Associate Improvement Manager

Greenpoint Technologies•Marysville, WA

18h•Hybrid

About The Position

Associate Improvement Manager contributes to the success of Greenpoint Technologies through special projects which enhance business operations, improve efficiency, and streamline communication. This role leads the deployment and sustainment of Continuous Improvement (CI) frameworks (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen) across business units. The Associate Improvement Manager facilitates value stream mapping sessions to identify waste, bottlenecks, and process inefficiencies, and establishes and monitors key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure process effectiveness and improvement outcomes. They drive root cause analysis (RCA) using structured methodologies (e.g., 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagram) and ensure corrective/preventive actions are implemented. This role champions a culture of continuous improvement by promoting employee engagement, idea generation, and problem-solving at all levels, and standardizes best practices, ensuring documentation, replication, and scalability across the organization. The Associate Improvement Manager partners with Quality and Operations teams to align CI initiatives with compliance and regulatory requirements, and supports enterprise transformation initiatives aligned with organizational strategy, including digital, operational, and cultural transformation efforts. They identify opportunities for process automation, digitization, and system integration to improve efficiency and reduce manual effort, acting as a change agent to drive adoption of new tools, systems, and ways of working across the organization. This role tracks and reports transformation and continuous improvement benefits realization (cost saving, cycle time reduction, quality improvements), develops solutions to key business issues, and presents alternatives. They lead complex and large-scale projects for cross-functional and/or cross-departments as allocated by executives, identify and create improvement opportunities that support key strategic initiatives, and estimate the resources and participants needed to achieve project goals. The Associate Improvement Manager drafts and submits budget proposals to Vice President, Operations, plans and schedules project timelines and milestones using appropriate tools, and develops and delivers progress reports, proposals, requirements documentation, and presentations. They proactively manage changes in project scope, identify potential risk items, and develop mitigation plans to address them, effectively communicating project expectations to team members and stakeholders in a timely and clear fashion. This role mentors and coaches entry-level employees in Continuous Improvement, provides direction and support to project teams, and will support and assist in the development of strategic initiatives throughout the organization. They create and execute project work plans and revise as appropriate to meet changing needs and requirements, lead the planning and implementation of projects, to include training of necessary personnel and practical revisions to BMS where necessary, and implement and manage project changes and interventions to achieve positive project results. The Associate Improvement Manager summarizes projects to plan results periodically and at close of project, audits solutions and processes on a periodic basis to ensure effectiveness, and makes recommendations for cross-functional organizational improvement opportunities. Regular attendance, including being at work, being on time to work, and working full shifts, is required. Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university and a minimum of 10 years of experience and/or training in Manufacturing, Supply Chain or Production, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Ability to work well independently and cross-functionally as part of an established and growing team.
Displays sound judgement, problem-solving skills, and ability to function independently to accomplish tasks with minimal supervision.
Ability to effectively write reports and business correspondence.
Strong communication, time-management, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.
Ability to read and interpret data.
Ability to deal with variety of abstract and concrete variables.
Ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to a wide range of intellectual and practical problems.
Proficient in Microsoft Office applications with advanced Excel skills and experience with CRM Software.
Ability to sit for extended periods of time, use hands to lift and/or move up to 10 pounds, occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and have close/color vision ability to adjust focus.
Ability to travel as required.
Ability to work outside of core business hours as required.
Employees working on programs subject to International Traffic in Arms Regulations must qualify as a US person which is defined as a US Citizen, a Permanent Resident who does not work for a foreign company / foreign government / foreign governmental agency or organization, or a political asylee for legal compliance purposes.

Nice To Haves

Safran Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt or Safran Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt certification preferred.
Aerospace background and aircraft interior industry experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

Leads the deployment and sustainment of Continuous Improvement (CI) frameworks (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen) across business units.
Facilitates value stream mapping sessions to identify waste, bottlenecks, and process inefficiencies.
Establishes and monitors key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure process effectiveness and improvement outcomes.
Drives root cause analysis (RCA) using structured methodologies (e.g., 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagram) and ensures corrective/preventive actions are implemented.
Champions a culture of continuous improvement by promoting employee engagement, idea generation, and problem-solving at all levels.
Standardizes best practices and ensures documentation, replication, and scalability across the organization.
Partners with Quality and Operations teams to align CI initiatives with compliance and regulatory requirements.
Supports enterprise transformation initiatives aligned with organizational strategy, including digital, operational, and cultural transformation efforts.
Identifies opportunities for process automation, digitization, and system integration to improve efficiency and reduce manual effort.
Acts as a change agent to drive adoption of new tools, systems, and ways of working across the organization.
Tracks and reports transformation and continuous improvement benefits realization (cost saving, cycle time reduction, quality improvements).
Develops solutions to key business issues and presents alternatives.
Leads complex and large-scale projects for cross-functional and/or cross-departments as allocated by executives.
Identifies and creates improvement opportunities that support key strategic initiatives.
Estimates the resources and participants needed to achieve project goals.
Drafts and submits budget proposals to Vice President, Operations.
Plans and schedules project timelines and milestones using appropriate tools.
Develops and delivers progress reports, proposals, requirements documentation, and presentations.
Proactively manages changes in project scope, identifies potential risk items and develops mitigation plans to address them.
Effectively communicates project expectations to team members and stakeholders in a timely and clear fashion.
Mentor and coach entry-level employees in Continuous Improvement.
Provides direction and support to project team.
Will support and assist in the development of strategic initiatives throughout the organization.
Creates and executes project work plans and revises as appropriate to meet changing needs and requirements.
Leads the planning and implementation of projects, to include training of necessary personnel and practical revisions to BMS where necessary.
Implements and manages project changes and interventions to achieve positive project results.
Summarizes projects to plan results periodically and at close of project.
Audits solutions and processes on a periodic basis to ensure effectiveness.
Makes recommendations for cross-functional organizational improvement opportunities.
Maintains regular attendance including being at work, being on time to work and working full shifts.
Other duties as assigned.