is a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion and we embrace the responsibility to lead the change that will make our world better, safer and more equitable for all.

Why Join Us

We believe we all must make a choice every day – individually and collectively – to drive meaningful change through our words, our deeds and our culture. Every day, we want every employee to feel they belong to one General Motors team.

Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunities

General Motors is committed to being a workplace that is not only free of unlawful discrimination, but one that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. We strongly believe that providing an inclusive workplace creates an environment in which our employees can thrive and develop better products for our customers.

We encourage interested candidates to review the key responsibilities and qualifications for each role and apply for any positions that match their skills and capabilities. Applicants in the recruitment process may be required, where applicable, to successfully complete a role-related assessment(s) and/or a pre-employment screening prior to beginning employment. To learn more, visit How we Hire.

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