Director of Continuous Improvement

Job Title: Director of Continuous Improvement

Location: Lewiston, Idaho

Industry: Aerospace / Defense

Job Description:

The Director of Continuous Improvement will be responsible for advancing the lean thinking principles across commercial product sectors; responsible to coach the operations leadership (at all levels) through the lean and six sigma implementation strategy for the business focused on delivering business results and building competency in lean methods.

The Director of Continuous Improvement will work with site and regional lean leadership to implement the strategy. Implementation support will include teaching, mentoring, and execution. The Director of Continuous Improvement will assist in developing a lean support team within the operational units to ensure that the strategy identifies business opportunities and delivers results. As such, the Director of Continuous Improvement will be responsible to communicate the goals and objectives of the lean activities and to provide a system for measurement of results of lean activities on an ongoing basis.

This position is a results-oriented, leadership role. The individual must be both a credible teacher (to diverse levels from shop floor to Executive Leadership) and capable of developing and executing lean strategies. The Director of Continuous Improvement will be responsible for providing overarching strategic direction and coaching for operations directors and site management.

Key Accountabilities will include regular reviews of lean performance expectations with leadership teams across the organization, providing expectations, performance planning, feedback, training, development and performance discussions with leadership teams across the organization; defining future state requirements for operations and ensures the implementation of Lean strategies and initiatives to effectively meet or exceed customer expectations; developing, modeling, and coaching Lean behaviors through trainings, Kaizens and project work; mentoring lean leaders to build deeper understanding of lean principles. Acts as mentor to VP Ops Council to shape future operational strategy with respect to lean production manufacturing systems.

Job Requirements:

• Bachelors degree in Engineering or Related Degree
• 7+ years of success in deploying Lean techniques
• 10+ years of experience in a manufacturing environment
• Working knowledge and proven track record of success with The Toyota Production System.
• Six Sigma Black Belt Certification

Technical Skills:

• High level capability in the application and facilitation of 5s & Visual Controls, SMED, Standard Work, TPM/OEE, Hejunka, Structured Problems solving (5Y, PDCA, A3), Kanban-Pull, Kaizen planning and leadership & Jidoka.
• Facilitate large scale cross functional kaizen events
• Drive the adoption of lean throughout operations and the organization via demonstrated high level improvements in customer delight as expressed in the tactical metrics of Safety, Quality, Customer Experience, and Cost.
• Take a strategic view of the organization, acting as a Sensei to move organization toward a “Pull” based culture, utilizing the Lean methodology to drive all processes to respond to the needs of the customer without waste.
• Serve as a Sensei for a specific business unit developing common understanding of the relevant concepts and a clear educational approach for available tools.
• Drive consistency of process, training, and reporting across functional teams.
• Develop content and train the leadership of the organization on critical lean tools necessary to support significant implementation of lean tools across the company.
• Demonstrated track record of successful cross functional large scale Kaizen leadership.
• Strong change management and influence skills; ability to negotiate and communicate across all levels of the organization.
• Demonstrated ability to make courageous recommendations and decisions to drive significant organizational change.
• Excellent presentation skills, dynamic approach with the ability to translate theory into practical application.
• Must have credible demonstrated impacts on cultural lean conversion (changing behavior – helping others learn-to-see waste and act upon it).
• Possess the business acumen, career drive, and attitude consistent with our client’s business reputation.
• Project Management: ability to manage multiple projects (i.e. 4 green belts at a time).

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