Sr. Continuous Improvement Specialist

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

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

401k with company match

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Paid time off + holidays

Wellness programs

Job summary

Protolabs is seeking a Senior Continuous Improvement Practitioner for our Brooklyn Park CNC site. You will advance operational excellence by shaping a structured CI program, coordinating with site leadership, and coaching teams to solve problems and sustain improvements.

The role requires 5+ years in Lean/CI within manufacturing, strong facilitation and coaching skills, and familiarity with Power BI for performance management. Onsite work with cross-functional impact is expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, operations, industrial engineering, information systems, or a related field.
• 5+ years of continuous improvement experience in Lean, continuous improvement, operational excellence, or a related discipline, preferably within a manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex improvement work across multiple processes, departments, or functions.
• Experience coaching leaders and frontline teams through operational and behavioral change.
• Experience facilitating Kaizen events, value stream mapping, root cause analysis, and improvement planning.
• Experience establishing performance baselines, measuring improvement outcomes, and validating business benefits with Finance or other business partners.
• Familiarity with performance-management and visualization tools such as Power BI.

Responsibilities

• Translate business priorities into a focused continuous improvement strategy and actionable roadmap.
• Assess performance, management routines, and problem-solving capability to identify barriers to safety, quality, delivery, cost, and effectiveness.
• Lead value stream analysis and cross-department redesign efforts.
• Facilitate Kaizen events and structured improvement activities with clear ownership and sustainment plans.
• Coach leaders in structured problem solving, root cause analysis, countermeasure development, experimentation, verification, and sustainment.
• Establish daily management systems and leader standard work to drive accountability.
• Develop reusable improvement standards, coaching materials, and learning experiences across the site.
• Partner with frontline staff and SMEs to create, implement, train, and audit standardized work.

Skills

Analytical mindset

Structured problem solving

Facilitation

Coaching

Communication skills

Power BI

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business, operations, industrial engineering, information systems, or related field

Tools

Value stream mapping

Job description

Be yourself at Protolabs** **

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. We are an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to building a diverse team that feels they are valued in the workplace. So do you feel you do not meet every single requirement but still intrigued? We encourage you to still apply! You can help make our company even better. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, age, mental or physical ability, or any way you represent yourself. We strongly believe diversity makes for more successful teams.

Why Protolabs?** **

We are the leaders in digital manufacturing. We hire doers, makers, and creative thinkers who tackle our roles with an entrepreneurial spirit. Our culture is centered around meaningful work that brings new and innovative products to market at unprecedented speeds. We are a diverse team that comes from all walks of life and take pride in our team who is smart, genuine, humble, and passionate about what we do. It’s our people who fuel our creativity and make our culture feel like home.

Become our new Sr. Lean/CI Practitioner for CNC!

This is an onsite position based out of our Brooklyn Park CNC location.

We are seeking an experienced and highly influential Senior Continuous Improvement Practitioner to advance operational excellence at our CNC manufacturing facility in Brooklyn Park. This role will partner closely with site leadership and frontline teams to strengthen how the organization identifies, solves, and prevents problems.

As part of Protolabs’ ProtoExcellence Business System, the Senior Continuous Improvement Practitioner will develop the organization’s ability to improve through structured problem solving, standardized work, value stream management, leader standard work, daily management, coaching, and change leadership. The role is accountable not only for facilitating improvements, but also for ensuring that new ways of working are adopted, sustained, and owned by the people closest to the work.

The successful candidate will be an experienced Lean practitioner who can move comfortably between the shop floor and leadership discussions, connect improvement priorities to business objectives, and coach leaders and teams to solve increasingly complex problems independently.

What You’ll Do:

Partner with CNC site leadership to translate business priorities into a focused continuous improvement strategy and actionable improvement roadmap.

Assess operational performance, management routines, and problem-solving capability to identify systemic barriers to safety, quality, delivery, cost, and employee effectiveness.

Lead value stream analysis and redesign efforts that cross departments, processes, and functional boundaries.

Facilitate complex Kaizen events and other structured improvement activities, while establishing clear ownership and follow-up plans to sustain results.

Coach leaders and teams in structured problem solving, including problem definition, root cause analysis, countermeasure development, experimentation, verification, and sustainment.

Establish, strengthen, and refine daily management systems, including visual management, tiered accountability, escalation routines, and leader standard work.

Partner with frontline employees and technical subject matter experts to create, implement, train, and audit standardized work.

Develop leaders’ ability to coach problem solving, reinforce standards, identify abnormalities, and build continuous improvement into daily operations.

