Manager of Lean Excellence

Multiple factors, including Individual experience, skills and abilities will determine where an employee is ultimately placed in the pay range.

Category/Shift
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Physical Location
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Remote

or

6400 Poplar Avenue

Memphis, TN

The Job You Will Perform:

Lead initiatives that improve efficiency, scalability, and operational consistency across the organization

Align strategy and tactics with the Corporate Lean Team and site-level operations leadership

Report to members of the business leadership team on status of lean road maps and adoption within each facility

Use data to identify gaps in performance versus best practices and work with the mill team to execute an improvement plan

Document best practices and share improvements to leverage results

Understand and apply financial drivers and key performance indicators

Implement lean tools such as 5S, Kaizen, Standard Work, Visual Management, SMED and Value Stream Mapping

Drive waste elimination, process flow optimization, and variation reduction

Facilitate structured problem solving using A3, DMAIC, 5-Why, RCFA, and similar methodologies

Deliver measurable improvements in safety, quality, delivery, and cost

Implement and manage systems, including daily management, that will sustain improvement efforts

Lead and coach kaizen events through hands‑on participation

Develop training materials and effectively deliver those materials in multiple formats to ensure team members throughout the organization are trained in CI / lean concepts and philosophy

Evaluate and drive opportunities for appropriate CI and lean tool applications

Provide overall support, assistance, direction and communication to the mill leadership teams regarding CI initiatives

The Qualifications, Skills and Knowledge You Will Bring:

Bachelor's degree preferred in business, engineering, operations management, or related field

Significant operational and change management experience in a manufacturing environment

Demonstrated success implementing lean manufacturing initiatives

Strong analytical, facilitation, coaching, and change leadership skills

Ability to influence without formal authority across multiple functions

Proficiency with Microsoft Office

• This position will require 50-75% travel

The Benefits You Will Enjoy: International Paper offers a benefits package that includes health, welfare and retirement plans including Medical, Dental, Life insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Short-term and Long-term Disability, 401(k), Company-funded retirement contributions, Paid Time Off, Education & Development (including Tuition Reimbursement), Student Loan Repayment Assistance, and Voluntary Benefits including insurance for home, auto, vision and pets

The Career You Will Build: Leadership training, promotional opportunities

The Impact You Will Make: We continue to build a better future for people, the planet, and our company! IP has been a good steward of sustainable practices across communities around the world for more than 125 years. Join our team and you’ll see why our team members say they’re Proud to be IP.

The Culture You Will

Experience:

International Paper promotes employee well‑being by providing safe, caring and inclusive workplaces. We have team members all around the world with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. These are our strengths. We are committed to creating a culture where all individuals are respected, valued, engaged and have an opportunity to do their best work every day. We invite you to bring your uniqueness, creativity, talents, experiences, and safety mindset to be a part of our increasingly inclusive and diverse culture.

The Company You Will Join: International Paper (NYSE: IP) is the global leader in sustainable packaging solutions. With company headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) headquarters in London, UK, we employ more than 65,000 team members and serve customers around the world with operations in more than 30 countries. Together with our customers, we make the world safer and more productive, one sustainable packaging solution at a time.

Net sales for 2024 were $18.6 billion. In 2025, International Paper acquired DS Smith…