Director, Continuous Improvement

RESTEK CORPORATION • Bellefonte, PA

1h

About The Position

Restek is looking for a builder to stand up an enterprise-wide continuous improvement program. As the Director of Continuous Improvement, you will develop the systems, talent, and Lean culture necessary for operational excellence across Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, and Customer Experience. Reporting to the Vice President of Operations, you will serve as the principal change agent, leading transformation programs and Kaizen events. Your work will directly influence strategic priorities by reducing waste and scrap, improving quality, accelerating flow, enhancing the customer experience, and increasing profitability.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 10 years of progressive operations and CI experience.
• At least 5 years in a senior CI or operational excellence leadership role in manufacturing.
• Proven track record of leading enterprise-level Lean transformations with sustained, financially validated results.
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification.
• Hands-on experience across multiple functions (manufacturing, supply chain, quality, customer service, and/or engineering).
• Experience leading and developing CI practitioners and managers.
• Deep fluency in the CI toolkit: Lean (5S, standard work, visual management, flow, pull, SMED, TPM, Kaizen), Six Sigma (DMAIC, SPC, DOE), Value Stream Mapping, Hoshin Kanri, and structured problem solving (A3, 8D, 5-Why, fishbone).
• Advanced Excel and Power BI (or equivalent) skills for data-driven decision making.
• Outstanding written, verbal, and executive presentation skills.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Master Black Belt certification.
• Credibility on the manufacturing floor and with leadership.
• Servant-leader and coach who thinks strategically, executes in detail, and influences from the manufacturing floor to the Leadership Team.
• Experience in a regulated manufacturing environment (e.g., FDA, ISO 9001, ISO 13485, GMP).
• Experience in scientific instruments, life sciences, chromatography, analytical, or precision-manufactured products.
• Experience bringing digital tools and analytics (e.g., MES, ERP, Power BI, advanced analytics) into the CI toolkit.

Responsibilities

• Own the multi-year CI roadmap, aligned with Restek’s strategic plan, annual operating plan, and Operations priorities.
• Establish the management system that makes improvement stick (daily management, tiered huddles, A3 problem solving) and define a CI maturity model to guide each function’s progress.
• Partner with Finance to validate savings and ensure improvement gains show up in the P&L.
• Personally lead and facilitate high-impact Kaizen events, Value Stream Mapping, and transformation projects tied to safety, quality, delivery, cost, inventory, and customer outcomes.
• Drive measurable gains in OEE, first-pass yield, scrap and rework, on-time delivery, lead time, inventory turns, customer response time, and total cost of quality.
• Ensure improvement work is well scoped, resourced, and sustained, and bring the best practices from inside and outside Restek to every team.
• Improve safety, quality, throughput, changeover, and productivity in Manufacturing through standard work, visual management, and a Lean production system.
• Help deliver an industry-leading customer experience through faster response and resolution, better processes, and digital enablement.
• Strengthen supplier quality and delivery, optimize inventory, and streamline order-to-cash in Supply Chain, delivering measurable cost savings.
• Partner with Engineering on design for manufacturability, new product introduction, and change management to speed time-to-market and build it right the first time.
• Build, lead, and develop the Continuous Improvement team.
• Design and deliver Restek’s CI training curriculum, including Lean fundamentals, Yellow/Green/Black Belt paths, problem-solving methods, and leader standard work.
• Coach senior leaders and frontline managers in CI thinking, and develop change agents at every level to scale CI beyond the central team.
• Implement metrics and dashboards to make progress visible from the manufacturing floor to the executive team, and share wins and learnings across the organization.

Benefits

• Restek leaders model our core values and act as stewards of our culture.
• They communicate openly, build trust, and support the growth and well-being of their teams.
• They think globally and act locally, create clarity around goals, hold themselves accountable, partner across functions and regions, and lead with humility and service so every employee-owner can contribute to Restek’s success.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director