Continuous Improvement Manager

Southco, Inc.; Glen Mills (Delaware County); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base pay

Generous PTO & holidays

401(k) with company contributions

Employee stock ownership plan

Medical, Dental, Vision benefits

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Southco, Inc. is seeking a Manager, Continuous Improvement to drive CI results across the Americas and help set the standard for how we do continuous improvement company-wide.

This hands-on, individual contributor role leads CI direction across our Americas facilities and partners with EMEA and APAC CI teams. You will engage both manufacturing and office processes, facilitate kaizen events, coach teams through structured problem solving, and connect CI work to financial and performance metrics.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Science, or Business; advanced degree a plus.
• 8+ years of engineering or operations experience.
• 3–5+ years manufacturing/operations CI experience with measurable results.
• Onsite work at Concordville Global Headquarters 4 days a week.
• Willingness to travel up to 20% internationally.
• Lean/Six Sigma Black Belt or Lean Master a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead CI execution across the Americas and coach site-level CI Managers.
• Own and safeguard corporate CI standards, tools, and reporting.
• Partner with CI leaders in EMEA and APAC for global consistency.
• Build and deliver CI training using Lean tools to teams across the business.
• Facilitate performance scorecard reviews, root-cause analysis, and corrective action.
• Help shape how AI and digital tools strengthen CI at Southco.

Skills

Lean/Six Sigma CI

Problem-solving

Kaizen

A3

8D

DMAIC

PDCA

Influence skills

Presentation skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Science/Business

Advanced degree a plus

Tools

5S

Kanban

VSM

SMED

Job description

Southco is looking for a Manager, Continuous Improvement to drive CI results across our Americas region and help set the standard for how we do continuous improvement company-wide. This is a hands-on, individual contributor role — you won't manage direct reports, but you'll lead the direction and consistency of CI work across our Americas facilities and partner globally with our EMEA and APAC CI teams.

You'll dive into both manufacturing and office/transactional processes — everything from the shop floor to Customer Service, HR, Engineering, Sales, and Finance — facilitating kaizen events, coaching teams through structured problem-solving, and connecting CI work directly to real financial and performance results.

What you will be doing

• Lead CI execution across the Americas — coaching site-level CI Managers and driving measurable results in both manufacturing and office processes
• Own and safeguard Southco's corporate CI standards, tools, and reporting so every region works from the same playbook
• Partner with CI leaders in EMEA and APAC to keep our global CI approach consistent
• Build and deliver CI training — Lean tools like 5S, Kaizen, SMED, Kanban, VSM, and more — to teams across the business
• Facilitate performance scorecard reviews, root-cause analysis, and corrective action planning
• Help shape how AI and digital tools strengthen the future of CI at Southco

About you

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Science, or Business (required); advanced degree a plus or 8+ years of engineering experience
• 3-5+ years of manufacturing/operations experience with progressive continuous improvement responsibility
• Ability to work onsite at Concordville Global Headquarters 4 days a week
• Ability to travel up to 20% internationally (including trips to Asia & Europe)
• Hands-on experience leading Lean/Six Sigma CI work across multiple sites or functions, with real, measurable results
• Proven ability to independently lead kaizen events and structured problem-solving (A3, 8D, DMAIC, PDCA)
• Strong influence skills — you know how to drive results by building buy-in, not authority
• Comfort presenting to and working with managers and directors
• Lean/Six Sigma certification (Black Belt or Lean Master) a plus

How will we reward you

• Competitive base pay
• Generous time off – starting at 3 weeks of annualized PTO (first year is prorated based on start date), 9 company holidays plus 2 floating holidays
• 401(k) Savings and Investment Plan – Company makes automatic 2% contribution of eligible pay plus matching contributions of 50% up to the first 6% of eligible pay you contribute
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan valued at approximately 4-6% of eligible earnings which includes dividend payments after 3 year vesting period
• Medical, Dental, Vision, Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) beginning first day of employment; company funds a portion of HSA for high deductible health plans
• Company paid Life & Disability Insurance including: Short term, Long Term, and Life
• Great Tuition Reimbursement program to support undergraduate or graduate programs available to all employees

Southco is an equal opportunity employer. Accordingly, Southco will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of age, sex, race, color, veteran status, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, disability, or other protected status recognized by state or local law.