Operations Improvement Consultant in Wayne, Illinois

Operations Consultant

Our client, a leading food and consumer packaging manufacturer, is launching a cost-of-quality and waste-reduction initiative following a major merger. We're seeking a hands-on Operations Consultant to embed full-time at one assigned plant and drive measurable improvement - not write reports about it. You'll work with in a structured framework set by the program's lead team, but you'll own day-to-day execution: diagnosing waste, running improvement sprints, testing countermeasures, and building the plant team's capability to sustain results after you're gone.

What You'll Do:

• Validate data, build baseline assessments, and conduct stakeholder interviews
• Run 12-16 week improvement sprints: identify root causes, test fixes, measure results
• Shadow operators, walk the floor, and run small experiments alongside plant teams
• Facilitate kaizen events and improvement workshops
• Develop standards, train the local CI team, and embed sustainable routines
• Sync weekly with program leadership - escalate blockers, own the daily decisions

What We're Looking For:

• 5-8 years in operations, manufacturing improvement, or plant-level consulting
• 2-3 prior engagements delivering waste, COPQ, or cost-reduction projects with measurable results
• Fluent in Lean/PDCA/continuous improvement fundamentals (Black Belt not required)
• Strong with operational data - waste tracking, process metrics, savings calculations
• Comfortable communicating with everyone from machine operators to the C-suite
• Self-directed and execution-focused - you move the needle without hand-holding