Continuous Improvement Manager

Position: Continuous Improvement Manager
Department: Operations
Reports To: Site Leader
Salary Type: Exempt
Location: Irwindale, CA

Pay: $125,000-$140,000

Bonduelle Americas is a certified B Corp inviting people to embrace a flexitarian lifestyle with an expanding portfolio of plant-rich products available in and beyond the produce aisle. We operate four facilities and employ nearly 3,000 Associates in the US.

Bonduelle Americas is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Groupe Bonduelle (BON.PA), an established global brand with more than 170 years of family heritage bringing the joy of plants to tables around the world. Globally, our ready-to-eat plant-rich food products are grown on 173,000 acres by our grower partners and marketed in nearly 100 countries. Our mission is to inspire the transition toward a plant-rich diet to contribute to people's well-being and planet health.

Position Summary:
The Continuous Improvement (CI) Manager collaborates closely with the Plant Director to lead and coordinate Continuous Improvement initiatives at the site. The role involves identifying, analyzing, proposing, and implementing strategies to optimize resource utilization across materials, labor, utilities, and equipment. The CI Manager partners with various functional areas to drive change throughout the facility, ensuring cost-saving targets are met within plant operations. In addition to their strategic responsibilities, the CI Manager acts as a coach and mentor to managers, supervisors, and team members. This includes fostering a zero-loss manufacturing culture and building Lean Sigma skills across the organization. By empowering all team members to identify and eliminate waste and inefficiencies continuously—every hour, every shift, and every day—the CI Manager plays a pivotal role in driving sustainable improvements and operational excellence.

What you will Do:

• Owns the development, implementation and execution of the plant’s Continuous Improvement Program and Playbook
• Uses six sigma and lean disciplines to drive continuous improvement projects, lead teams, coach, and mentor factory personnel.
• Collect, analyze, and interpret data to identify trends, root causes, and measure the effectiveness of improvement projects.
• Partners with the entire plant team to identify and prioritize losses
• Manage improvement projects from initiation to completion, including setting goals, timelines and performance metrics.
• Facilitate change management processes to ensure smooth implementation of new processes and minimize resistance.
• Track and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the impact of continuous improvement
• Provides technical expertise and input in resolving bottlenecks to throughput; determines efficient methods for worker and equipment utilization.
• Leads critical cost savings projects using project management tools
• Manages development and execution of the plant Productivity Deck (list of CI projects for the year)
• Report status and results of projects to stakeholders
• Develops management systems, establishes work measurement programs, and performs line workload observations to develop standards for labor and materials utilization.
• Works hand in hand with functional department representatives to create task teams and leads brainstorming to identify areas of improvement; proposes and implement continuous improvements initiatives.
• Lead and facilitate cross-functional teams from various departments to identify and address process improvement opportunities
• Provides analysis, input, and support for the budget process.
• Prepares and gives formal presentations to management about projects progress and direction.
• Prepares cost /benefit analyses and presents recommendations to management.
• Ensure the benefits generated by the projects are properly measured and that the impact on total costs are validated by finance
• Train and coach the plant leaders, project leaders, and others as needed on the Focused Improvement methodologies
• Builds skills and capabilities on Continuous Improvement tools such as Zero Base Analysis, Process Mapping, 5-Why Analysis, Rapid Changeover, Line Balancing, Waste Walk, Kaizen, DMAIC, etc. across all functions of the plant
• Ensures standardization of CI methods across the plant.
• Tracks and ensure sustainability of improvements
• Reports out progress of cost savings execution
• Share best practices and adopt best practices from other plants
• Build collaborative relationships with business partners.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• A bachelor degree in industrial engineering degree, or related field
• 5+ years of experience working in a manufacturing environment

Desired Qualifications:

• Cost accounting experience or financial acumen is a plus
• Change Enabler
• Must have very strong analytical and critical thinking capabilities
• Familiarity with data analysis tools and software
• Highly self-motivated; able to work with minimal supervision
• Knowledge of TPM, with advanced understanding of Focused Improvement Pillar
• Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt Certification Preferred
• Application of Continuous Improvement Tools (Lean, Six Sigma, TPM)
• Strong PC skills, including the use of Microsoft Excel, Word, Power Point, and Minitab
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Experience leading teams and facilitating meetings
• Strong project management skills]
• Strong problem solving skills
• Ability to work well in a team environment and collaborate up and down the organization
• A proven track record of results with a bias for action
• A passion for learning and a craving to work in a fun culture