Director of Continuous Improvement

The Director of Continuous Improvement (CI) for a company is the person in charge of developing, planning, and executing the strategy that results in eliminating waste, improving customer satisfaction, and increasing market share. A Continuous Improvement Director is not only highly competent as a process manager skilled in project design, planning, and implementation to ensure performance and process development, but also as a leader who drives the CI initiatives in the company.

A Director of Continuous Improvement measures and tests corporate procedures to improve production efficiency. They are analytical project coordinators, understand complicated ideas, and develop strategic decisions through problem-solving skills.

A successful Director of CI has a depth of process improvement experience in manufacturing and/or supply chain, including several years of experience leading and executing process improvement projects using Lean and Six Sigma and other continuous improvement principles. Additionally, this role requires hands-on knowledge of manufacturing, warehouse, logistics, distribution, or engineering as well as experience as a Lean transformation leader with a broad cross-functional background.

Job Duties:

• Managing and facilitating all Continuous Improvement initiatives and strategy
• Driving a continuous improvement culture within the organization by prioritizing opportunities and execution of a Lean transformation strategy and metrics
• Using metrics to provide support to process owners in linking projects to strategic operational objectives
• Driving plant cost savings initiatives
• Assisting teams in developing Lean roadmaps to use in the deployment of strategic objectives
• Ensuring successful definition and execution of large, cross-functional improvement initiatives tied to annual strategic priorities
• Identifying best practices within and outside the company and serving as a channel for best-practice sharing and adoption across business units
• Providing guidance for projects and kaizen events
• Managing and facilitating continuous improvement projects and kaizen events to improve productivity and accelerate growth
• Challenging organizational leaders when necessary to create an action-based culture of continuous improvement and increase CI and Lean-oriented thinking throughout the organization
• Working with the finance department to evaluate project savings estimates, validate reported CI benefits, and ensure accurate accounting of CI productivity
• Analyzing company processes and procedures
• Developing process enhancement strategies
• Establishing norms and standards of company performance
• Monitoring staff performance and organizational processes
• Communicating ideas and opinions to other members of management
• Collaborating with other stakeholders to enhance productivity and staff satisfaction
• Training, mentoring, and guiding team members in new processes
• Staying up-to-date with developments in management and process optimization