Continuous Improvement Engineer

Position Summary Position: Operational Excellence Manager. Location: Clemens Food Group, 572 Newton Road, Coldwater, MI 49036, USA. 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday. Requires 15% domestic travel (25%). Responsibilities Develop and leverage capacity tools to analyze and maximize plant capacity, facilitate decision‑making, and recommend solutions. Investigate capacity concerns from increased sales, conduct capital justification and ROI reviews for new processes or equipment, and drive improvement in value added and fresh margins. Identify drivers of variances (yield, labor), lead process change utilization, recommend portfolio optimization projects, and support sales initiatives as an engineering consultant on new product development teams. Review and approve area changes including product specifications, equipment/process and new products. Lead cross‑functional teams for timely resolution of tactical and strategic issues. Collaborate with Supply Chain on implementing system improvements and act as a technical resource to optimize and improve operational performance, KPIs and product quality. Apply advanced troubleshooting and root‑cause analysis for quality, breakdowns, and process deviations. Implement methods for improving worker efficiency and reducing waste of materials and utilities through job redesign, workflow reorganization, and equipment upgrades. Lead change‑management communications. Analyze operations labor trends for improvement opportunities, establish vendor relationships, and utilize lean manufacturing tools, SPC, Kaizen, line balancing, and value‑stream mapping to drive cost and quality improvement. Design and maintain SOPs for IE functions, conduct annual audits, and develop standards for process changes, new opportunities, or product specification changes (time studies, yield and material standards, packaging standards). Maintain performance management tools (DSC, hourly production) and standard crewing. Stay current with IE best practices, support safety performance, participate in company‑wide initiatives, and attend weekly activity tracking meetings. This role requires an established Six Sigma Green Belt certification (or similar) and 15% domestic travel. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering or a closely related field (or foreign equivalent). Minimum two (2) years of experience as an Operational Excellence Manager, Production Supervisor, or related role. At least one (1) year of experience with KPI reporting. Six Sigma Green Belt certified (or equivalent). Strong communication and change‑management skills. Proficiency with lean manufacturing tools, SPC/Analytics, Kaizen events, line balancing, and value‑stream mapping. Experience in process change utilization, portfolio optimization, and new product development support. Preferred Master’s degree or higher. Equal Opportunity Employer This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor. #J-18808-Ljbffr