Director of Continuous Improvement

Job Summary

The Director of Continuous Improvement will be responsible for cultivating and driving the Steel Business System and Lean activities across the organization. Reporting directly to the President, this role plays a critical part in driving continuous improvement initiatives, supporting key business processes with a hands-on approach focusing on certifications, audits, capital projects and leading meaningful Kaizen events. The ideal candidate will champion a culture of efficiency and excellence, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and fostering a collaborative environment with a drive to sustain.

Responsibilities

• Inspire management thinking and growth by challenging current practices and methods through the deployment of Lean methodology at all levels of the operating company. This will be accomplished by establishing internal business partnerships to effectively execute strategic planning, value stream mapping, creating gaps analyses, identifying/prioritizing kaizen events, implementing tracking methods to measure results, and leading root cause/countermeasure analysis for misses.
• Integrate the fundamentals of the Steel Business System into the workforce and support, develop and train leaders in lean / continuous improvement. Accomplishing this will require the position to drive and track: Work closely with the President and Senior leadership team to identify and target processes to improve
• Savings from Lean initiatives
• Top 3 Initiatives / Related Actions
• Inventory Turns (Metric / Improvement Actions)
• Number and quality/impact of Kaizens
• Value Stream Map Overviews
• Number of People trained in Lean / Number of active participants
• Partnership needed from corporate team or others
• MOR planning and execution across the Sr. Leadership Team
• Collaborate with the President on special projects and all corporate functions in their support of customers
• Assist the Director of Manufacturing, as well as people leaders, in driving the strategic objectives through lean in the organization
• Engage in monthly audits of both manufacturing sites as well as the corporate areas driving continuous improvements via 5s principles and identifying areas for improvement
• Serve as point of contact for continuous improvement projects, Steel Partners initiatives
• Adhere to company, federal, state, and local business requirements, enforcing compliance and demonstrate high integrity in all aspects of business
• Cultivate and maintain trusted relationships with peers, key customers, clients, partners, and stakeholders
  

Requirements

Requirements:

• BS/BA Degree required in related field
• 5-10 years of progressive experience in a manufacturing setting working in lean or continuous improvement
• Proven ability to quickly gain trust and build relationships, while showing the benefits of a lean culture
• Clear communication skills are required and the ability to work teach and educate all associates within the organization from the shop floor to the Senior leadership team members
• Strong mentoring, coaching, and training abilities with a focus on developing talent. Ability to navigate complex, matrixed organizations with multiple projects concurrently.
• Willingness to travel as needed, up to 25% of the time.
• Proven ability to be a trusted business partner who conducts themselves with the highest level of candor and continuous improvement, to best live our core values: Teamwork, Respect, Integrity, Commitment and Accountability.