Director, Continuous Improvement

Howmet Aerospace•Cleveland, OH

About The Position

The Continuous Improvement Director at Howmet Aerospace is responsible for driving the implementation and sustained use of Lean principles, enhancing operational efficiency and fostering a culture of continuous improvement across the business segment. This role serves as a teacher, coach and mentor, working closely with employees at all levels to build long-term adoption of CI practices. The Continuous Improvement Director partners with Senior Leadership to align improvement initiatives with business objectives, ensuring measurable impact on productivity, capacity and overall business segment performance.

Requirements

Minimum 10 years of experience in manufacturing environments in areas such as: Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, or Operational Excellence
Minimum of 7 years in leadership roles in Operations or Continuous Improvement
Previous experience in an aerospace, automotive or other manufacturing environment requiring significant lean strategies to maintain wins and propel the organizations’ success through Continuous Improvement
Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution
Must be willing to travel up to 50% of the time, including domestic and international travel
Strong working knowledge and understanding of Continuous Process Improvement methodologies such as Lean and Six Sigma.
Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
This position is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) which requires U.S. person status. ITAR defines U.S. person as an U.S. Citizen, U.S. Permanent Resident (i.e. 'Green Card Holder'), Political Asylee, or Refugee
Employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.
Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s Degree and Master's Degree from an accredited institution in Engineering or Supply Chain field of study highly desired
Project Management certification or earned certificate
Experience developing operations leadership development programs in a manufacturing environment
Demonstrated experience in manufacturing improvement techniques, including hoshin, flow principles, Jidoka, Kanban, 5S, and “plan for every part” (PFEP).
Strong skills in value stream mapping and associated improvement methodologies.
Understanding of pillars of Toyota production system (JIT, Jidoka).
Experience evaluating TAKT time vs. cycle time, determining work area constraints (i.e. cycle time constraint, periodic work constraints, downtime constraints).
Experience on the shop floor, working with employees, and enhancing manufacturing processes.
Strong interpersonal and communication skills require the ability to resolve conflicting interests and obtain cooperation.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills: able to develop and use structured approaches to identify root causes and recommend resolutions.
Demonstrated experience in project leadership and project management skills, with ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously to meet objectives and key deadlines.

Responsibilities

Lead the continued development and enhancement of the Howmet Business System journey, including accelerating the Lean Execution Systems Assessment process and progress, working with plant teams on gap closure plans in support of advancing the CI culture across the business segment.
Facilitate the Howmet Business System “HBS” journey best practice sharing within the location and across teams through a sustainable electronic system that allows users to search for common issues or problems.
Lead OEE improvement actions deep dive with leaders and provide avenues for best practice sharing.
Lead Howmet Business System implementation of continuous improvement initiatives and drive waste reductions utilizing Lean principles (JIT, Autonomation, Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen, 5S, Standard Work, Line/Cell Design, Single Piece Flow, Material Flow, Visual Management, SMED, TPM, Root Cause Problem Solving, etc.)
Facilitate Hoshins, Kaizens, problem solving, and rapid improvement process events with internal personnel at all levels of the organization, consultants, customers, and suppliers as needed. This includes providing support to sustain all follow-throughs required to sustain the improvements initiated during those events, especially those concentrated on local improvement.
Understand and analyze Profit and Loss (P&L) statements to identify opportunities for cost reduction, revenue enhancement, and margin improvement.
Lead and collaborate with cross functional internal teams focused on shop floor factory improvements, which could include CAPEX.
Assist team leaders in team skill and knowledge development to support meeting management goals, project management, improvements, results measurements, problem solving and related team skills.
Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and measure the impact of improvement initiatives.
Drive change management efforts to ensure successful implementation and sustainability of process improvements.
Identify and share best practices, lessons learned, and success stories to promote knowledge sharing and continuous learning within the organization.
Provide coaching and mentorship to team members across the organization to drive the Continuous Improvement mindset.
May participate or lead other targeted initiatives or kaizens as directed by the BU, as defined by the Segment Vice President.
Role may support other sites’ continuous improvement activities, as needed (e.g., training, project-based work, best practice support, etc.)