Who we are!

Schwan’s Company, a U.S. affiliate of the global lifestyle company, CJ CheilJedang Corporation, is a leading U.S. manufacturer and marketer of quality foods offered through retail-grocery and food-service channels. Our many popular brands include Red Baron®, Tony’s®, Big Daddy’s®, Villa Prima™ and Freschetta® pizza; Mrs. Smith’s® and Edwards® desserts; and Pagoda® and Bibigo Asian-style snacks. Schwan’s is a place for people with an appetite for more. To learn about joining a team where you can belong, contribute, and thrive, visit www.schwanscompany.com

We are hiring a Continuous Improvement Manager at our manufacturing facilities in North East PA. This position is responsible for contributing to best performance within the GSC by working within the plants, support services and/or business unit to optimize safety, quality, cost, and productivity.

What you will get from us:

• Opportunity to work on exciting, strategic projects in partnership with key leaders and showcase your creative, communication and technical skills.

• A culture focused on ensuring the health, safety and well-being of its employees.

• Support and mentorship from team members who are authentic, good-natured and highly skilled.

• Competitive wages, incentive pay and a comprehensive package of benefits

Responsibilities:

• Identifies and prioritizes the top improvement opportunities and provides the appropriate data to ensure leadership consensus and buy-in. Updates key communications and provides summaries to business leadership.

• Participates as a member of the site and/or functional leadership team (where applicable); is the site voice for CI and lean thinking.

• Identifies and implements major improvement projects involving new processes and/or technologies.

• Works with each business unit and R&D to define operational targets including processing parameters and performance criteria.

• Utilizes data, knowledge, and experience to help set standards and insure BOMs and routings are accurate.

• Applies statistical analysis to products and processes to assure meeting customer requirements while optimizing operations.

• Mentor, coach, and train employees on how to make improvements using data and data analysis (statistical methods).

• Empowers employees to propose and justify maintenance improvements, R&D improvements, etc. by determining financial saving and project prioritization based on time, labor, and financial investment.

• Leads or sponsors cross-functional teams on major improvement opportunities.

• Participates in the planning process associated with GSC performance; provides subject expertise in support of improvement planning.

• Leads, sponsors, or participates in improvement initiatives to eliminate waste and non-value-add work utilizing standard practices such as Lean, Six Sigma, and problem solving.

• Provides leadership to CI practitioners and others; develops people and provides growth opportunities.

• Owns developing, implementing, and improving overall improvement programs at the site level.

• Utilizes change management strategies for implementing improvements.

• Demonstrates project management proficiency by defining project requirements and milestones, tracking progress, resolving problems, communicating progress, and recommending / executing actions.

Qualifications:

• Education: Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Lean/Six Sigma certification preferred.

• Candidates with a qualifying bachelor’s degree must have a minimum of 5 years of process engineering or manufacturing related experience; people management experience preferred.

• Working knowledge of MS Office Suite, MS Project.

• Understanding of general industrial process and control systems.

• Working knowledge of basic statistical tools.

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and successfully leverage internal and external resources.

• Ability to handle multiple projects and assignments, able to prioritize and meet budgets, deadlines and achieve objectives.

• Ability to lead cross-functional improvement teams.

• Effective communication, facilitation, and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to maintain sensitive and confidential information.

• Professional certifications and/or licenses with Six Sigma and/or Lean.

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications associated with the job. An individual must be able to perform all of the duties and responsibilities listed in a fully competent manner to be considered successful in the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential duties and responsibilities.

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