Senior Manager, Continuous Improvement

PCI Pharma Services•San Diego, CA

10d•$133,920 - $150,660

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Continuous Improvement is a hands-on operational leader responsible for driving measurable performance improvements across manufacturing and business processes. The role combines process engineering expertise, data-driven problem solving, and Lean methodologies to achieve sustainable improvements in efficiency, quality, cost, and throughput. Working cross-functionally with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Maintenance, this position designs, optimizes, standardizes, and controls critical processes. It serves as a member of the Site Leadership Team and has a dotted-line reporting relationship to the Site Leader. In conjunction with the Global OPEX Director and Site Leader, the role creates the site’s Lean vision and implements the Lean Maturity Index to establish an Operational Center of Excellence. The position leads and supports process engineering and continuous improvement work, establishes performance measures, develops financial justifications, and reports results to senior leadership. It also mentors and coaches supervisors, engineers, and frontline leaders, while partnering with the Site Leadership Team on organizational change and sustained adoption of improvements.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification.
8–10 years of experience in manufacturing, operations, or process engineering.
At least 3 years leading continuous improvement initiatives.
Hands-on experience with process mapping and value stream mapping.
Hands-on experience with root-cause analysis methods, including A3, 5-Why, and Fishbone.
Hands-on experience with OEE and productivity improvement.
Proven track record of delivering measurable cost savings and efficiency gains.
Experience implementing Lean manufacturing systems.

Nice To Haves

Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification.
Experience in high-volume or complex manufacturing environments within the food industry, aerospace, pharmaceutical, or other GMP industries.
Experience with ERP/MES systems and data visualization tools.
Project management certification; PMP is a plus.

Responsibilities

Create the site Lean vision in conjunction with the Global OPEX Director and Site Leader, and implement the Lean Maturity Index to establish an Operational Center of Excellence.
Facilitate and coach A3 projects, cross-functional Kaizen events, and multi-practitioner teams to promote process-improvement best practices.
Lead end-to-end process analysis, mapping, and redesign initiatives.
Identify bottlenecks, constraints, and sources of variability in manufacturing and operational workflows.
Develop and implement process-control strategies to reduce waste and improve process stability.
Apply statistical analysis and data modeling to validate improvements.
Optimize cycle time, yield, OEE, capacity utilization, and labor efficiency.
Drive standard-work creation and process-documentation discipline.
Lead Kaizen events, value stream mapping sessions, and root-cause investigations.
Deploy Lean, Six Sigma, and structured problem-solving methodologies, including DMAIC, PDCA, and A3.
Establish KPIs and dashboards to track improvement initiatives.
Build a continuous improvement roadmap aligned with business objectives.
Mentor and coach supervisors, engineers, and frontline leaders in continuous improvement tools.
Sustain improvements through governance and audit systems.
Partner with the Site Leadership Team to manage organizational change and increase adoption of process improvements.
Analyze process data to identify trends, variability, and improvement opportunities.
Develop financial justifications and ROI models for improvement initiatives.
Track cost savings, productivity gains, and quality improvements.
Present performance results to senior leadership.