Lean Continuous Improvement Manager

About the role

Beehive Industries is seeking a Lean Continuous Improvement Manager to lead the deployment of the Beehive Production System and site-level Operations Excellence roadmap at one of our manufacturing sites.

Responsibilities

• Lead site-level deployment of the Beehive Production System and lean roadmap across manufacturing operations
• Provide leadership, direction, and prioritization for site Industrial Engineers and related Operations Excellence resources
• Align industrial engineering work to site priorities, including capacity planning, labor modeling, takt analysis, cell design, material flow, WIP strategy, and manufacturing readiness
• Partner with site leadership to define improvement priorities, kaizen funnel, project pipeline, and measurable performance targets
• Serve as the primary lean coach and change agent for site leaders, supervisors, engineers, technicians, and operators
• Facilitate kaizen events focused on safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, flow, WIP reduction, and process stability
• Establish and improve daily management systems, including tier boards, SQDC reviews, escalation routines, action trackers, and visual controls
• Deploy and sustain core lean tools such as 5S, visual management, standard work, leader standard work, value stream mapping, waste identification, takt planning, flow, pull systems, and structured problem solving
• Coach teams through structured problem solving using tools such as A3, 5 Why, fishbone diagrams, Pareto analysis, and root cause/countermeasure thinking
• Help identify and remove barriers to flow, including bottlenecks, rework, waiting, excess WIP, unclear ownership, poor visual management, and unstable processes
• Build site capability in Greenbelt-level improvement methods, kaizen execution, industrial engineering fundamentals, and practical lean thinking
• Support manufacturing readiness activities for new products, new processes, production cells, and rate scale-up
• Partner with operations, manufacturing engineering, quality, planning, supply chain, digital, and finance teams to improve end-to-end manufacturing performance
• Improve takt attainment, labor productivity, cell design, material flow, WIP visibility, constraint management, and throughput across the site
• Document before-and-after improvements, including baseline condition, countermeasures, measurable impact, ownership, and sustainment plans
• Develop training materials, playbooks, standard work, and simple tools that help employees understand and apply lean and industrial engineering principles
• Conduct regular follow-up, audits, and coaching to ensure improvements are sustained after kaizen events or project completion
• Support cross-site sharing of best practices, lessons learned, visual standards, kaizen results, IE models, and lean maturity progress
• Help build a culture where problems are visible, employees are engaged, leaders coach at the process, and teams continuously improve the work

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Industrial Technology, Business, or a related field
• 8+ years of experience in lean manufacturing, operations excellence, industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, continuous improvement, or production leadership
• Demonstrated experience leading kaizen events and deploying lean tools in a manufacturing environment
• Knowledge of industrial engineering methods, including capacity modeling, labor planning, process analysis, time studies, layout development, line balancing, takt planning, and production flow
• Knowledge of lean manufacturing principles, including standard work, leader standard work, visual management, 5S, value stream mapping, kaizen, waste reduction, flow, pull systems, and structured problem solving
• Experience coaching leaders, supervisors, engineers, technicians, and operators in practical lean and problem-solving methods
• Experience building or improving daily management systems, tiered meetings, visual boards, action tracking, and escalation routines
• Strong facilitation and change management skills with the ability to influence cross-functional teams without relying solely on positional authority
• Strong communication skills with the ability to connect strategy to shop-floor execution
• The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government issues security clearance is required
• Ability to work in a fast-paced manufacturing environment and spend meaningful time on the shop floor

Qualifications

• Experience in aerospace, defense, additive manufacturing, machining, assembly, or complex hardware manufacturing
• Leverage of Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, or equivalent practical improvement experience
• Experience deploying a production system, business operating system, or lean transformation across a manufacturing site
• Experience managing or directly leading Industrial Engineers, Continuous Improvement Engineers, or Operations Excellence teams
• Experience supporting manufacturing readiness, rate readiness, run-at-rate events, or production scale-up
• Experience with Theory of Constraints, takt planning, line balancing, pull systems, WIP control, and production flow design
• Experience with ERP, MES, PLM, scheduling systems, or manufacturing data systems
• Experience building lean training programs, kaizen funnels, improvement roadmaps, visual standards, IE models, capacity models, or maturity assessments
• Experience with Power BI, Smartsheet, Excel, SQL, simulation tools, CAD layout tools, or other tools used to track operational performance and improvement activity
• The ability to connect lean and industrial engineering work to business outcomes, including safety, quality, delivery, cost, cash, productivity, rate readiness, and employee engagement

Skills

• Lean Manufacturing
• Continuous Improvement
• Industrial Engineering
• Operations Excellence
• Lean Six Sigma
• Manufacturing Readiness
• Production Flow
• WIP Control
• Team Coaching
• Change Management
• Training Development
• Process Improvement

Benefits

Beehive Industries offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes group Medical, Dental, Life, and Short and Long-Term disability coverage from day one. We also offer a generous 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan with a Company match. Every role at Beehive Industries is bonus eligible and will also receive equity in the company.