Continuous Improvement Manager

Tenneco; Cambridge (OH); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Continuous Improvement Manager to lead Lean and continuous improvement initiatives within their manufacturing plant. This role is pivotal in driving productivity enhancements and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. You will collaborate with various teams to implement strategic initiatives, facilitate workshops, and ensure best practices are shared across the organization. If you have a strong background in manufacturing and a passion for driving change, this is an exciting opportunity to make a significant impact in a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering with a strong manufacturing background.
• Experience in Lean environments and excellent interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead Lean implementation and define CI strategy in the plant.
• Facilitate improvement workshops and promote a continuous improvement culture.
• Track and report progress on productivity improvement projects.

Skills

Lean Management

Continuous Improvement

Interpersonal Skills

Team Leadership

Problem Solving

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering or related field

Tools

Value Stream Mapping

Kaizen

Six Sigma

Job description

Tenneco is one of the world’s leading designer, manufacturers and marketers of automotive products for original equipment and aftermarket customers, with approximately 78,000 team members working at more than 300 sites worldwide. Through our four business groups, Motorparts, Ride Performance, Clean Air and Powertrain, Tenneco is driving advancements in global mobility by delivering technology solutions for diversified global markets, including light vehicle, commercial truck, off-highway, industrial, motorsport and the aftermarket.

BUSINESS GROUP: Champion Ignition

SITE LOCATION: Cambridge Ohio

JOB CODE/SECTION:

JOB LEVEL/FLSA STATUS: Exempt

SUBFUNCTION: Manufacturing

DIRECT REPORTS: N/A

JOB SUMMARY:

The Continuous Improvement Manager leads Lean and continuous improvement process implementation in alignment with P3 Operating System, facilitates improvement workshops, is actively involved in the development of the plant productivity improvement plan, implement VSS initiative (Value Stream Simplification) and is a key player to support Return on Sales and Divisional Cash Flow improvement. The Continuous Improvement Manager actively cooperates with GME team to ensure “state of the art” technical improvement in the plant and ensure best practices implementation across similar product lines.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Define, drive and execute plant CI strategy that includes the development and execution of a roadmap of implementation of the P3 Operating System, in cooperation with plant management team.
2. Coordinate and Lead Lean implementation within the plant: both technical and managerial aspects.
3. Contribute to Plant performance improvement by promoting the use of Lean tools and techniques, aligned with P3 Operating System. Organize / facilitate Lean events / workshops.
4. Coordinate the creation of the yearly Plant Productivity Improvement plan. This includes yearly plant productivity target setting, in alignment with plant management team and regional leadership.
5. Identify, prioritize and drive / support the identification & implementation of CI initiatives across entire plant (not only production areas) that provide the highest impact on financial results, involving plant controller and group controller.
6. Ensure that productivity improvement projects are defined with clear targets, roles and responsibilities.
7. Track the activities on a regular basis (frequency to be defined based on Plant priorities).
8. Report the progress on regular basis to the plant management team and to upper management (regional leadership).
9. Promote a continuous improvement culture. Facilitate regular Kaizen events.
10. Serve as a change agent with the plant, continually challenge conventional thinking, drive accountability, promote the use of Lean Management tools (i.e.: daily routines, Gemba walks, tiered meetings, layered process audits, TPM, …), in alignment with P3 Operating System.
11. Support all departments to achieve their goals regarding productivity improvement by providing appropriate tools and corresponding training.
12. Partner/Support the Value Stream Managers, Supervisors and support functions managers on improvement and problem-solving activities (5 Whys, Ishikawa diagram, …) or Six Sigma tools if needed.
13. Ensure best practices sharing and implementation in the plant / in the region and within entire PT.
14. In cooperation with finance, ensure that actual and forecasted savings reported are accurate.
15. Ensure that actual monthly savings of month M are reported by the end of the 5th working day of month M+1.
16. Initiate change processes and drive implementation with plant management team.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

EDUCATION:

EXPERIENCE:

• Experience of 5+ years (ideally) in Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering.
• Successful candidates must have a strong manufacturing background, combined with an aptitude for training and leadership.
• Previous experience in a Lean environment (or ideally in Lean implementation) is a significant plus.
• Must have excellent interpersonal skills and have the ability to work in a team environment with little guidance.

REQUIREMENTS/CERTIFICATIONS:

Other Duties: Additional duties, responsibilities, and activities may be required.

An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.