Lean & Operational Excellence Lead, Americas (CI)

Durex Industries, Inc.; Cary (IL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equal opportunity employer

Job summary

Chromalox is seeking a Lean Manager to drive Continuous Improvement and embed the OpEx framework across the Americas. You will lead and coach cross‑functional teams, applying Lean methods to reduce waste and improve performance across manufacturing sites.

The role requires hands-on leadership, global standards alignment, and the ability to travel within the Americas (1–2 times per month) to support sites and deliver measurable savings.

Qualifications

• Strong working knowledge of Lean Manufacturing principles and tools (SMED, 5S, VSM, root cause analysis, standard work).
• Ability to identify and implement process improvements in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience leading CI workshops and engaging cross‑functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and deployment of the Operational Excellence framework across Americas sites, aligning with global standards.
• Apply Lean principles to identify inefficiencies, reduce waste, and improve process performance.
• Deliver and support GOLD-level Continuous Improvement activities and progress toward higher levels.
• Facilitate CI workshops (Kaizen, value stream mapping, problem solving) to drive improvements.
• Identify and execute process improvement initiatives across manufacturing and support functions.
• Provide hands-on support, including leading or supporting SHSME/SMED changeover efforts.
• Coach site teams in Lean tools and CI methodologies to build internal capability.
• Collaborate with engineering, operations, quality, supply chain to deliver end-to-end improvements.
• Support standardization and best practice sharing across sites.
• Own CI savings delivery for the ETS Americas and validate savings.
• Participate in weekly meetings to review CI updates and OPEX maturity.

Skills

Lean principles

SMED

5S

VSM

Root cause analysis

Standard work

Cross-functional teams

Bilingual

Job description

Chromalox is seeking a Lean Manager to drive Continuous Improvement and embed the OpEx framework across the Americas. You will lead and coach cross‑functional teams, applying Lean methods to reduce waste and improve performance across manufacturing sites.

The role requires hands-on leadership, global standards alignment, and the ability to travel within the Americas (1–2 times per month) to support sites and deliver measurable savings.