Continuous Improvement Engineer

James Hardie is the industry leader in exterior home and outdoor living solutions, with a portfolio that includes fiber cement, fiber gypsum, composite and PVC decking and railing products. Our family of trusted brands includes Hardie®, Timber Tech®, AZEK® Exteriors, Versatex®, fermacell®, and Stru Xure®. With over 8,000 employees and our U.S. operating entities headquartered in Chicago, we boast 31 operating sites, 6 recycling facilities, and 6 research and development centers globally.

Powered by a dynamic workforce, we're united by our purpose of Building a Better Future for All™ through sustainable innovation, a Zero Harm culture, and a commitment to empowering our people and communities. For more information, visit  .

The CIMS Engineer drives safe, reliable, and cost-effective operations at the Westfield finishing plant through practical engineering, Lean improvement, and workforce capability development. Working closely with operators and plant leaders, this role applies solid mechanical knowledge, direct observation, and data analysis to improve line flow, process stability, quality, equipment utilization, and cost performance.

Within Westfield's small, collaborative team, the position combines process improvement and assigned capital projects with hands-on support for the James Hardie Manufacturing Operating System (HMOS), standardized work, and targeted operational training. Success requires building trust, listening to employees, translating technical concepts into clear actions, and influencing change across departments and shifts. The role turns improvement opportunities into measurable results and helps employees sustain them in daily work.

• Process Improvement and Mechanical Problem Solving
• Spend ample time with operators and supervisors on the line to understand the finishing process, end to end. Identify bottlenecks, downtime trends, excess handling, quality losses, and opportunities to improve performance.
• Apply mechanical knowledge, time studies, line balancing, process mapping, and loss analysis to improve throughput, labor effectiveness, equipment reliability, and operational efficiency while protecting safety and product quality.
• Partner with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Engineering, and Controls teams to troubleshoot equipment and process interactions. Develop solutions for better efficiency
• Lead structured problem solving using PDCA, A3, 5 Whys, Pareto analysis, and Lean Six Sigma tools. Verify effectiveness through performance reviews and sustainment checks before standardizing improvements.
• Monitor the line progress and prioritize losses with plant leadership and validate benefits with Finance.
• Lean and HMOS Deployment
• Support deployment and sustainment of HMOS principles through 5S, visual management, operator standard work, leader standard work, daily management systems, and effective tier meetings.
• Coach employees and supervisors to identify abnormalities, assign ownership, escalat[e] barriers, track actions, and close gaps to improve accountability and operational discipline.
• Facilitate Kaizen events and CI activities focused on productivity, quality, flow, setup reduction, workplace organization, and waste elimination. Engage employees closest to the work in developing and sustaining solutions.
• Maintain a structured improvement pipeline with defined problem statements, baseline data, ownership, milestones, and expected benefits. Review progress and sustainment with plant leadership.
• Partner with the James Hardie CIMS and HMOS network to benchmark performance and share best practices.
• Operational Training and Standardized Work
• Develop, update, and maintain SOPs, standardized work documents, visual job aids, and training materials.
• Deliver hands-on…