Continuous Improvement Manager

PROENERGY is an engineering, R&D, and manufacturing powerhouse addressing every need for fast-start power generation: turbine and package manufacturing, turnkey project execution, power purchase agreements, and asset lifecycle care for turbines and plants. The company delivers innovative aeroderivative solutions to energy challenges from worldwide centers of excellence, with over $1 billion invested through 2028 in infrastructure.

Key locations include:

• A 600,000 sq ft Center for Excellence in Manufacturing in Sedalia, Missouri—expanding by 40 percent.
• A 500,000 sq ft Center for Excellence in Lifecycle Care in Houston, Texas, featuring a Level-IV depot and aero repair facility.
• An Engineering office in Kansas City supporting turnkey projects and contracted power.
• Worldwide service centers in Phoenix, Buenos Aires, New Brunswick, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia.

About the role

The Continuous Improvement Manager will lead operational excellence initiatives to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and drive sustainable growth within the manufacturing power sector. This role requires deep expertise in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma methodologies, and process improvement strategies, with hands-on experience in complex manufacturing environments.

Reporting to the VP of Production Planning & Continuous Improvement, the CI Manager owns deployment and results on the ground: the daily management system, the improvement project pipeline, frontline capability building, and the cultural change that embeds improvement into daily operations.

Responsibilities

• Deploy and manage the organization’s continuous improvement program in alignment with enterprise strategy and business objectives—owning execution, sustainment, and results at the site and value-stream level.
• Lead Lean, Six Sigma, and other process improvement initiatives to enhance safety, quality, productivity, and cost-efficiency—chartering, facilitating, and closing high-impact projects with disciplined action-item closure and sustainment audits.
• Oversee the analysis, optimization, and standardization of manufacturing, services, and supply chain processes—partnering with production planning and process owners to document standard work and stabilize core processes before encoding into D365 workflows.
• Support the D365/ERP implementation from the process side: lead value stream mapping and process design ahead of configuration, drive post-go-live stabilization kaizen, and help convert daily management boards and CI metrics from manual tracking to system-fed data without losing floor ownership.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, operations, quality, and maintenance teams to identify process bottlenecks and implement sustainable solutions.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress and ensure continuous improvement goals are met—including validated hard savings, cycle-time and work-in-process reduction, scrap/rework reduction, and schedule-adherence support.
• Run the daily management system: coach supervisors and managers through tiered accountability meetings, leader standard work, and visual management—holding the standard when delivery pressure pushes against it.
• Mentor and train the organization on continuous improvement tools, problem-solving methodologies, and best practices—developing internal facilitators to scale improvement capacity.
• Drive cultural change to foster a mindset of continuous learning and innovation, engaging employees from the shop floor to the executive level.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action for recurring issues in production and operations, applying structured problem-solving (A3, 5-Why, 8D, PDCA) with verified, permanent countermeasures.
• Manage resource allocation for improvement projects, building ROI cases and ensuring maximum return on investment.
• Stay current with industry trends and emerging technologies to maintain competitive advantage in the power generation manufacturing sector.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, Manufacturing, or a related field.
• Minimum 10+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing operations, with at least 5 years in a leadership role driving continuous improvement initiatives.
• Direct experience in manufacturing precision parts and assemblies, with hands-on knowledge of shop floor implementation.
• Strong understanding of VSM, Kaizen, TPM, daily management systems, and other process improvement frameworks—practitioner depth, not program administration.
• Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change and engage employees at all levels, with a proven track record of measurable results in operational efficiency.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and project management skills; exceptional communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management abilities.
• US work authorization is required; the company will not consider candidates who require sponsorship for a work-authorized visa.
• Successful candidates will need to satisfactorily complete pre-employment drug screen and background check.

Preferred Qualifications

• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or Master Black Belt; direct Toyota Production System and/or Shingijutsu lineage (sensei-led kaizen training) highly valued.
• Master’s degree in Engineering, Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, or a related field.
• Proven success leading continuous improvement in power generation, aerospace, or gas turbine manufacturing environments with complex, high-value equipment.
• Experience supporting an ERP implementation or migration from the process side—process standardization, data readiness, user acceptance testing, or change management—with Microsoft Dynamics 365 a plus.
• Experience integrating digital manufacturing tools (MES, real-time KPI dashboards, predictive analytics) into CI programs.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cultural transformation across multi-site operations.
• Evidence of introducing new methodologies, technologies, or processes that have delivered measurable gains in safety, quality, throughput, and cost efficiency.
• Strong capability building ROI models for CI projects, managing budgets, and aligning process improvements with corporate financial goals.
• Familiarity with ISO 9001, AS9100, OSHA, and other regulatory and quality standards applicable to precision manufacturing.

Benefits

• Competitive pay.
• Medical, dental, vision, and life/disability insurance at minimal cost to the employee.
• 10 paid holidays.
• Paid time off.
• 401K plan.

PROENERGY is an equal opportunity employer.