Sr Manager Continuous Improvement

Justrite Safety Group is a growing family of industrial safety companies. Together we protect workers, workplaces, and the environment with a comprehensive range of industrial safety solutions. All Justrite Safety Group portfolio companies are united by deep safety knowledge, long experience, and a commitment to protecting people, property, and the planet.

Summary:

The Sr Manager, Continuous Improvement will focus on driving and facilitating lean transformation throughout the North American Justrite organization. This position will be hands-on with production teams as well as back-office staff to facilitate CI events, projects, and post-event sustainment activities.

This leader will create a culture of continuous improvement and sustainment while providing strategic thinking with respect to improvement activities. This role will collaborate with all levels of management, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders to identify and facilitate key projects to improve customer metrics and financial performance.

They will be responsible for training production teams in Lean initiatives, including Value Stream Mapping, Kanban, Daily Management, Policy Deployment, Continuous Flow Manufacturing, 5S, TPM, SMED, and more.

Responsibilities:

• Leads the Lean/Continuous Improvement transformation across all BUs and provides training and consulting in areas such as planning, facilitation and completion of projects to support improvements in product velocity and waste elimination/reduction for the Business Unit.
• Drives change management initiatives according to Lean strategies and initiatives; promotes culture change toward a Lean philosophy and making Continuous Improvement a way of life. Advances the organization through training in process redesign, Lean tools and other CI initiatives.
• Conducts reviews and research on more effective processes and equipment to diversify production, enhance safety measures, and gain versatility; prepares reports and recommendations to operations management.
• Partners with all departments and Business Unit leaders to develop, communicate and execute Lean initiatives. Provides leadership in communicating and executing continuous improvement programs for benchmarking.
• Manage and organize data for and resulting from Lean activities that impact multiple facilities.
• Assist engineering teams in Lean assessments of new types of machines, equipment, and processes to find simple, flexible and robust solutions that can enhance safety and production.
• Travels up to 50% to each location to implement and manage CI programs.

Requirements:

• Proficiency in Lean and Six Sigma principles, tools, and techniques (e.g., DMAIC, 5S, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping). Experience with Harris Lean 12 Step Process or similar.
• Strong project management skills to plan, execute, and monitor improvement projects effectively. Experience moving facilities or equipment, opening or closing a plant a plus.
• Ability to collect, analyze, and interpret data to identify improvement opportunities and measure results.
• Capability to align continuous improvement initiatives with the organization's strategic goals.
• Expertise in managing change, including stakeholder engagement, communication, and overcoming resistance.
• Ability to manage resources effectively, including budget, personnel, and time.
• Strong leadership skills to inspire and motivate teams to embrace continuous improvement.
• Excellent communication skills to articulate vision, share results, and ensure understanding across all levels of the organization.
• Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams to implement and sustain improvements.
• Strong problem-solving skills to identify root causes and develop effective solutions.
• Encourages and implements innovative solutions to improve processes and performance.
• Ability to train and mentor employees on continuous improvement methodologies and tools.
• Sharp analytical skills to dissect complex problems and derive actionable insights.
• Attention to detail to ensure accuracy and precision in all improvement activities.
• Focus on achieving measurable results and continuous performance improvements.
• Proficiency in Microsoft office, Excel, PowerPoint
• Proficient in Lean manufacturing principles and Kaizen as a way of life. Six Sigma Black Belt a plus.
• Minimum of 5 years of CI experience in a manufacturing environment including training and facilitating.
• Proven track record of leading Kaizen events and developing improvements plans to achieve business results, effective leadership and mentoring skills.
• Experience working in a team environment and is a self-starter.

Benefits:

We offer excellent comprehensive benefits that include:

• Medical, Dental & Vision benefits
• Health Care Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts
• Paid time off including vacation & personal time
• 401K - with company match. Both pretax and Roth options available
• Company paid Short Term Disability
• Company paid Long Term Disability
• Company paid Employee Assistance Program
• Employee Wellness Program