Senior Executive, Continuous Improvement

Whirlpool; Faridabad District; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Whirlpool is seeking a hands-on Continuous Improvement / Analytics professional in Haryana, India to lead improvement initiatives across manufacturing lines. You will drive value through structured kaizens, data-driven performance management, and cross‑functional project governance.

Apply AI tools on the shop floor, automate reporting, and mentor line supervisors for sustained gains. Responsibilities include managing a portfolio of improvement projects, building dashboards, performing root‑cause

Qualifications

• Hands-on continuous improvement experience in manufacturing with quantified savings.
• Strong analytical and problem‑structuring ability with large datasets.
• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects to timelines and benefits.
• Practical exposure to AI tools in professional context.
• Able to present to plant leadership and coach on the shop floor.
• 2-3 years of experience in project management/business analytics.

Responsibilities

• Map plant losses, convert them to cost, and prioritise improvement portfolio by impact-to-effort.
• Lead kaizens using structured methodologies (5-Why, PDCA, DMAIC, 7 QC tools, Ishikawa, SMED, Poka-Yoke, Value Stream Mapping).
• Drive 5S, standard work, visual management, and SOP discipline across lines.
• Prepare for audits, model-area development, and gap closure plans.
• Cascade improvement capability to supervisors and operators through structured training and coaching.
• Build and own plant performance dashboards (OEE, availability, scrap/rework, line balancing, throughput, cost per unit, productivity).
• Convert raw SAP/ERP data into a single source of truth; fix data-quality gaps.
• Perform root-cause variance analysis and translate findings into corrective actions.
• Quantify financial benefits and validate savings with Plant Finance.
• Support budgeting with loss-based analytics and publish regular performance reviews.
• Manage CAPEX/OPEX improvement proposals and post-implementation benefits.
• Sustain kaizens by standardising and deploying across lines and sister plants.
• Identify and pilot AI / advanced analytics use cases on the shop floor.
• Collaborate with Digital/IT to specify requirements and scale successful pilots.
• Automate recurring reporting via Power Query, macros, or scripting.
• Ensure all activity complies with EHS and Whirlpool quality systems.

Skills

Continuous improvement

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

Data analytics

Project management

AI tools exposure

Problem solving

Communication

Tools

Power Query

Macros

Scripting

AI tools

Job description

Role & responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

1. Continuous Improvement

• Map plant losses, convert them to cost, and prioritise the improvement portfolio by impact-to-effort.
• Lead kaizens using structured methodology: 5-Why, PDCA, DMAIC, 7 QC tools, Ishikawa, SMED, Poka-Yoke, Value Stream Mapping.
• Drive shop-floor basics 5S, standard work, visual management, OPL/SOP discipline — across cabinet foaming, assembly, and sub-assembly lines.
• Prepare the plant for internal and external audits, model-area development, and gap closure plans.
• Cascade continuous improvement capability to line supervisors and operators through structured training and coaching; grow the kaizen funnel (suggestion scheme, quick kaizens, standard kaizens, major kaizens).

2. Business Analytics & Performance Management

• Build and own plant performance dashboards covering OEE, availability, performance, scrap and rework, line balancing, throughput, conversion cost per unit, and manpower productivity.
• Convert raw SAP / ERP manual line data into a single, reliable source of truth; identify and fix data-quality gaps at source.
• Perform root-cause and variance analysis on production plan vs. actual, cost vs. budget, and loss trends; translate findings into specific, owner‑assigned corrective actions.
• Quantify the financial benefit of every improvement project and validate savings with Plant Finance before booking.
• Support the annual budgeting and cost‑reduction target‑setting exercise with bottom‑up, loss‑based analytics.
• Publish daily / weekly / monthly performance reviews for the plant leadership team and represent the plant in regional and corporate operations reviews.

3. Project Management

• Manage a portfolio of 10–20 concurrent improvement projects — define charter, scope, baseline, target, milestones, resources, and benefit realisation for each.
• Run structured governance: weekly project reviews, risk and issue logs, escalation to the steering committee.
• Coordinate cross‑functional teams spanning Production, Maintenance, Quality, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, Safety, HR, and Finance.
• Manage CAPEX and OPEX improvement proposals — business case, payback, IRR, approval routing, and post‑implementation benefit tracking.
• Ensure sustenance: standardise, horizontally deploy successful kaizens to other lines and sister plants, and audit for reversion.

4. AI & Digital Enablement

• Identify and pilot AI / advanced‑analytics use cases on the shop floor — predictive maintenance, demand and production forecasting, computer‑vision quality inspection, anomaly detection in process parameters, and automated defect classification.
• Use AI‑assisted tools (LLM copilots, automated document and report generation, code assistance) to accelerate analysis, reporting, and SOP creation.
• Partner with the Digital / IT team to specify requirements, run pilots, evaluate vendors, and scale successful use cases.
• Automate recurring manual reporting through Power Query, macros, or scripting — with a clear target of reducing manual reporting effort year on year.

5. Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Ensure all improvement activity complies with plant EHS standards, statutory requirements, and Whirlpool quality systems.
• Embed safety and quality gates into every kaizen; no productivity gain is accepted at the cost of safety or product quality.

Required Skills & Competencies

• Hands‑on continuous improvement experience in a manufacturing plant. Demonstrable, quantified savings delivered. Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification preferred.
• Strong analytical and problem‑structuring ability. Comfortable working with large, messy operational datasets and converting them into decision‑ready insight.
• Proven track record of managing multiple concurrent projects to committed timelines and benefit targets
• Practical, working exposure to AI tools in a professional context — using LLMs for analysis and automation.
• Able to present crisply to plant leadership and to coach on the shop floor with equal ease. Strong written documentation discipline
• 2-3 years of experience in project management/business analytics.

Preferred candidate profile

Perks and benefits