Continuous Improvement Manager

City Brewing Company – Who We Are

With our roots in La Crosse, WI, we are proud to be North America’s largest co-packager of alcoholic beverages with four locations across the United States. Through our focuses on Safety throughout our facilities, Quality of products produced for our customers, Communication at all levels, Growth of not just our locations but also of our employees in their careers, and Performance with our ability to meet deadlines and goals for ourselves and our customers, we pride ourselves on the brand we have created and continue to grow.

Job Summary

The Continuous Improvement Manager in La Crosse will direct and coordinate activities focused on continuous improvement of all company activities impacting the La Crosse site specifically. This role will work directly with cross-functional stakeholders in the facility and collaborate with other Continuous Improvement team members across City’s network to drive the site toward efficient operations that reflect both facility and companywide strategies and goals.

Responsibilities

• Communicates regularly with local and corporate management to establish continuous improvement goals/objectives and overall direction; provides input and feedback regularly to key leadership on these efforts
• Collaborates with functional leaders, employees, and customers to develop strategic opportunities for improvement in efficiency throughout the facility; leads the implementation of agreed upon programs from inception to completion
• Networks with internal/external resources to bring best practices to projects and the organization
• Provides education and mentoring to employees on Operational Excellence principles and techniques
• Facilitates and leads the continuous improvement training process for the facility by identifying learner needs and developing training materials as needed
• Promotes and leads problem solving efforts through Lean methodologies such as: Kaizen, 5S, Kanban, and Value Stream Mapping
• Ensures open communication throughout the organization by keeping key stakeholders informed of project status and ensuring coordination of Continuous Improvement activities
• Creates metrics, deployment goals, and objectives to drive accountability throughout the facility
• Monitors activity level of continuous improvement teams and team champions; alerts management of additional support needed to achieve desired results
• Keeps up-to-date with the latest developments in Operational Excellence and process improvement principles and practices; keeps the organization and site informed
• Models operational excellence, visibly demonstrating leadership/change management behaviors

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree (B. A.) in Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Operations, or other related field
• 5 years experience in an operations role with a continuous improvement focus
• Lean six-sigma Black Belt or Green Belt certification prefered
• Prior experience successfully mentoring and training large teams across multiple functional and skill levels
• Strong knowledge of Lean processes and methodologies within a manufacturing environment including Value Stream Mapping, facilitating Kaizen events and knowledge of Lean tools and processes such as: Continuous flow, set up reduction, pull systems, TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) and 5S practices
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including the ability to influence others to achieve desired goals
• Strong problem solving skills
• Proficient in IQMS Manufacturing software
• Proficient in MS Excel and PowerPoint

City Brewery is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all applicants will be considered without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.