Job Title: Manager, Continuous Improvement
Reports to: Sr. Director, Engineering & CI
The Continuous Improvement Manager is responsible for leading the deployment and sustainment of Barr Brands' Manufacturing Excellence System across all manufacturing operations. This role partners closely with Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Supply Chain, Safety, and Training to identify losses, improve operational performance, and develop a culture of continuous improvement.
The Continuous Improvement Manager leads improvement initiatives focused on Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, Productivity, Reliability, and People Development by utilizing Lean Manufacturing, TPM, structured problem solving, digital technologies, and data-driven decision making.
This role is highly hands-on and will spend significant time on the manufacturing floor coaching teams, developing standards, facilitating kaizen events, implementing improvement systems, and ensuring sustainable results.
The Continuous Improvement Manager reports to the Sr. Director of Continuous Improvement & Engineering and has two direct reports - Reliability Engineer and CI Engineer (Training & Development Lead).
Manufacturing Excellence Deployment
- Lead deployment of the company's Manufacturing Excellence / Continuous Improvement program across both manufacturing facilities and distribution center.
- Drive implementation and sustainment of:
o Autonomous Maintenance
o Planned Maintenance
o Focused Improvement
o Centerlining
o CILT
o 5S
o Visual Management
o Standard Work
o Early Management
o Training & Skills Development
- Ensure standards remain active, audited, and continuously improved.
Continuous Improvement Leadership
- Lead cross-functional improvement projects focused on eliminating losses in Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost and Productivity.
- Facilitate structured problem solving using Root Cause Analysis, A3, 5 Why, Fishbone and similar methodologies.
- Conduct process observations and loss analyses to identify improvement opportunities.
- Lead Kaizen events and rapid improvement workshops.
- Coach site leadership in continuous improvement tools and behaviors.
Operational Performance
- Partner with plant leadership to improve:
o Uptime
o Changeovers
o Waste
o Labor productivity
o Equipment reliability
o Process capability
- Support development of loss trees and performance dashboards.
- Validate financial savings from improvement initiatives.
- Track project execution and ensure sustainable results.
Digital Manufacturing
Support deployment and utilization of digital manufacturing tools including:
- Connected Worker applications
- AI-enabled manufacturing applications
- Manufacturing dashboards and analytics
Partner with Engineering and IT to ensure digital solutions improve operational performance and user adoption.
Coaching & Change Leadership
- Coach supervisors, managers and frontline employees on continuous improvement methodologies.
- Develop internal CI capability through mentoring and training.
- Facilitate cross-functional workshops and improvement teams.
- Build a culture of accountability, ownership, and continuous learning.
Project Management
- Manage multiple improvement initiatives simultaneously.
- Develop project charters, timelines and implementation plans.
- Track project status, risks and financial impact.
- Present progress and results to site leadership and executive leadership.
Cross Functional Collaboration
Partner closely with:
to ensure alignment on operational priorities and sustainable implementation of improvements.
Education
- Bachelor’s degree from four-year college or university. Engineering/Technical major highly preferred.
Experience & Qualifications
- Eight or more years’ related experience in implementing CI programs. Experience in implementing Total Productive Maintenance highly desirable.
- Experience in business strategy or process engineering (e.g. strategy consulting, project management, process reengineering, corporate strategy, post-merger integration, business development)
- Knowledge of process development, with the ability to learn, and understand technical concepts in order to interpret, document, and formalize procedures
- Proven ability to research and analyze various types of information and make recommendations to effectively resolve problems or issues by using judgment that is consistent with standards, practices, and policies, procedures, regulations or government law
- Coaching/mentoring experience in productivity measurement, monitoring and improvement to assist department managers in meeting or exceeding their goals preferred
- Demonstrated experience in major/transformational cultural change management
- Strong peoples’ skills. Ability to work effectively at all levels- from shop floor to senior leadership. Ability to strategically influence teams without having direct control.
- Demonstrates high critical thinking and reasoning skills and strong attention to detail while working in a fast paced environment that requires ability to prioritize and multi-task
- Analytical and conceptual thinker; flexible approach; discretionary effort; organizational commitment; customer service orientation; innovation; and focus on teamwork
- Management of multiple conflicting projects toward successful conclusion within constricted time frames; knowledgeable of budget development, management reporting, cost accounting application, and financial management
- Effective verbal and written communication skills; advanced interpersonal and human relation skills with ability to negotiate change with all levels of management
WORK ENVIRONMENT / PHYSICAL DEMANDS / TRAVEL:
- Typical office and lab environment with moderate noise level.
- Ability to sit, stand, walk, reach, climb, stoop, talk, see, and hear for extended periods of time.
- Ability to read, analyze, and interpret financial reports, government regulations, scientific and technical journals, and legal documents; ability to respond verbally and in writing to inquiries or complaints from
Barr Brands is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to qualified individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily with or without reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the role.
Barr Brands will engage in an interactive process with employees and job applicants to identify and provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with known physical or mental disabilities unless such accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the company's operations. Employees and applicants are encouraged to discuss potential accommodations with the HR department.
Barr Brands values diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and success, and we are dedicated to creating an environment where all employees feel valued and empowered.
