Continuous Improvement Manager

Duravant; Wood Dale (IL); On-site; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

nVenia, a member of the Duravant family, is seeking a seasoned Continuous Improvement Manager in Wood Dale, IL. You will drive Lean initiatives across manufacturing, lead cross-functional teams, and push cost reductions while reducing waste and improving quality and gross profit.

You will mentor teams, implement best practices, and partner with engineering on DFM to advance our manufacturing methodology and performance metrics.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's in Mechanical, Industrial, or Manufacturing Engineering (or equivalent).
• 10+ years in manufacturing, quality, or process improvement roles.
• 3+ years in a Continuous Improvement role.
• Strong knowledge of machining and assembly workflows.
• Proven success in continuous improvement and Lean manufacturing (JIT, Kanban, 5S, Kaizen, TPS, SMED).
• Experience leading kaizen events and driving tools such as Standard Work, SMED, 3P, Material Pull, and TPI.
• Strong communication and influence skills; able to mentor and train teams.
• Ability to collaborate and influence at all levels of the organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead and execute continuous improvement initiatives and roadmap aligned with company strategy.
• Foster a culture of accountability, excellence, and CI adoption across teams.
• Build team capability through training, tools, and structured processes.
• Drive hands-on process improvements using Lean tools (JIT, Kanban, 5S, Kaizen, TPS, SMED).
• Improve productivity, efficiency, safety, and throughput while reducing waste.
• Analyze manufacturing processes, layouts, and material flow to enhance cost efficiency.
• Lead cross-functional projects, including kaizen events and process redesign.
• Partner with Engineering on Design for Manufacturability (DFM).
• Implement cost reduction programs and establish performance metrics and audits for sustained improvement.

Skills

CI/Lean leadership

Kaizen events

JIT/Kanban/5S

DFM collaboration

Cross-functional leadership

Mentoring teams

Communication

Education

Bachelor's in Mechanical/Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering

Job description

Job DetailsLevel: ExperiencedJob Location: Wood Dale, IL 60191Position Type: Full TimeEducation Level: 4 Year DegreeSalary Range: $95,000.00 - $125,000.00 SalaryTravel Percentage: 0%Job Shift: AnyJob Category: ManufacturingnVenia, a member of the Duravant family of operating companies, is a manufacturer and supplier of integrated solutions and packaging equipment machinery. With over 300 years of combined experience, our long-standing brands of Arpac, Fischbein, Hamer and Ohlson serve end customers in the consumer-packaged goods, food and beverage, industrial, and other markets.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Continuous Improvement Manager has overall responsibility for driving improvements throughout the organization. Responsibilities include leading continuous improvement projects and teams, advancing cost reduction initiatives, implementing best methods for manufacturing, resolving production problems and developing/executing processes to enhance our manufacturing methodology. Reduction of waste and inefficiencies to decrease lead times and increase quality and gross profit is the overall objective of the Continuous Improvement Manager.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBLITIES

• Lead and execute continuous improvement initiatives and roadmap aligned with company strategy
• Foster a culture of accountability, excellence, and CI adoption across teams
• Build team capability through training, tools, and structured processes
• Drive hands-on process improvements using Lean tools (JIT, Kanban, 5S, Kaizen, TPS, SMED)
• Improve productivity, efficiency, safety, and throughput while reducing waste
• Analyze manufacturing processes, layouts, and material flow to enhance cost efficiency
• Lead cross-functional projects, including kaizen events and process redesign
• Partner with Engineering on Design for Manufacturability (DFM)
• Implement cost reduction programs and establish performance metrics and audits for sustained improvement

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor's in Mechanical, Industrial, or Manufacturing Engineering (or equivalent) preferred
• 10+ years in manufacturing, quality, or process improvement roles
• 3+ years in a Continuous Improvement role
• Strong knowledge of machining and assembly workflows
• Proven success in continuous improvement and Lean manufacturing (JIT, Kanban, 5S, Kaizen, TPS, SMED)
• Experience leading kaizen events and driving tools such as Standard Work, SMED, 3P, Material Pull, and TPI
• Strong communication and influence skills; able to mentor and train teams
• Ability to collaborate and influence at all levels of the organization

Why Work at nVenia?

nVenia offers a competitive benefits package for all full-time employees, including:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) or Health Savings Accounts (HSA), when allowed by tax law
• Paid life insurance and disability insurance, with options to purchase additional coverage
• Paid Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Optional coverages: Long-term Care, Accident Insurance, and Critical Illness Insurance
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Educational Assistance reimbursement
• Accrued Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 10 paid holidays annually

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Frequently required to sit, stand, walk, talk, or hear; uses hands to finger, handle, or touch objects or controls. On occasion, may be required to climb and work in high places, stoop, bend or reach above the shoulders. The incumbent must occasionally lift, push, or pull up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The position is an office-based position with frequent visits to the manufacturing area. In the manufacturing area, employee may be exposed to moving mechanical parts and may occasionally be exposed to fumes and/or airborne particles. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate but at times loud. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential function.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

nVenia is a packaging machinery manufacturing and service organization widely known to have the widest selection of packaging technology under one roof and is dedicated to providing our distributors and end-users the highest quality product and support. nVenia brings Duravant packaging leaders Arpac, Hamer-Fischbein and Ohlson Packaging together to create next-level packaging equipment integration and innovation. One name, in one location, with one shared focus: our customers and the problems we need to solve.