Manager, Continuous Improvement

Howmet Aerospace•Rancho Cucamonga, CA

About The Position

Responsible for supporting the organization, planning, implementation, and follow-through of continuous improvement initiatives established within the company's operating model. Drives and leads a wide range of activities designed to improve on-time delivery and productivity. This role involves facilitating Kaizen events, providing training, acting as an internal consultant, coaching leadership, establishing reporting methods, and ensuring consistent approaches for visual controls and productivity measurements. The position also focuses on developing team skills, identifying improvement opportunities, collecting data, coordinating with resource departments for implementation, and ensuring compliance with safety, environmental, and company policies. The Manager will represent the business in reporting results and action plans to senior management and the wider CI Function team, and develop strategies to improve productivity and efficiency. Instructs others in continuous process improvements, including problem-solving and productivity techniques, and facilitates employee teams to build cohesiveness and improve results.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business Administration from an accredited institution.
Minimum 5 years of experience in a manufacturing environment.
This position is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) which requires U.S. person status.
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

A strong technical understanding of Production KPIs.
Strong leadership skills that foster an engaged employee environment.
Previous experience with change management.
Demonstrated results in leading manufacturing excellence.
A strong technical understanding of manufacturing processes.
Strong communication, interpersonal, organizational and negotiation skills.
Strong mechanical aptitude.
Experience in the forging industry is a plus.

Responsibilities

Facilitate successful Kaizen and rapid improvement process events with both internal and external consultants, customers and suppliers, with a major emphasis on locally focused improvement.
Provide the support all follow-throughs required to sustain the improvements during the events.
Coordinate with senior management to deliver team-based and individual training to support enhanced organizational performance through imparting thorough knowledge and continuous improvement concepts, principles, and practices.
Act as internal consultant and catalyst to assist individuals and teams in the application of continuous improvement principles and techniques to improve operation.
May provide support external consulting services to other company or supplier operations.
Coach and support leadership at all levels in meeting business improvement metrics through the application of continuous improvement methods and techniques.
Establish reporting methods to track progress and communication processes to inform the organization of results opportunities.
Facilitate consistent, uniform approaches for visual controls and productivity measurements to be utilized throughout product teams and the factory.
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.
Provide overall guidance and consultation focusing on the perfection of continuous improvement techniques.
Identify opportunities for improvements, continually evaluate results, and sustain performance gains.
Assist in the collection of data for tracking improvements.
Coordinate with resource departments to fabricate, install and implement improvements.
Ensure that all work activities are performed in accordance with established safety and environmental standards.
Maintain full compliance with Company policies and procedures and conducts all activities in accordance with the Howmet Guide to Business Conduct.
Completes reports and forms, as required.
Represents the business in reporting results and action plans to Senior management and wider CI Function team.
Develops strategies and programs that improve the productivity and efficiency of the various work processes of the company.
Instructs others in continuous process improvements, including the use of various problem solving and productivity techniques such as process mapping and cost time management.
Facilitates employee teams to build cohesiveness and improve the overall results of the respective teams' tasks.