Director of Continuous Improvement

Overview

Lead, develop and deploy all aspects of the Quality System to ensure compliance with customer and regulatory requirements, internal Corporate Quality objectives, as well as providing a strategic vision of the quality function for the company.

Additionally, this role will provide vision, strategies and tactical plans to drive a companywide Continuous Improvement Program, currently identified as the Piston Operating Philosophy (POP), in alignment with corporate strategic objectives.

Piston Automotive wasn’t just founded to make things. It was founded to make things better. And that begins with building better teams solely dedicated to achieving excellence at every level of execution through a combination of experience, expertise, and a deep seeded passion for what we do.

Our assemblies consistently set the standard because our people consistently raise the bar.

Why Piston Automotive?

Competitive Wages, Paid Holidays & Vacation, Medical & Rx Plans, Dental & Vision Plans, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, Employee Assistance Program, Life & Disability Coverage, 401K with Company Match, Tuition Reimbursement , Vehicle and Product Discounts

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and strategic direction to the continuous improvement process through the continued development, deployment and measurement of POP, ensuring alignment with the company’s strategic vision, using Core Lean and CI tools, including but not limited to :
• Hoshin Kanri (aka Strategy / Policy Deployment); Key performance indicators (KPIs); Site-level Lean Audit; Lean training content development and delivery;

Visual management and daily improvement (aka, Managing for Daily Improvement); Common Lean tools (Standard Work, 5S, structured problem solving, etc.)

• Leads project teams to resolve common challenges at multiple sites. Requires the ability to facilitate cooperation and teamwork with multi-functional contributors.
• Coach or facilitate multiple complex Continuous Improvement teams by applying lean 6 Sigma methodologies and tools.
• Oversees and participates in the troubleshooting and analysis of opportunities to rapidly identify, evaluate, propose and implement solutions.

Assists in the analysis of product line performance, identification and recommendation of opportunities for improvement and implementation as appropriate.

• Seeks out opportunities to partner and transfer knowledge with others throughout the business unit, segment and company.
• Interfaces with corporate team to deploy necessary activities
• Promotes principles and a culture to achieve a motivated workforce which is conducive to team based in-plant and cross-plant Operational Excellence initiatives
• Teaches, coaches and encourages continuous improvement thinking and leads Kaizen activities across the organization.
• Assure adequate training, mentoring and coaching practices are in place to assure employees are equipped with industry tools to drive improvement.
• Analyzes workflows and encourages team involvement to improve safety, quality and productivity across the business
• Execute high business value lean six sigma projects.
• Work with peer directors and executives to drive continuous improvement initiatives to continually improve product quality and cost competiveness.
• Coordinate objectives with production procedures in cooperation with all plant managers to maximize product quality and minimize costs.
• Ensure that internal continuous improvement processes and metrics are aligned to deliver the highest possible business impact and competitive advantage.
• Lead corporate assessment annually at all facilities, to track progression and drive focus to the correct priorities within each facility.
• Lead organizational change to achieve a consistent culture of continuous improvement at all levels of the business.
• Develop a collaborative environment of continuous improvement across the entire company that fosters improvement in plant operational results as well as across functional areas of the business (IT, sales and Program Management, HR, engineering, etc.).
• Network in the professional community of leading CI / Lean organizations as well as professional education and leverage these experiences in internal roles

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university, plus minimum ten (10) years related experience in operations or Manufacturing Engineering and Continuous Improvement. MBA preferred.

• Expertise in CI disciplines such as Lean and Six Sigma, and the ability to lead and drive positive change and value creation through influence and collaboration with others.
• Hands-on experience implementing Lean in manufacturing and Transactional areas
• Demonstrated experience in leading multiple large scale lean projects
• Demonstrated experience in applying both lean and six sigma tools
• Demonstrated experience in executing multiple Project Management projects
• Excellent change management facilitation skills as well as strong leadership skills
• Depth and breadth of knowledge in manufacturing, engineering, and supply chain activities
• Strong Computer skills : PowerPoint, Excel, MS project, Minitab, Visio
• Excellent communication, presentation and facilitation skills
• Able to interact with internally and externally customers and suppliers.
• Ability to influence and deliver CI and business projects
• Ability to identify processes needing improvement, and to recommend improvements.
• Strategic thinker and planner
• Travel up to 50%

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