Continuous Improvement Engineer

Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions; Centerville (IA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions is seeking a Continuous Improvement Engineer to drive targeted, measurable, and sustainable improvements across operations and support functions. Responsibilities include co-owning strategy and tactical development for site initiatives and coaching lean capabilities within the organization.

The CI Engineer will act as an individual contributor, team facilitator, and coach, fostering a culture of Kaizen and structured problem solving as a driver of growth.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of Continuous Improvement experience or a relevant bachelor's degree with equivalent education/experience.
• Experience coaching lean tools and leading Kaizen activities.

Responsibilities

• Coach others to identify and reduce waste.
• Lead and participate in cross-functional teams.
• Use data-based decision making and problem solving processes.

Skills

Lean

Kaizen

Data-driven decisions

Coaching

Cross-functional teamwork

Project management

People management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Job Title: Continuous Improvement Engineer

What we are looking for:

We are looking for a Continuous Improvement (CI) Engineer to have responsibility for driving the organization to targeted, measurable and sustainable improvements across all operations and support functions. Expectations include co-owning strategy and tactical development and execution for site initiatives and coaching lean capabilities within the organization.

The CI Engineer will work as an individual contributor, team facilitator and/or coach. Candidate will be expected to build & foster a business environment that embraces Kaizen / Continuous Improvement (CI) and structured problem solving as a key to the company’s ongoing growth and success. The position is part of operations and will directly report to the factory CI Leader.

Responsibilities of this role:

• Formally and informally coaching others to identify and take action to reduce waste
• Forming, facilitating, leading & participating on cross-functional teams
• Using and coaching data-based decision making and problem-solving processes.
• Facilitating, Leading & participating in lean conversion actions.
• Formally and informally training in use of lean tools
• Developing Lean muscle across the organization
• Working cross-functionally as a problem-solver and team builder
• Organizing Kaizen events, and associated logistics
• Projecting a positive, solution-seeking attitude in all business interactions
• Work well in team environments, both as individual contributor and leader
• Motivate others to engage, support, and share our vision
• Communicate effectively across various levels within the organization.
• Adapt and stay flexible within multiple business environments, audiences and priorities.
• Documenting and developing process and system documentation as appropriate
• Writing business cases, capital expenditure requests and assessing financial impact of sustained CI action.
• Leading / Co-Leading facility and operations upgrades or enhancements
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

Basic Qualifications:

• 3+ years of Continuous Improvement Experience; will consider all candidates with relevant bachelor's degree and/or equivalent combination of education and experience that meet the expectations of the job.

Preferred qualifications:

• Able to speak the language of LEAN and excited about continued growth
• Understanding and experience in use and coaching of TPS/Lean Fundamentals such as5S, SW, PSP, Kaizen, DM, VSM, TPI, Poka-Yoke, etc.
• Experience leading a Kaizen Promotion Office (KPO)
• Experienced leading / facilitating Kaizens through a Lean OPEX conversion
• Cross functional experience in Operations / Material Flow / Supply Chain Mgmt. / Customer Support / Accounting / Product Development
• Experience with Project and Change Management tools
• Some Project Management experience
• Experience as a people manager or production supervisor
• Strong Computer & MS Office Skills

To be a great fit for the role:

• All of the above plus advanced (10-15 years) of proven LEAN / OPEX experience
• Has acted as CI, Lean or OPEX Sensei, Trainer, Manager, or coach.
• Demonstrated success with team building / leading and facilitation skills
• Strong listening and coaching skillset.
• Proven ability to effectively communicate and influence across functions and at all levels within the organization
• Ability to manage projects independently with little to no supervision
• Recognize organization roadblocks and be able to use change management techniques to navigate towards solutions
• Experience developing Lean Muscle across Cross-Functional Departments