Continuous Improvement Manager

About Sara Lee Frozen Bakery:

Sara Lee desserts have always stood for incredible flavor and superior value in the frozen food aisle and away from home markets.  The Sara Lee Frozen Bakery collection of top brands includes Sara Lee®, Chef Pierre®, Van’s®, Bistro Collection®, Superior on Main® and Cyrus O’Leary’s®.

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery is proud to take these iconic brands into a new era and to continue the evolution that transformed one small Chicago bakery into an American institution. Using carefully sourced ingredients and time-honored recipes, the company is committed to making life’s moments a little sweeter, putting its customers first and discovering new ways to make everyone’s favorite foods even better.

Working for Sara Lee:

Our vision is to be the world’s most beloved bakery by creating irresistible foods, growing with our customers, and delivering value for all.  We will achieve success through collaboration and innovation in an environment where employees feel empowered to execute with speed. We believe that each of us has unique points of difference and experience to offer. We believe that there is always a better way, and we will never be satisfied with status quo. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, continually seek process improvements and a strong sense of customer service, then this is the right type of environment for you.  

Scope of Position:

The primary objective in this position is to lead plant improvement activities (Sweet Success Continuous Improvement Program) through Lean Production System Design, effective problem solving techniques, design and manage performance improvement initiatives, and train and coach plant personnel to accomplish and develop a zero losses culture. In order to accomplish this, as a plant Continuous Improvement Manager position you will need to effectively communicate with plant personnel, frontline supervisors, and operating managers in how to better incorporate performance improvement activities into their daily workload.  The Plant Continuous Improvement Manager position would be located at this plant site and there may be opportunities to travel.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Implement Continuous improvement program to drive a Zero Loss Culture.
• Build an accountable culture of Excellence.
• Responsible for loss analysis & OEE improvement plan development, plan execution leadership, and results tracking 
• Develop and implement capital equipment projects as needed to support the OEE improvement plans
• Oversee analytical troubleshooting & problem-solving activities 
• Facilitate Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project management as needed leveraging the internal Continuous Improvement Program (Sweet Success) 
• Oversee the Downtime collection system 
• Develop team to solve day-to-day operational issues and reach short- and long-term performance goals
• Deliver effective change leadership - driving business changes while minimizing people impact 
• Communicate and collaborate cross-functionally to assist team to solve operational issues 
• Effective leader and motivator who can engage employees at all levels in the problem-solving process to achieve plant goals 
• Motivate team members to achieve plan goals. Drive data driven and frontline team-based culture
• Understand the fundamental tools & methodologies of the following TPM pillars – Focused Improvement (FI), Autonomous Activities (AA), Planned Maintenance (PM), Early Management (EM), Personal Development (PD)
• Understand the CQV process – Commissioning, Qualification, Verification process
• Apply reliability expertise to stabilize and improve the operation, driving variation down and seeking improved TE through capital, procedural, and operational improvements in both planned and unplanned downtime areas 
• Develop and maintain staffing and scrap standards for new and revised manufacturing process
• Demonstrate good oral and written communication skills through leading meetings and preparing written plant communications 
• Oversee process improvement capital projects including, design, planning, organizing, scheduling, control, integration, for on time and within budget completion
• Help establish meaningful plant metrics to monitor performance at a level sufficiently detailed to illustrate the real nature and cause of problems and to demonstrate the skills and focus needed for improvement opportunities. 
• Help to improve safety performance through the use of Lean tools
• Organize plant idea generation and improvement initiative planning.  Stabilize plant performance and help identify additional improvement opportunities. 
• Diagnose and evaluate performance (cost, quality, delivery) challenges stemming from plant demand management and forecasting, inventory management, capacity, production planning, and production processes
• Lead plant root cause problem solving initiatives.
• Assist in the design of work standards, quality control charts and systems, and other elements of superior manufacturing practices to aid plant improvements. 
• Assist in the creation of alternative methods of production control and scheduling that use best practice techniques to better connect the plant and its suppliers with customer and seasonal demand patterns. 
• Train and coach plant personnel to utilize Lean Tools
• Assist the leadership team in assessing the progress of plant initiatives and programs underway at the plant
• Aid in development and management of capital improvement projects on time, on budget, and meeting performance goals
• This role requires regular presence on the plant floor 
• This role requires lifting up to 40 lbs. occasionally

This role will require some off-shift and weekend work Additional duties may include: 

• Responsible for rapid changeover activities including principles, target setting, and leading successful efforts reducing changeover time to achieve challenging objectives 
• Provide weekly, period, and ‘Year to Date’ reliability and variability downtime analysis support to the operation. 
• Assist in plant initiatives and direct line supervision as needed 
• Administer policies and procedures to ensure compliance with plant safety, security, and GMP requirements 

The position responsibilities outlined above are not to be construed as all encompassing.  Other duties and responsibilities may be required and/or assigned as necessary.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree with a focus in Supply Chain/Operations, Business, Engineering or related.
• Food & Beverage Manufacturing/Ops experience preferred.
• Ideally 6+ years in related experience in Supply Chain – continuous improvement or Ops role 
• Proven experience with building and implementing Processes, Routines, and Tools for process improvements and to deliver results
• Experience in lean, TPM or similar continuous improvement methodologies.
• Ability to lead multiple projects simultaneously and prioritize according to business needs
• Ability to work effectively in multiple cross functional teams.
• Ability to develop end to end solutions through insights and data provided
• Influencing Skills, Problem Solving, and Organizational Agility
• Excellent Stakeholder Engagement
• Strong Communication and Presentation skills
• A positive attitude and a "roll up your sleeves" mentality to get the job done
• Proficiency in MS Office, Excel, PowerPoint, ERP systems
• Familiar with the development of and adherence to departmental budgets

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.