About the Opportunity
A well-established manufacturing company in Frederick, Maryland, is seeking a dynamic, driven, and inspiring leader to head its Continuous Improvement function and drive cultural, organizational, and business performance through the continued development of its company-wide Lean Performance System.
The organization has a long-standing commitment to Lean manufacturing, Toyota Production System principles, scientific problem solving, respect for people, and continuous improvement. Supported by ownership and executive leadership, the Lean Performance System is central to how the company develops people, solves problems, and improves safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and cost.
The successful candidate will have experience building and deploying Lean management systems at scale—developing leaders, strengthening problem-solving capability, improving operational performance, and creating sustainable business results.
This position offers the opportunity to lead an established Continuous Improvement team while shaping the future of a mature Lean organization committed to continuous learning and operational excellence.
Position Summary
The Manager of Continuous Improvement & Lean Performance System serves as the primary steward of the company's Lean Performance System, leading its continued evolution while developing the leadership capability needed to sustain continuous improvement across the organization.
Working closely with leaders throughout the business, this individual will strengthen daily management, problem solving, leader development, and organizational capability while coaching teams to identify opportunities, eliminate waste, and improve performance.
This is a highly visible, hands-on leadership role requiring significant engagement at the gemba.
What We're Looking For
This role requires strong Lean expertise combined with a genuine passion for developing people, building organizational capability, and driving business results.
The successful candidate will be:
- A hands-on leader who enjoys teaching and developing others through coaching, guided discovery, and leading by example – balancing humility, curiosity, persistence, and accountability.
- Naturally curious, with a passion for understanding problems at their root cause.
- Highly collaborative, with the ability to build trust, influence others, and drive change across functions and organizational levels without relying on formal authority.
- Comfortable challenging existing thinking while demonstrating respect for people.
- Committed to developing people through the work of continuous improvement, recognizing that lasting business results depend on building the capability of people.
- Guided by long-term systems thinking rather than short-term fixes.
- Committed to spending time at the gemba, learning firsthand, and helping others succeed.
Key Responsibilities
Lead the Lean Performance System
- Serve as the organization's primary steward and subject matter expert for the Lean Performance System.
- Develop and continuously strengthen the system's standards and methods, including daily management systems, structured problem solving, visual management, standard work, leader standard work, and kaizen.
- Partner with executive leadership to advance the company's Lean strategy, management system, and improvement culture.
- Assess organizational capability and establish practical roadmaps for continued Lean maturity.
Develop Organizational Capability
- Coach leaders and teams in Lean thinking, leadership behaviors, and scientific problem solving.
- Develop internal trainers, facilitators, and future Lean leaders.
- Create systems that enable leaders to teach, coach, and develop Lean in their own teams.
- Foster a culture where problems are surfaced, understood deeply, and solved systematically.
Lead Kaizen and Transformation Activities
· Identify strategic opportunities to improve safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and cost.
- Lead and facilitate complex cross-functional improvement initiatives.
- Guide teams through learning structured problem solving using A3 thinking, root cause analysis, TBP (Toyota Business Practices), and scientific thinking.
- Support teams in achieving breakthrough performance through focused Kaizen events.
Lead the Continuous Improvement Team
- Establish clear expectations and development plans for members of your team while helping them develop deep knowledge and skill in Lean leadership, teaching ability, project facilitation, and problem solving.
- Foster a high-performance culture focused on both results and people development.
- Ensure the team serves as a catalyst for organizational learning by developing leaders and teams who become increasingly capable of leading continuous improvement on their own.
Partner Across the Business
- Partner with leaders across Manufacturing, Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, Logistics, Purchasing, and administrative functions in developing their capabilities and performance.
- Build strong relationships across the organization to create the agility and collaboration needed to address evolving business needs.
- Serve as a trusted advisor on the continued evolution of the Lean Performance System.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business, or a related field.
- At least 10 years of manufacturing experience.
- At least five years of leadership experience in Continuous Improvement, Operational Excellence, Lean Manufacturing, or a Toyota Production System environment.
- Demonstrated success building Lean capability and delivering sustainable operational improvements.
- Strong practical knowledge of Lean principles, daily management, standardized work, visual management, and structured problem solving.
- Demonstrated success leading change through coaching, collaboration, and influence rather than formal authority.
- Excellent leadership, facilitation, communication, analytical, and systems-thinking skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Deep practical experience applying Toyota Production System principles.
- Experience building, deploying, or strengthening a company-wide Lean Performance System or comparable business system.
- Experience with A3 Thinking, Toyota Business Practices, value stream mapping, strategy deployment, and leader standard work.
- Previous responsibility for leading a Continuous Improvement, Operational Excellence, Lean, or TPS team.
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Retirement plan
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision insurance
Education:
Experience:
- Manufacturing: 10 years (Required)
- Leadership: 5 years (Required)
Ability to Commute:
- Frederick, MD 21703 (Required)
Work Location: In person
