Industrial Engineer - Continuous Improvement

About the Role

The Industrial Engineer will report directly to the Plant Manager with a primary focus on driving continuous improvement across the weld shop while supporting laser cutting, forming, paint, and assembly operations as needed. This role will partner closely with operations, engineering, quality, and production leadership to analyze current processes, perform cycle time studies, identify bottlenecks, reduce waste, and improve flow through the plant.

The ideal candidate will be hands‑on, data-driven, and comfortable spending time on the shop floor to turn observations into practical improvements that strengthen safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance.

• Work with operations and new product engineering to ensure new product introductions meet production safety, quality, delivery, cost, and ramp targets.
• Lead continuous improvement efforts in the weld shop focused on improving flow, reducing waste, increasing throughput, and eliminating non-value-added activity.
• Perform cycle time studies, time observations, and process analysis to identify constraints, labor opportunities, bottlenecks, and standard work gaps.
• Partner with supervisors, leads, operators, and support teams to develop and implement practical shop‑floor improvements that can be sustained by operations.
• Create, update, and maintain process documentation, standard work, work instructions, layouts, and visual management tools that support consistent execution.
• Use data to track improvement actions, validate results, and communicate progress against key operational metrics such as throughput, productivity, rework, scrap, and on‑time delivery.
• Support new program launches by evaluating capacity, staffing, material flow, workstation readiness, and ramp plans before and after production start‑up.
• Facilitate root cause analysis and problem‑solving activities with cross‑functional teams to address recurring production issues and drive corrective actions.

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Operations Management, or a related field; equivalent hands‑on manufacturing experience may also be considered.
• Experience working in a manufacturing environment with regular time spent on the production floor partnering with operations, supervisors, leads, and operators.
• Demonstrated ability to perform cycle time studies, time observations, process mapping, and labor or capacity analysis.
• Working knowledge of continuous improvement methods such as value stream mapping, waste reduction, standard work, root cause analysis, 5S, and visual management.
• Ability to use data, shop‑floor observations, and operator feedback to identify improvement opportunities and turn them into practical action plans.
• CAD experience with the ability to read drawings, review layouts, and support workstation, cell, or material flow improvements.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to work cross‑functionally with production, engineering, quality, safety, maintenance, and leadership teams.

• Experience supporting weld, fabrication, heavy equipment, metal forming, paint, assembly, or other industrial manufacturing operations.
• Experience supporting new product introductions, production launches, or ramp plans in a manufacturing environment.
• Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement training or certification.
• Experience with 2D & 3D CAD/layout tools.
• Experience building capacity models, labor standards, line balance studies, or production rate analyses.

• Spend meaningful time on the shop floor observing the work, asking questions, and building trust with operators and supervisors.
• Translate data, cycle time results, and value stream observations into clear priorities and focused improvement actions.
• Balance analytical thinking with practical execution in a fast moving manufacturing environment.
• Challenge the current state respectfully and help teams see better ways to organize work, materials, labor, and flow.
• Follow through on improvement ideas from initial observation through implementation, validation, and sustainment.
• Communicate clearly with…