Senior Lean & CI Leader for CNC Operations

Protolabs; Brooklyn Park (MN); On-site; USD 104,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Flexible Spending Accounts

Health Savings Account

Dental and Vision

Life Insurance

Disability

Paid caregiver leave

3+ weeks PTO + holidays

Job summary

Protolabs in Brooklyn Park, MN seeks a Senior Continuous Improvement Practitioner to advance operational excellence in CNC manufacturing. Lead structured problem solving, standardize work, and drive value-stream improvements with site leadership and frontline teams.

You will coach leaders, develop metrics, and sustain improvements through daily management and change leadership. The role requires 5+ years in Lean/CI within manufacturing, strong facilitation, and the ability to move between shop

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, operations, industrial engineering, information systems, or related field.
• 5+ years of continuous improvement in Lean or operational excellence, preferably in manufacturing.
• Experience leading complex improvement work across multiple processes or functions.
• Experience building sustainable daily management systems and leader standard work.
• Experience coaching leaders and frontline teams through behavioral change.
• Experience facilitating Kaizen events, value stream mapping, and improvement planning.
• Experience establishing baselines, measuring benefits with Finance or partners.
• Manufacturing operations knowledge and ability to operate credibly in a CNC environment.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office.

Responsibilities

• Translate business priorities into a focused continuous improvement strategy and actionable roadmap.
• Assess performance, routines, and problem-solving capability to identify barriers to safety, quality, delivery, cost, and effectiveness.
• Lead value stream analysis and cross-department redesigns.
• Facilitate Kaizen events and structured improvement activities with clear ownership and follow-up.
• Coach leaders and teams in structured problem solving including root cause analysis and countermeasures.
• Establish daily management systems, visual management, and accountability routines.
• Develop standardized work with frontline employees and SMEs.
• Coach problem solving and reinforce standards to sustain gains.
• Build internal problem-solving capability to reduce reliance on external facilitators.
• Define meaningful KPIs and management routines to monitor performance and accountability.
• Collaborate with Finance to establish baselines and validate benefits.
• Use data and observation to prioritize improvement work by impact.

Skills

Lean / CI

Structured problem solving

Coaching leaders

Kaizen events

Value stream mapping

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in business / operations / industrial engineering / information systems

Tools

Power BI

Microsoft Office

Job description

Protolabs in Brooklyn Park, MN seeks a Senior Continuous Improvement Practitioner to advance operational excellence in CNC manufacturing. Lead structured problem solving, standardize work, and drive value-stream improvements with site leadership and frontline teams.

You will coach leaders, develop metrics, and sustain improvements through daily management and change leadership. The role requires 5+ years in Lean/CI within manufacturing, strong facilitation, and the ability to move between shop