Continuous Improvement Engineer

Kelly Services; Town of Germantown (WI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

Retirement plan

Paid holidays

Transit benefit

Paid sick leave

Job summary

Kelly Engineering in Germantown, WI is seeking a Direct Hire Continuous Improvement Manager to drive lean transformation across global sites. You will coach leaders, lead kaizen events, and deploy standardized lean tools to deliver measurable improvements.

The role requires a BS in Engineering or related field, 5+ years in manufacturing/operational excellence, and Six Sigma Green Belt or higher. You will report to the executive team and help build a high-performing lean organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum 5+ years of experience in manufacturing, operations, operational excellence, or lean transformation.
• Minimum 3+ years of leadership experience, project teams, or cross-functional improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead the enterprise lean strategy across business units and global sites.
• Coach plant leaders and cross-functional teams on lean journey through assessments and roadmaps.
• Conduct lean maturity assessments to identify waste and improvement opportunities.
• Develop and manage enterprise CI initiatives with measurable business impact.
• Facilitate kaizen events, value stream mapping, and standard work across operations.
• Report progress, risks, and financial impact to executive leadership.

Skills

Lean manufacturing

Leadership

Value stream mapping

Kaizen events

Six Sigma Green Belt

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering or related field

Tools

MS Excel

Job description

Kelly Engineering is currently recruiting for a Direct Hire | Continuous Improvement Manager position based in Germantown, WI . The Continuous Improvement Manager leads the development, deployment, and sustainment of lean manufacturing principles across business units and global manufacturing sites. This role is responsible for building a culture of continuous improvement from the production floor to the executive team by coaching site leaders, facilitating global lean meetings, conducting operational assessments, creating action plans, developing team capabilities, and reporting progress, risks, and results to the executive leadership team.

• Lead the enterprise lean manufacturing strategy across business units, functions, and global manufacturing sites.
• Champion and sustain a culture of continuous improvement, operational discipline, employee engagement, and accountability at all levels of the organization.
• Coach plant leaders, functional leaders, and site teams on their lean journey through structured assessments, gap analysis, roadmap development, and action plan execution.
• Conduct periodic lean maturity assessments and operational diagnostics to identify waste, variation, bottlenecks, and improvement opportunities across safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, and employee engagement.
• Develop, prioritize, and manage enterprise continuous improvement initiatives that create measurable business impact and align with strategic goals.
• Facilitate global lean meetings, governance reviews, best-practice sharing, kaizen planning, and cross-site collaboration.
• Report progress, performance trends, financial impact, risks, barriers, and resource needs to the executive leadership team using clear metrics and actionable recommendations.
• Build, develop, and lead a team of lean practitioners, site champions, and cross-functional project leaders capable of driving sustainable improvement.
• Establish and maintain standard lean tools, processes, training materials, visual management systems, and governance mechanisms used across operations.
• Lead and support kaizen events, value stream mapping, standard work, visual management, 5S, SMED, pull systems, problem solving, and other lean initiatives as appropriate.
• Partner with site leadership, operations, quality, engineering, supply chain, human resources, and finance to remove barriers and accelerate improvement execution.
• Ensure continuous improvement initiatives are sustained through follow-up audits, performance reviews, control plans, and leadership accountability.

Experience and Skills

A qualified Continuous Improvement Manager would fulfill these requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum 5+ years of experience in manufacturing, operations, operational excellence, continuous improvement, or lean transformation; multi-site or global manufacturing experience preferred.
• Minimum 3+ years of leadership experience, project teams, lean practitioners, or cross-functional improvement initiatives.
• Six Sigma Green Belt required; Six Sigma Black Belt, Lean Certification, or equivalent operational excellence certification preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading lean transformations, kaizen events, value stream mapping, standard work, visual management, 5S, SMED, pull systems, mistake proofing, and structured problem solving.
• Demonstrated ability to assess site maturity, identify gaps, create improvement roadmaps, develop action plans, and follow up to ensure sustainment.
• Strong executive communication skills with the ability to prepare and present performance updates, business cases, financial impact, risks, and recommendations to senior leaders.
• Strong team building, coaching, facilitation, decision making, change management, and people leadership skills.
• Strong troubleshooting, problem-solving, project management, data analysis, and communication skills needed to drive improvement from the production floor to the boardroom.
• Experience in plastics, injection molding, tooling, engineering, operations, or regulated manufacturing environments is preferred.
• Basic knowledge of FDA and ISO/QS/TS Quality Systems is preferred.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally to support global sites, assessments, workshops, and leadership reviews as business needs require.

As part of our promise to talent, Kelly supports those who work with us through a variety of benefits, perks, and work-related resources.

Please note: The following benefits reflect Kelly's general offerings. Eligibility may vary by assignment, location, and job type.

• Kelly offers eligible employees voluntary benefit plans including medical, dental, vision, telemedicine, term life, whole life, accident insurance, critical illness, a legal plan, and short-term disability.
• As a Kelly employee, you will have access to a retirement savings plan, service bonus and holiday pay plans (earn up to eight paid holidays per benefit year), and a transit spending account.
• In addition, employees are entitled to earn paid sick leave under the applicable state or local plan.

for more information on benefits and perks that may be available to you as a member of the Kelly Talent Community.

Why Kelly ® Engineering?

Your engineering skills are in demand, but how do you find the right fit? Easy. At Kelly Engineering, our team creates expert talent solutions to solve the world’s most critical challenges. We connect you with leading organizations where you can collaborate on innovative projects, work with cutting-edge technologies and accelerate your growth. Whether you prefer the variety and flexibility of short-term projects or are looking for a long-term opportunity, we’re here to guide you to the next step in your engineering career.

About Kelly

Work changes everything. And at Kelly, we’re obsessed with where it can take you. To us, it’s about more than simply accepting your next job opportunity. It’s the fuel that powers every next step of your life. It’s the ripple effect that changes and improves everything for your family, your community, and the world. Which is why, here at Kelly, we are dedicated to providing you with limitless opportunities to enrich your life - just ask the 300,000 people we employ each year.

Kelly is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants regardless of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and we take affirmative action to recruit, employ, and advance qualified individuals with disabilities and protected veterans in the workforce. Requests for accommodation related to our application process can be directed to the Kelly Human Resource Knowledge Center. Kelly complies with the requirements of California’s state and local Fair Chance laws. A conviction does not automatically bar individuals from employment. Kelly participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

Kelly may use AI-powered tools during the recruitment and hiring process. For full details, including how Kelly uses AI, your rights, and how to request a reasonable accommodation, visit the Recruitment Artificial Intelligence Notice (https://www.kellyservices.com/hubfs/myKelly/Resources/Employment_Policies/Recruitment-Artificial-Intelligence-Notice.pdf?hsLang=en) .

Kelly Services is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative action employer. We welcome, value, and embrace diversity at all levels and are committed to building a team that is inclusive of a variety of backgrounds, communities, perspectives, and abilities. At Kelly, we believe that the more inclusive we are, the better services we can provide. Requests for accommodation related to our application process can be directed to Kelly’s Human Resource Knowledge Center. Kelly complies with the requirements of California’s state and local Fair Chance laws. A conviction does not automatically bar individuals from employment.