Continuous Improvement Engineer – Lean & IPS Excellence

Ingredion Incorporated; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 84,000 - 113,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary & bonus

Comprehensive benefits

Tuition reimbursement

Recognition program

Employee discounts

Job summary

Ingredion Incorporated seeks a Continuous Improvement Engineer to join the Operations Excellence team at the Argo Plant in Bedford Park, IL. You will lead the CI/IPS program, support process studies, problem solving, and optimization, and drive KPI reporting and OEE improvements across the unit.

The role emphasizes training, Kaizen events, data‑driven decision making, and collaboration with plant leadership to achieve safety, quality, delivery, and cost goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial, Chemical, Mechanical, or Manufacturing engineering required.
• Experience in Process/Industrial Engineering and Lean practices.
• Knowledge of SPC and digital systems (OEE, KPI reporting).
• Green Belt desirable; 3+ years CI experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Support implementing the CI/IPS management system and other CI/IPS related activities, while assuring the sustainability of Management System tools, like routine dashboards, OEE measurement, and other routine indicators.
• Deliver Management System training that includes concepts, tools, and deliverables, to achieve awareness and facilitate CI/IPS adoption and cultural change.
• Help establish a baseline of main KPIs and support the unit leadership team during target setting according to regional, financial, and functional goals.
• Maintain an improvement plan/project portfolio (Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost Reduction, etc.) through gap analysis to recommend implementation process improvements to drive unit target achievement and organizational effectiveness.
• Support diverse cost reduction, productivity enhancement, and Safety/Quality improvement targets for the plant (PDCA, LSS, Kaizen, etc.).
• Support the plant team to achieve their Sustainability goals using CI tools.
• Evaluate new technologies and ideas and seek approval for new concepts to improve the efficiency and capability of the process, the safety of the facility, and improve product quality.
• Help drive implementation of digital OEE system and reporting for the unit.
• Facilitate Kaizen events, Ideation workshops, RCA studies, and other CI activities that support plant performance enhancement.
• Leverage analytical and problem‑solving skills to support plant management in the identification of key success drivers and execution of improvement objectives.
• Lead/act like a change agent to achieve continuous improvement and a focused culture, through collaboration with all business and functional units in the region to ensure alignment of improvement initiatives.
• Work collaboratively with the Plant leaders to multiply knowledge in CI methodologies and act as a changing agent of the culture.
• Support employee training in the proper application of Continuous Improvement and IPS concepts.
• Coach and mentor plant teams/ individuals to ensure the successful completion of IPS implementation and CI activities.

Skills

Industrial Engineering

Lean Manufacturing

SPC

OEE

PowerBI

PowerApps

Power Automate

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor in Industrial Engineering

Tools

PowerApps

PowerBI

Power Automate

OEE software

Job description

Ingredion Incorporated seeks a Continuous Improvement Engineer to join the Operations Excellence team at the Argo Plant in Bedford Park, IL. You will lead the CI/IPS program, support process studies, problem solving, and optimization, and drive KPI reporting and OEE improvements across the unit.

The role emphasizes training, Kaizen events, data‑driven decision making, and collaboration with plant leadership to achieve safety, quality, delivery, and cost goals.