Continuous Improvement Manager

International Paper•Richmond, VA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

The Continuous Improvement Manager (CIM) is responsible for establishing and sustaining a high-performing operating environment that embeds continuous improvement principles across the manufacturing facility. This role provides strategic leadership for quality systems, safety performance, and operational excellence while ensuring compliance with regulatory and customer requirements. The CIM partners closely with plant leadership to drive measurable improvements in safety, quality, reliability, and productivity.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
5–10+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing, quality, or continuous improvement leadership roles.
Demonstrated knowledge and experience in developing, implementing and managing high performance work systems and teams.
Knowledge of and compliance with local and corporate policies.
Builds Effective Teams
Business Insight
Drives Results
Customer Focus
Manages Complexity
Optimizes Work Processes

Responsibilities

Lead the development and execution of continuous improvement strategies across manufacturing operations.
Drive adoption and effective use of manufacturing reliability and continuous improvement tools (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, problem-solving methodologies) to improve safety, quality, throughput, and cost.
Coach and influence supervisors and operating teams to build capability, accountability, and ownership of performance metrics. The CIM will manage a manufacturing department and be responsible for leading a team of supervisors to achieve operational goals.
Provide support by leading the plant safety team. Also, support safety initiatives such as safety audits, incident investigations and safety orientation for new hires. Must understand OHSA/EPA regulations.
Provide overall leadership and governance of plant quality systems, ensuring alignment with internal standards, customer requirements, and regulatory expectations.
Manage internal audit programs, including audit scheduling, execution, corrective action tracking, and continuous improvement of audit outcomes.
Actively participate in the New Item process, as well as Customer audits and communication. Maintain knowledge of customer specific quality testing, expectations, and requirements.