Manager, Continuous Improvement

Job Title

Manager, Continuous Improvement

Sr. Director, Engineering & CI

The Continuous Improvement Manager is responsible for leading the deployment and sustainment of Barr Brands' Manufacturing Excellence System across all manufacturing operations. This role partners closely with Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Supply Chain, Safety, and Training to identify losses, improve operational performance, and develop a culture of continuous improvement.

The Continuous Improvement Manager leads improvement initiatives focused on Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, Productivity, Reliability, and People Development by utilizing Lean Manufacturing, TPM, structured problem solving, digital technologies, and data‑driven decision making.

This role is highly hands‑on and will spend significant time on the manufacturing floor coaching teams, developing standards, facilitating kaizen events, implementing improvement systems, and ensuring sustainable results.

The Continuous Improvement Manager reports to the Sr. Director of Continuous Improvement & Engineering and has two direct reports – Reliability Engineer and CI Engineer (Training & Development Lead).

• Lead deployment of the company's Manufacturing Excellence / Continuous Improvement program across both manufacturing facilities and distribution center.
• Drive implementation and sustainment of:
  • Autonomous Maintenance
  • Planned Maintenance
  • Focused Improvement
  • Centerlining
  • CILT
  • 5S
  • Visual Management
  • Standard Work
  • Early Management
  • Training & Skills Development
• Ensure standards remain active, audited, and continuously improved.
• Lead cross‑functional improvement projects focused on eliminating losses in Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost and Productivity.
• Facilitate structured problem solving using Root Cause Analysis, A3, 5 Why, Fishbone and similar methodologies.
• Conduct process observations and loss analyses to identify improvement opportunities.
• Lead Kaizen events and rapid improvement workshops.
• Coach site leadership in continuous improvement tools and behaviors.

• Partner with plant leadership to improve:
  • Uptime
  • Changeovers
  • Waste
  • Labor productivity
  • Equipment reliability
  • Process capability
• Support development of loss trees and performance dashboards.
• Validate financial savings from improvement initiatives.
• Track project execution and ensure sustainable results.

Support deployment and utilization of digital manufacturing tools including:

• Connected Worker applications
• Digital inspections
• Digital standard work
• AI-enabled manufacturing applications
• Manufacturing dashboards and analytics

Partner with Engineering and IT to ensure digital solutions improve operational performance and user adoption.

• Coach supervisors, managers and frontline employees on continuous improvement methodologies.
• Develop internal CI capability through mentoring and training.
• Facilitate cross‑functional workshops and improvement teams.
• Build a culture of accountability, ownership, and continuous learning.

• Manage multiple improvement initiatives simultaneously.
• Develop project charters, timelines and implementation plans.
• Track project status, risks and financial impact.
• Present progress and results to site leadership and executive leadership.

• Partner closely with Manufacturing.
• Partner closely with Engineering.
• Partner closely with Supply Chain.

• Bachelor’s degree from a four‑year college or university. Engineering/Technical major highly preferred.

• Eight or more years’ related experience in implementing CI programs. Experience in implementing Total Productive Maintenance highly desirable.
• Experience in business strategy or process engineering (strategy consulting, project management, process reengineering, corporate strategy, post‑merger integration, business development).
• Knowledge of process development, with the ability to learn, and understand technical concepts in order to interpret, document, and formalize procedures.
• Proven ability to research and analyze various types of information and make…