Project Manager of Lean Excellence
International Paper · United States
Position Title:
Project Manager of Lean Excellence
Pay Rate:
$137,400 - $185,000
Multiple factors, including Individual experience, skills and abilities will determine where an employee is ultimately placed in the pay range.
Category/Shift:
Salaried Full-Time
Physical Location:
Remote
or
6400 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, TN
The Job You Will Perform:
This position requires 90% travel
The Project Manager of Lean Excellence will propagate scalable operational improvement across the Containerboard business through lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and disciplined execution. The Lean Leader will serve as a hands-on change agent, partnering with mill teams to deploy lean tools and methodologies, lead Kaizen events, and embed standard work and problem-solving capabilities into daily operations.
The ideal candidate will have significant and relevant direct manufacturing experience using and leading continuous improvement tools, systems, and methodologies. The candidate must be a proven shop floor leader who is comfortable influencing others, coaching teams, and delivering measurable gains in safety, quality, delivery and cost.
Key Responsibilities
- Implement lean tools such as 5S, Kaizen, Standard Work, Visual Management, SMED and Value Stream Mapping
- Drive waste elimination, process flow optimization, and variation reduction
- Facilitate structured problem solving using A3, DMAIC, 5-Why, RCFA, and similar methodologies
- Deliver measurable improvements in safety, quality, delivery, and cost
Process Optimization & Execution
- Use data to identify gaps in performance versus best practices and work with the mill team to execute an improvement plan
- Document best practices and share improvements to leverage results
- Understand and apply financial drivers and key performance indicators
Culture & Capability Building
- Assist with implementing and managing systems that will sustain improvement efforts
- Lead and coach CI events / kaizen through hands-on participation
- Assist with developing and effectively delivering training materials in multiple formats to ensure team members throughout the organization are trained in CI concepts and philosophy
- Evaluate and drive opportunities for appropriate CI and lean tool applications
- Provide support, assistance, and communication to the mill leadership teams regarding CI initiatives
The Qualifications, Skills and Knowledge You Will Bring:
- Bachelor's degree preferred in business, engineering, operations management, or related field
- Minimum 5 years of continuous manufacturing experience with proven change leadership skills
- Demonstrated success utilizing and deploying lean tools
- Strong analytical, facilitation, coaching and change leadership skills
- Ability to influence without formal authority across multiple functions
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office