Senior Continuous Improvement Specialist

SCHÜTZ Container Systems, Inc.; Winder (GA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Schutz Container Systems seeks a Senior Continuous Improvement Specialist to own plant-wide lean initiatives across 15 North American facilities. The role focuses on eliminating downtime, boosting OEE, and establishing daily management routines on the shop floor.

You will partner with the COO to align priorities, coach leadership teams, and drive structured problem solving using 5-Why, A3, and Fishbone methodologies. This is an on-site, hands-on leadership position.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Operations, or related technical field.
• 5+ years of hands-on Continuous Improvement execution in continuous manufacturing, packaging, or industrial processing environments.

Responsibilities

• Direct Executive Alignment: Partner with the COO to prioritize plant support and set unified metrics across 15 facilities.
• Plant Floor Coaching: Guide Plant Managers, Supervisors, and Maintenance staff on root-cause problem solving methods.
• OEE Availability & Downtime Recovery: Reduce downtime via line balancing and constraint identification.
• TPM Deployment: Roll out Autonomous Maintenance and Planned Maintenance pillars with operator ownership.
• Rapid Cost Reduction (SMED & Waste): Conduct Kaizen events to cut setup times, waste, and labor variance.

Skills

5-Why

A3 Problem Solving

Fishbone

Kaizen

OEE Improvement

Education

Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering

Tools

Autonomous Maintenance (AM)

Planned Maintenance (PM)

Kaizen events

Job description

Schutz Container Systems is a global packaging/manufacturing company with 15 plants across the Country.

About the Role

We are currently in need of an experienced Senior Continuous Improvement Specialist with base in any of our locations : Pasadena, TX / Winder, GA / Kenosha, WI/ St Joseph, MO/ Perrysburg, OH/

On-site Role

We aren't looking for a corporate strategist who manages from a remote desk. We want a relentless, high-drive Senior Continuous Improvement Specialist who lives for the shop floor, gets dirty alongside operators, and refuses to accept "that's how we've always done it."

This position reports directly to the Chief Operating Officer. This direct reporting line underscores the absolute strategic importance of this role to our executive team. We operate 15 manufacturing facilities across North America. We are actively building our standardized Continuous Improvement foundation from the ground up - moving away from single best practices toward single-standard execution, structured root-cause problem solving, and world-class OEE Availability.

You will have the executive backing, visibility, and authority to eliminate equipment downtime, recover lost line capacity, and establish daily management routines across our entire plant network.

Responsibilities

• Direct Executive Alignment: Partner directly with the COO to prioritize plant support, establish unified operational metrics, and execute high-impact cost-reduction strategies across 15 facilities.
• Plant Floor Coaching: Foster collaboration across teams by guiding Plant Managers, Supervisors, and Maintenance staff to move beyond assumptions and embrace proven root-cause problem-solving methods such as 5-Why, A3, and Fishbone.
• OEE Availability & Downtime Recovery: Drive significant reductions in equipment downtime by proactively executing line balancing, pinpointing key constraint operations, and systematically resolving chronic unplanned outages with a sense of urgency.
• TPM Deployment: Lead the hands-on rollout of Autonomous Maintenance (AM) and Planned Maintenance (PM) pillars, instilling true operator equipment ownership and setting clear visual centerlines across assets.
• Rapid Cost Reduction (SMED & Waste): Target, run, and execute fast-paced Kaizen events focused on setup/changeover time reduction, scrap elimination, and direct labor variance to capture immediate, trackable bottom-line savings.

Qualifications

• Management cadences, and unified daily uptime tracking across our multi-site network.
• Unyielding Passion & Drive: High-energy, self-motivated operational catalyst who gains instant credibility on the floor through presence, technical authority, and a relentless focus on winning.
• Executive Presence: Ability to report key operational metrics directly to executive leadership while maintaining complete authenticity and respect on the shop floor.

Required Skills

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Operations, or related technical field.
• Experience: 5+ years of hands-on Continuous Improvement execution in continuous manufacturing, packaging, or industrial processing environments