Continuous Improvement Specialist

Continuous Improvement Specialist

Conductix-Wampfler is looking for a Continuous Improvement (CI) Specialist to help strengthen our Lean culture, support our manufacturing teams, and drive meaningful improvements in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and employee engagement.

If you're passionate about teaching, coaching, and seeing real results from CI work, this role is a great fit.

• Lead and develop the Kata coaching program.
• Train teams on Kata, Lean principles, and CI tools.
• Coach daily management routines and PDCA problem.
• Deliver Lean training and support 5S events and audits.
• Lead kaizen events and guide sustainable improvements.
• Support kanban, flow, inventory control, and pull systems.
• Facilitate Value Stream Mapping and create action plans.
• Partner cross functionally to remove barriers and maintain momentum.
• Track and communicate CI progress and wins.

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering, Operations Management, or equivalent.
• 3-5 years of CI/Lean experience in manufacturing or operations.
• Strong trainer and coach (Kata experience preferred).
• Skilled in kaizen, VSM, 5S, and Lean tools like kanban and standard work.
• Data driven, organized, and proficient with Microsoft tools.
• Clear communicator with the ability to influence without authority.

Conductix-Wampfler offers a great starting wage, with health, dental, and life insurance, 401k plan, paid vacation/personal time and holidays, profit sharing and tuition reimbursement program.

Drug-free workplace/EOE

The Continuous Improvement (CI) Specialist role shall support the US CoE and SMO by developing Lean capability and culture through Kata coaching, Lean Daily Management (LDMS), 5S, and kaizen execution. This position reports to the Manufacturing Engineering Manager and partners with the Managing Director of the CoE, SMO, and cross-functional leadership to train, coach, and enforce lean behaviors to improve safety, quality, delivery, cost, and employee engagement.

• Lead and develop the Kata Coaching team (coach the coaches) and establish a standard coaching routine.
• Provide KATA training for the company and ensure leaders can sustain Coaching Kata routines.
• Audit KATA/LDMS boards; coach teams to identify waste, obstacles, and next experiments; reinforce the use of PDCA.
• Plan and deliver Lean Manufacturing and Operation Excellence training in alignment with local and global strategic objectives; execute training workshops at a cadence of 1 week per month and 1 day per month for reinforcement and newhire onboarding.
• Aid in the design, implementation, and sustaining our 5S program including training, events, audit processes, and visual management standards.
• Lead kaizen events following training to immediately implement improvements in targeted areas; document results and sustainment plans.
• Develop and support best practice processes including kanban/pull systems, inventory control, supermarkets, and replenishment signals.
• Support the Manufacturing/Process Engineering team to advance onepiece flow, standard work, takt-based balancing, and layout improvements where applicable.
• Facilitate Value Stream Maps (current/future state), identify bottlenecks, and create actionable roadmaps with owners and due dates.
• Drive prioritization of problem solving obstacles cross functionally with the CoE and SMO leadership team; assure focus, followthrough, and escalation as needed.
• Provide coaching and change management; reinforce standards and accountability when implementation gets tough.
• Track and communicate CI performance using leading/lagging indicators; provide visibility to progress, barriers, and wins.
• Support and uphold Quality and EHS policies and practices.
• Uphold the Conductix Core Values;
  Caring, Teamwork, and Adding Value.
• Other duties may be assigned.

• This role has no direct supervisory responsibilities but will lead and influence Kata Coaches and cross functional teams to achieve common goals through coaching, facilitation, and change leadership.
• This position reports to the Manufacturing Engineering Manager.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Bachelor's degree (B.S.) in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Operations Management, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
  • 3-5 years of handson Continuous Improvement / Lean experience in a manufacturing or operations environment.
  • Demonstrated experience teaching/training Lean concepts and coaching leaders and teams (Kata experience strongly preferred).
  • Strong facilitation skills for kaizen events, VSM workshops, 5S events, and daily management…