Operational Excellence Director (Lean & CI)

Tops Products; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Tops Products in St. Louis, MO seeks a Director of Continuous Improvement to partner across operations and site leadership, designing and deploying enterprise-wide excellence strategies to strengthen performance, reduce waste, and improve customer satisfaction.

The role acts as a change agent, applying Lean, Six Sigma, and Kaizen, leading cross-functional projects, and mentoring CI champions while linking improvements to P&L outcomes across manufacturing sites.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA preferred for leadership roles.
• 7–10+ years in operations, manufacturing, or process optimization.
• 3–5 years in a dedicated management or directorial capacity driving change.

Responsibilities

• Define the CI roadmap aligned with overarching business objectives.
• Foster a Kaizen culture across the enterprise promoting process excellence and accountability.
• Stakeholder alignment with executive leadership to prioritize pipeline projects and manage operational change.
• Deploy Lean/Six Sigma tools (Value Stream Mapping, 5S, RCA, Kaizen events) to eliminate waste.
• Establish KPIs and dashboards to track measurable improvements and financial impact.
• Lead cross-functional projects spanning multiple sites and business units.

Skills

Lean

Six Sigma

Kaizen

Change Management

Strategic Leadership

Data Analytics

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business Administration, or related field

Master’s or MBA preferred

Tools

Minitab

Excel

Power BI

Visio

Lucidchart

Job description

Tops Products in St. Louis, MO seeks a Director of Continuous Improvement to partner across operations and site leadership, designing and deploying enterprise-wide excellence strategies to strengthen performance, reduce waste, and improve customer satisfaction.

The role acts as a change agent, applying Lean, Six Sigma, and Kaizen, leading cross-functional projects, and mentoring CI champions while linking improvements to P&L outcomes across manufacturing sites.