Lean Manufacturing Leader – Aerospace & Defense

RTC Aerospace; Sumner, Northern (WA, KY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off and holidays

Discretionary bonus programs

Job summary

RTCA in Sumner, WA seeks a Lean Manufacturing Manager to own the lean deployment roadmap and build capability across the site. You will coach leaders, lead Kaizen events, and drive standard work, visual management and daily accountability to improve flow and quality at the source.

The role requires a Bachelor's degree with 7–10+ years in manufacturing/operations, deep hands-on lean expertise, and strong executive communication.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Business, or related field.
• 7–10+ years of manufacturing/operations experience with lean transformations.
• Site-level lean/continuous improvement transformation results (VSM, Kaizen, standard work, flow/pull, daily management).
• Strong leadership coaching and executive-level communication.
• Deep practical lean knowledge gained through hands-on application.
• Ability to prioritize a portfolio of improvement work balancing near-term needs with long-term development.
• Financial fluency to validate and communicate business impact of improvements.
• US Person for Export Control compliance.

Responsibilities

• Work full-time onsite at Sumner, WA location.
• Create and maintain the site lean deployment roadmap aligned to priorities.
• Coach site leaders, supervisors, engineers, and value-stream teams in lean thinking.
• Lead value-stream mapping and convert designs into prioritized plans.
• Establish a disciplined Kaizen system with event selection, facilitation, and validation.
• Develop and sustain 5S, visual management, standard work, daily accountability, and problem-solving systems.
• Partner with Operations on flow, pull, layout, takt, capacity, and setup reduction.
• Build internal lean capability through training and mentoring.
• Maintain an improvement funnel and transparent reporting of actions and savings.
• Ensure improvements transition to normal operational ownership.

Skills

Lean leadership

Executive communication

Financial fluency

Coaching

Export compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

RTCA in Sumner, WA seeks a Lean Manufacturing Manager to own the lean deployment roadmap and build capability across the site. You will coach leaders, lead Kaizen events, and drive standard work, visual management and daily accountability to improve flow and quality at the source.

The role requires a Bachelor's degree with 7–10+ years in manufacturing/operations, deep hands-on lean expertise, and strong executive communication.