Sr Manager, Continuous Improvement

Founded in 2013, Home Chef is the leading meal solutions company with both a retail and online presence. Available online at homechef.com and in retail at more than 2,100 Kroger grocery stores, Home Chef is committed to inspiring and enabling more people to cook simple, delicious meals, no matter how busy they are. In 2023, Home Chef introduced a new brand, Tempo! Tempo features a rotating selection of ready-to-heat meals delivered directly to your door. These meals are better-for-you versions of familiar favorites, designed to save you time and reduce stress while maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

About the role

The Senior CI Manager will serve as a strategic leader in Home Chef’s National CI team designing and implementing process improvement strategy, managing multi-site project portfolios, and collaborating with cross functional teams to deliver high-level business goals. As a leading strategist on the National CI team, this role is plant-facing and drives change by constantly assessing plant performance, distance from target, best practices, and leveraging plant process expertise to deliver continuous improvement across the plant fulfillment network. This role supports the CI Project Management team and process standardization and optimization initiatives. It requires strong leadership and analytics skills to create and deliver on the vision of enhanced operational efficiency, establishing priorities for CI Project Managers and Site CI teams to deliver lasting, business-impacting results. This hands-on leader will own Home Chef’s Plant Impact processes, delivering clear communication, transparency, and smooth implementation of changes across the network. This position requires at least 50% travel.

Responsibilities

• Setting Strategic Priorities
  • Leverage outputs from CI analytics, fulfillment scorecards, and on-site KPI reviews to identify opportunities for improvement at site and network levels.
  • Develop and lead a structured approach to CI Project Management delivering clear goals, data-driven recommendations, and project implementations.
  • Balance business priorities to deliver critical projects on time and within budget.
  • Support establishing project charters, baseline metrics for project success, and reporting tools.
• Process Ownership and Optimization
  • Design and drive process improvement in Central Portioning, Drop Zone Management, Meal Bagging, Boxing Line, and general production processes.
  • Identify opportunities for standardization and centralization through the lens of the Home Chef Operating System with a focus on scaling best practices.
  • Identify opportunities to facilitate rapid improvement events and then standardize successful processes and workflows.
  • Ensure process, product, and new technology trials are supported by the CI Project Management team members.
  • Build mechanisms to regularly report on project status and address barriers in project timelines.
• Collaboration with Cross-Functional Stakeholders
  • Serve as the primary bridge between corporate CI, plant operations, and cross-functional corporate stakeholders.
  • Own critical Plant Impacting communications processes coordinating between corporate stakeholders and plants to ensure smooth implementation of projects and routine change management.
  • Drive resolution of conflicts between stakeholder groups while managing project portfolio timelines.
  • Coach and mentor corporate and site CI team members enhancing the overall capabilities of the Home Chef CI organization.

Requirements

• Completion of a four-year degree program in a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in supply chain, operations, or engineering.
• Background in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math preferred.
• Excellent analytical skills; strong capabilities in Excel, Google Sheets.
• Continuous improvement mindset, experience identifying and driving process improvement.
• Strong prioritization and project management skills.
• Excellent communication skills, with experience creating buy-in with a range of stakeholders such as hourly employees, customers, suppliers, and executives.
• Proactive in identifying problems and finding innovative solutions.
• Ability to understand the big picture as well as exceptional attention to detail.
• Skilled at dealing with ambiguity and working in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience spearheading execution on large-scale, high-impact projects.
• Experience in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

Benefits

• Candidates can experience Home Chef as a customer - enter promo code PEOPLE30 for $30 off your first order!
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance available.
• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation time.
• 401k program.
• Flexible spending accounts for qualified medical, dependent care, parking, or transit expenses.

Pay

Home Chef offers the base salary range of $125,000 USD - $140,000 USD for this role in Illinois, with the exact offer depending on factors such as geographic location, experience, skills, and internal equity. In addition to base salary, Home Chef provides a comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare coverage, 401k match, and paid time off.

How We Work Together

• We are humble team players. We are warm and gracious with team members and customers. We seek feedback to improve ourselves - and respectfully listen to and accept input.
• We are pragmatic next-level thinkers. We come up with novel and unique ideas. We explore new strategies to avoid being constrained by conventional thinking.
• We take ownership. We approach ambiguous problems, prepared to dive in, get curious, and learn more.
• We are results-driven, always challenging ourselves to exceed goals.