Lean Improvement Specialist

Chudleigh's Bakery • Milton, ON

7d • CA$78,000 - CA$83,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Chudleigh's is seeking a Lean Improvement Specialist to join their team. This role involves leading and managing product launches, overseeing product lifecycle management, and ensuring data integrity within their D365 system. The specialist will foster cross-functional collaboration, manage post-launch debriefs, and drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency and performance. Chudleigh's is a well-established bakery with a modern facility, dedicated to producing delicious desserts for customers across North America and beyond.

Requirements

• Lean Six Sigma Green or Black Belt Certification.
• Kaizen or TPM experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field.
• 7-10+ years in Product Lifecycle Management, Product Data Management, or Supply Chain.
• 3-5+ years of experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations modules.
• Exhibits problem solving skills and demonstrates creative solutions.
• Costing & Inventory Management.
• Knowledge of BOMs, routings, and product configurations.
• Engineering Change Management processes.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder management.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration.
• Data-driven decision making.

Nice To Haves

• Waste Reduction experience.
• Experience with KANBAN and ANDON tools.
• Passion for Desserts and Baked Goods.
• Dessert Manufacturing Facility or Bakery experience.
• Strong BRC (or similar GFSI) knowledge or experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage cross-functional launch timelines from concept to commercialization, ensuring alignment across PD, QA, Operations, Supply Chain, and Sales.
• Define critical paths, milestones, and dependencies, while maintaining optimized project schedules that provide clear visibility into progress and risks.
• Drive on-time execution by proactively managing risks, resolving bottlenecks, and coordinating stakeholders as the central point of contact.
• Deliver executive-level reporting and continuously improve launch processes to enhance efficiency, accountability, and overall performance.
• Define and manage end-to-end PLM frameworks aligned with business and operational goals, ensuring structured processes from ideation through end-of-life.
• Establish and enforce governance within D365 covering product creation, changes, version control, and discontinuation, while standardizing data structures, naming conventions, and hierarchies to ensure consistency and integration.
• Implement workflows and approval processes for NPI and lifecycle changes, ensuring control, compliance, and audit readiness.
• Ensure product master data quality through validation, monitoring, and continuous improvement practices, while enabling visibility through reporting and dashboards to support portfolio and decision making.
• Continuously enhance lifecycle processes and governance by leveraging system capabilities and best practices to improve efficiency, compliance, and speed-to-market.
• Serve as the functional lead and SME for product-related modules in D365, ensuring effective configuration, governance, and alignment with business processes.
• Own and optimize key modules including PIM, BOMs, and inventory configurations, ensuring accurate product structures, data integrity, and support for manufacturing and supply chain execution.
• Drive system alignment and adoption across cross-functional teams, partnering with IT and vendors to ensure integration, EDI compatibility, and minimal customization.
• Continuously enhance D365 capabilities through process improvements, automation, and reporting to improve efficiency, visibility, and decision-making.
• Oversee product master data integrity across systems, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and compliance with internal and regulatory standards.
• Establish and enforce data governance policies, including ownership, validation processes, and standardized data structures (e.g., attributes, naming, classifications) to ensure consistency and usability.
• Collaborate with IT and cross-functional teams to enhance data management capabilities, including automation, validation, and system integration.
• Continuously improve data governance frameworks through audits, monitoring, and process enhancements to reduce risk and support scalable growth.
• Foster strong cross-functional collaboration with Commercialization, Supply Chain, Operations, Finance, and Product Development (PD) teams to ensure seamless execution of product lifecycle processes, from ideation through launch and ongoing management.
• Facilitate alignment on priorities, timelines, and deliverables across functions, proactively identifying gaps and ensuring all stakeholders are working toward common objectives.
• Lead and standardize the post-launch debrief process, facilitating cross-functional reviews to assess performance against objectives, timelines, and metrics.
• Drive accountability for deliverables, conduct root cause analysis on variances, and ensure clear documentation of insights and action plans to support continuous improvement.
• Develop clear post-launch reports, executive summaries, and dashboards to communicate performance, risks, and insights.
• Present findings and recommendations to leadership, enabling data driven decisions on portfolio optimization, investments, and process improvements.
• Establish a closed-loop feedback process to incorporate post-launch learnings into future initiatives.
• Identify and drive process improvements across the commercialization lifecycle, while advancing standardized “launch excellence” frameworks to improve efficiency, consistency, and performance.
• Other tasks as assigned.

Benefits

• Competitive Health, Dental & Vision Benefits (100% employer paid)
• RRSP Matching Program
• 3 Weeks' Annual Vacation
• Anniversary Paid Day Off
• Personal Development/Education Fund
• Fitness Reimbursement
• Safety Shoe Reimbursement
• Employee Referral Bonus
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Employee Rewards and Recognition Programs: Programs that recognize and reward employee achievements and contributions.
• Community Engagement: Opportunities to participate in community service and corporate social responsibility initiatives.
• Inclusive Workplace: An inclusive and diverse workplace where all employees are valued and respected.
• Sustainability Commitment: Work for a company committed to sustainability and making a positive impact on the environment.

What This Job Offers

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