Build problem-solving capability within the organization so that teams can resolve issues without continued dependence on an outside facilitator.

Support the definition of meaningful operational KPIs and build the management routines needed to review performance, respond to abnormalities, and maintain accountability.

Partner with Finance and business leaders to establish baselines, validate improvement benefits, and monitor whether intended results are sustained.

Use data and direct observation to identify recurring problems, distinguish symptoms from root causes, and prioritize improvement work based on customer and business impact.

Support change adoption by identifying stakeholder needs, anticipating resistance, and helping leaders communicate and reinforce new expectations.

Develop reusable continuous improvement standards, methods, coaching materials, and learning experiences that strengthen ProtoExcellence capability across the site.

Communicate progress, risks, decisions, and results clearly to site and functional leadership.Perform other related duties as assigned.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

What It Takes:

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, operations, industrial engineering, information systems, or a related field, or a commensurate combination of education and experience.

• 5+ years of continuous improvement experience in Lean, continuous improvement, operational excellence, or a related discipline, preferably within a manufacturing environment.

Demonstrated experience leading complex improvement work across multiple processes, departments, or functions.

Demonstrated experience building sustainable daily management systems, leader standard work, standardized work, and structured problem-solving capability.

Experience coaching leaders and frontline teams through operational and behavioral change.

Experience facilitating Kaizen events, value stream mapping, root cause analysis, and improvement planning.

Experience establishing performance baselines, measuring improvement outcomes, and validating business benefits with Finance or other business partners.

Working knowledge of manufacturing operations and the ability to operate credibly in a CNC production environment.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• An analytical mindset with the ability to “connect the dots” between disparate problems to see the larger picture.

• A proactive and assertive approach, with the ability to elevate issues and drive progress independently.

• Ability to apply Lean and continuous improvement methodologies (structured problem solving, standard work, visual/daily management) to transactional processes.

• Strong facilitation, coaching, and communication skills, with the ability to influence without authority across cross-functional teams.

• Strong organization and time management skills, with attention to detail and a devotion to eliminating variation and inconsistency in processes and systems.

• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Lean or Six Sigma certification (Green or Black Belt)

• Change management certification or experience (e.g., Prosci / ADKAR).

Experience applying Lean practices in CNC machining, high-mix manufacturing, digital manufacturing, or another complex production environment.

Experience designing or advancing a site-level operating or business system.

Formal training or certification in change management, coaching, or organizational development.

Experience developing leaders and other practitioners in Lean and structured problem-solving practices.

Experience with A3 thinking, PDCA, DMAIC, 8D, or comparable structured problem-solving methods.

Familiarity with performance-management and visualization tools such as Power BI.

Experience partnering with Finance to validate benefits and establish credible measurement and sustainment practices.

Whats In It For You:

• We offer a competitive salary and total rewards package
  • Health Insurance: Traditional OR High Deductible plan
  • Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Health Savings Account (including employer contributions)
  • Dental and Vision
  • Basic and Supplemental Life Insurance
  • Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
  • Paid caregiver leave
• You will receive at least 3 weeks of PTO + Wellness + Holiday Pay + Volunteer Hours
• 401k with company match and immediate vest
• Employee Stock Purchase Program at a discounted rate
• Matching grants through Protolabs foundation
• And More!

$104,000 - $150,000 a year

Protolabs offers a competitive total rewards package, and compensation mix vary based on position, such as base wage, as well as other earnings including incentives and commissions. Actual pay offered will vary depending on multiple factors which may include, without limitation, job function, work experience, specialized skills, training, education, and certifications

Proto Labs maintains ITAR-compliant operations in all of our United States based facilities. Due to ITAR regulations, this role is only open to U.S. Citizens, lawful permanent residents (green card holders) or foreign nationals granted refugee or asylee status. Individuals with temporary visas (e.g. E, F-1, H-1, H-2, L, B, J, TN or OPT) are not eligible for hire in this role.

Proto Labs, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Physical Demands:

While performing the essential duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use a computer keyboard, monitor and mouse, telephone and printer; reach with hands, and arms, talk, see and hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, stoop or kneel and must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Work Environment:

Indoors (A/C); nonsmoking; the majority of this job function is performed in an office setting requiring normal safety precautions. However, there may be job duties that require the employee to spend time in the manufacturing areas exposed to machinery and noise; eye protection occasionally required. Occasionally works in outside weather conditions. Occasionally works near moving mechanical parts and in high, precarious places and is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions, fumes or airborne particles, toxic or caustic chemicals, risk of electrical shock and vibration. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate.