Lead Lean Manufacturing Engineer

Company Overview

Stuart Rush is a private business formed from the legacy electric chain hoist plants of Columbus McKinnon Corporation, with the first Lodestar® hoist made in the 1950s. With long-standing operations in Damascus, VA and Lexington, TN, the company builds on a legacy of quality in chain and hoist manufacturing. Stuart Rush values its employees as the foundation of its success and is committed to fostering a strong, supportive, and resilient workplace. The company is dedicated to delivering reliable products and earning customer trust through consistent performance while building a strong future for its people and customers.

Job Summary/Overview

Drive site-wide lean transformation initiatives by converting tactical opportunities and strategic goals into actionable improvement initiatives that eliminate waste, improve flow, meet customer needs, and achieve KPI-defined performance expectations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Drive lean transformation initiatives site-wide, translating tactical opportunities and strategic goals into actionable improvement projects to eliminate waste, improve flow, meet customer needs, and obtain the expected performance as defined through KPI goals.
• Lead and facilitate Kaizen events and rapid improvement workshops across production and support functions, from chartering through follow-up and sustainment.
• Apply lean tools (value stream mapping, 5S, SMED, standard work, visual management, error-proofing, root cause solving, and others as applicable) to a high-mix, low-volume production environment where flexibility and quick changeovers are imperative.
• Partner with operations, quality, engineering, and materials teams to identify waste, bottlenecks, and variation, and to design and implement countermeasures.
• Coach production supervisors, operators, and engineers on lean principles and problem-solving methodology (e.g., 5 Why, A3, PDCA, DMAIC) to build organizational problem solving and improvement capability.
• Track and report improvement metrics and lean performance measures and tie them to business impact.
• Develop, maintain, and improve visual management systems, tiered accountability boards, and standard work documentation.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 3+ years of demonstrated lean/continuous improvement implementation, including leading or significantly contributing to a lean transformation (not just applying isolated tools).
• Proven experience planning, facilitating, and sustaining Kaizen events.
• Facilitation and influence skills — comfortable driving change through people who don't report to them.
• Strong sense of urgency couple with a bias for action.
• Strong working knowledge of core lean tools: 5S, VSM, SMED, one piece flow, waste elimination, standard work, kanban, and root cause analysis.
• Proficiency with Microsoft software applications.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Serving as the functional lead for lean manufacturing activity within a manufacturing facility.
• Experience in a high-mix, low-volume production environment, with an understanding of the tradeoffs between flexibility and standardization.
• Experience with manufacturing processing of complex configured and/or engineered assemblies and metal cutting machining.

Relocation assistance may be available for qualified candidates.

Benefits

At Stuart Rush, we value our employees and are committed to offering a competitive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision coverage, as well as life insurance, short-term and long-term disability, paid time off, and a market-leading 401(k) plan.