Continuous Improvement Manager

Join the California Dairies, Inc. (CDI) team, a farmer-owned cooperative dedicated to sustainably producing the highest quality dairy products while fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. CDI products are delivered locally and around the world. Situated in Stanislaus County, our Turlock South manufacturing plant specializes in the production of butter and milk powder. We encourage you to be part of our team that's shaping the future of dairy, right from the heart of California!

Our commitment to CDI employees:

We believe in valuing our team with a total rewards package that goes beyond the basics. You'll find we offer competitive pay and incentive programs designed to recognize and reward your contributions.
Competitive medical,dental, and vision benefits
, generous paid time off, sick days & holidays
, retirement plans designed to secure your future. We don't stop there. We've also cultivated a variety of valuable programs focused on your personal well-being and professional growth
, ensuring you have the support you need to both inside and outside of work.

The Continuous Improvement (CI) Manager is responsible for driving the improvement of processes and systems in California Dairies, Inc. (CDI) manufacturing facilities by implementing programs with continuing long-term benefits. This includes but is not limited to working with other CI Team Members, leading multi-disciplinary team projects to implement standardized systems and processes which assist teams in achieving enterprise goals.

Position is approximately 75% during normal business hours, while reachable by cell phone 24 hours a day / 7 days a week. Approximately 25% of time spent on site will be after hours and on weekends. This is flexible depending on the needs of the organization and active project(s). Travel to other sites and / or offsite training may be required.

This role responsible for delivering process innovation and continuous improvement initiatives across multiple departments. It will play an essential role in helping to foster a culture of sustainable change through the creation and embedding of LEAN-Six Sigma-Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) methodology and the supporting framework to deliver lasting results.

• Implement sustainable improvements across the value chain by applying Lean-Six Sigma-TPM methodologies.
• Partner with plant leadership to develop execution plans for corporate initiatives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to deliver improvements and achieve business objectives.
• Lead and manage the plant productivity agenda across five productivity streams:
  Design, Source, Plan, Make, and Deliver.
• Execute loss analysis processes as needed to support the timely identification of trends, losses, and process variation to establish plant improvement projects.
• Define and implement processes to support a continuous improvement culture: annual improvement planning, results review, understanding issues, taking actions, launching problem-solving or projects, and implementing sustainable solutions to drive improvement.
• Elicit requirements and drive process change using staff interviews, document analysis, requirements workshops, surveys, site visits, business process descriptions, business analysis and workflow analysis.
• Provide accurate and timely progress against key objectives, savings projects, potential risks, and risk mitigation efforts to the Director of Program Management & Continuous Improvement.
• Function as a core team member and subject matter expert in working sessions designed to improve business operations cross-functionally.
• Coordinate with the Talent Team and Technical Services to develop and publish SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures), OPL’s (One-point lesson), and SWI (Standard Work Instructions) for various manufacturing processes across the organization.
• Assist in building a Daily Management System platform for plants for 3 organizational levels:
  Operator, Supervisor, and Plant Leadership.
• Audit improved processes and CI initiatives for sustainability and compliance.
• Provide on-going training and expertise regarding Continuous Improvement tools.
• Provide analytical support…