Continuous Improvement Manager

Job Description

Continuous Improvement Manager

Pay Range: $87,000 - $108,000 depending on relevant experience and qualifications

Location: Flower Mound, TX 75028

Position Summary

The Continuous Improvement Manager is responsible for leading the site's Continuous Improvement strategy through the integration of Lean Manufacturing, employee engagement, structured problem solving, digital operational excellence tools, and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) principles. This position drives sustainable improvements in Safety, Quality, Reliability, Productivity, and Cost by developing people, improving processes, and eliminating operational losses across the facility.

The Continuous Improvement Manager partners with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Safety, Supply Chain, and Engineering leaders to achieve business objectives while building a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement. This position serves as the site champion for Continuous Improvement systems, including the deployment and utilization of the RHEO platform to drive data-driven decision making, operational visibility, workforce development, and loss elimination.

The Continuous Improvement Manager directly supervises the Continuous Improvement Supervisor and provides leadership, coaching, and direction to a team of Continuous Improvement Coordinators.

Essential Responsibilities

Continuous Improvement Leadership

• Develop and execute the site's Continuous Improvement strategy and annual roadmap.
• Lead Kaizen events, focused improvement activities, and loss elimination initiatives.
• Drive implementation and sustainability of Lean Manufacturing tools and methodologies.
• Develop and deploy Standard Work, Visual Management, 5S, Value Stream Mapping, and A3 Problem Solving processes.
• Facilitate cross-functional improvement projects aligned with business objectives.
• Promote a culture where continuous improvement becomes part of daily management practices.
• Establish systems that ensure improvements are sustained and continuously improved.

Operational Excellence and Digital Transformation

• Serve as the site owner and champion of the RHEO platform.
• Drive adoption and utilization of RHEO across Operations, Quality, Safety, Maintenance, Training, and Continuous Improvement functions.
• Utilize real-time dashboards, video analytics, AI-generated insights, and operational data to identify improvement opportunities and eliminate losses.
• Leverage RHEO data to support root cause analysis, problem solving, standard work development, training effectiveness, and performance management.
• Develop operational reporting systems that provide actionable insights for supervisors, managers, and plant leadership.
• Promote data-driven decision making throughout the organization.

TPM and Reliability Improvement

• Champion TPM principles and support TPM pillar deployment throughout the operation.
• Partner with Operations and Maintenance teams to improve equipment reliability and asset utilization.
• Drive initiatives focused on Autonomous Maintenance, Planned Maintenance, Focused Improvement, and Operator Ownership.
• Lead efforts to identify and eliminate chronic equipment losses and recurring failure modes.
• Improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and equipment performance through structured problem solving.
• Support development of a reliability-focused culture throughout all operational departments.

Productivity and Process Optimization

• Drive improvements in Units Per Work Hour (UPWH), labor productivity, and operational efficiency.
• Analyze process flows and identify opportunities to improve throughput and capacity.
• Lead efforts to eliminate non-value-added activities and manufacturing waste.
• Partner with Operations leadership to improve labor utilization, line balancing, schedule attainment, and capacity management.
• Apply Lean principles to simplify processes and improve operational performance.

Data Analytics and Performance Management

• Establish, monitor, and maintain key operational performance indicators.
• Develop dashboards and scorecards that enable performance management and accountability.
• Analyze operational data to identify trends, losses, and improvement opportunities.
• Measure and communicate financial and operational impacts resulting from improvement activities.
• Present project progress, performance results, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership.

Leadership and Team Development

• Directly lead, coach, and develop the Continuous Improvement Supervisor.
• Provide leadership, development, and support for Continuous Improvement Coordinators.
• Build organizational capability in Lean Manufacturing, TPM, structured problem solving, and operational excellence methodologies.
• Deliver training and mentoring that strengthens leadership, employee engagement, and ownership.
• Develop future CI leaders and succession plans within the Continuous Improvement organization.
• Serve as a change agent and champion of continuous improvement across the facility.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Safety, Quality, Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Human Resources, and Supply Chain leaders to achieve business objectives.
• Facilitate collaboration across departments to ensure improvement efforts are aligned and sustainable.
• Promote employee involvement and ownership in continuous improvement initiatives at all levels of the organization.

Key Performance Indicators

The Continuous Improvement Manager is expected to positively influence and improve performance in the following areas:

• Safety

• Recordable Incident Rate
• Near Miss Participation
• Safety Observation Completion
• Ergonomic Improvement Implementation
• Corrective Action Closure Rate

• Quality

• Internal Defect Reduction
• Customer Complaint Reduction
• Cost of Poor Quality
• First Pass Yield Improvement

• Productivity

• Units Per Work Hour (UPWH)
• Labor Efficiency
• Throughput Improvement
• Schedule Attainment
• Capacity Utilization

• Reliability

• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
• Downtime Reduction
• Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)
• Mean Time To Repair (MTTR)
• Planned Maintenance Compliance
• Autonomous Maintenance Participation

• Continuous Improvement

• Kaizen Completion Rate
• Cost Savings Achievement
• Employee Participation Rate
• Waste Elimination Activities
• Standard Work Compliance
• Improvement Project Completion

• Digital Excellence

• RHEO Adoption and Utilization
• Digital Dashboard Engagement
• AI Recommendation Implementation
• Data-Driven Problem Solving Utilization
• Digital Workflow Standardization

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Business, or related field strongly preferred

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of leadership experience in a manufacturing environment
• Minimum 3 years leading Continuous Improvement, Lean Manufacturing, TPM, or Operational Excellence initiatives
• Experience leading both salaried and hourly employees
• Demonstrated success delivering measurable operational improvements in safety, quality, productivity, reliability, and cost
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and organizational change initiatives

Certifications

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt required; Black Belt strongly preferred
• TPM training or certification preferred
• Project Management experience preferred
• Change Management experience preferred

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will possess:

• Proven success driving cultural and operational change in a diverse manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated experience implementing and sustaining Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement systems.
• Strong understanding of:
  • One-Piece Flow
  • Takt Time
  • Cycle Time Analysis
  • Line Balancing
  • Standard Work
  • Value Stream Mapping
  • Waste Elimination
  • Root Cause Analysis
• Experience utilizing data analytics and digital manufacturing tools to drive operational improvements.
• Ability to leverage RHEO and other digital technologies to improve visibility, support problem solving, identify process losses, and drive fact-based decision making.
• Strong communication, facilitation, coaching, and leadership skills.
• Demonstrated success working across multiple departments and organizational levels.
• Ability to drive change through influence, collaboration, and accountability.
• Strong project management, planning, organizational, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Proactive leadership style with a track record of achieving challenging performance objectives.
• Demonstrated ability to teach . click apply for full job details