Job DescriptionPosition Summary:The Manager, Continuous Improvement leads the development, deployment, and sustainment of Lean and continuous improvement initiatives across the windows and doors manufacturing facility. This role advances operational excellence through structured problem-solving, Kaizen events, process optimization, and capability building. The Manager leads a Continuous Improvement Specialist and partners closely with Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), Engineering, and Maintenance to deliver measurable improvements in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and employee engagement.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:Lean Strategy and Culture
- Lead the plant's Lean transformation roadmap and align priorities with Cornerstone Building Brands' enterprise continuous improvement strategy.
- Champion a culture of waste elimination, standardization, accountability, and employee engagement at all levels of the organization.
- Facilitate cross-functional alignment on improvement priorities, resource needs, and implementation plans.
- Coach and develop the Continuous Improvement Specialist and other CI practitioners to strengthen execution, analytical capability, and ownership of results.
Improvement Projects and Problem-Solving
- Plan, facilitate, and ensure follow-through on Kaizen events focused on throughput, changeover reduction, scrap reduction, ergonomics, material flow, and other operational priorities.
- Conduct value stream mapping, time studies, process observations, and root-cause analysis to identify and prioritize improvement opportunities.
- Manage the plant's CI project pipeline, including project charters, owners, milestones, risks, timelines, and financial impact tracking.
- Apply structured problem-solving and basic Six Sigma methods, statistical process control (SPC), and data analysis to improve process capability and decision-making.
- Partner with Engineering and Maintenance to optimize equipment performance, improve reliability, and reduce planned/unplanned downtime and support new product/process launches.
Lean Systems and Sustainment
- Deploy and reinforce Lean tools and systems, including 5S, Kanban, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Gemba walks, visual management, and daily management systems.
- Ensure improvements are sustained through documented standard work, clear ownership, visual controls, training, and layered process audits.
- Coach supervisors and team leads on daily accountability, escalation, leader standard work, and continuous improvement behaviors.
Training and Capability Building
- Develop and deliver hands-on training in Lean fundamentals, problem-solving, process mapping, and continuous improvement tools for hourly and salaried employees.
- Build a strong pipeline of CI practitioners and improvement leaders across the plant.
- Promote employee participation in identifying problems, testing countermeasures, and sustaining gains.
Performance Measurement and Communication
- Track, validate, and report CI performance measures, including cost savings, productivity gains, throughput, downtime, scrap reduction, quality improvements, and safety impact.
- Present project status, results, risks, and next steps to plant leadership and corporate continuous improvement teams.
- Maintain accurate project documentation and support financial validation of benefits in partnership with Finance and operational stakeholders.
QualificationsRequired Education and Experience:- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Industrial Technology, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
- Five or more years of experience in manufacturing operations, including at least three years in a Continuous Improvement or Lean leadership role.
- Demonstrated success planning and leading Kaizen events and cross-functional improvement projects that produced measurable results.
- Strong working knowledge of Lean tools, structured problem-solving methodologies, process mapping, and performance measurement.
- Experience supervising, coaching, or mentoring employees or project team members.
- Excellent communication, facilitation, influencing, organizational, and change-management skills.
Preferred Qualifications:- Experience in windows, doors, building products, or another high-volume manufacturing environment.
- Lean Practitioner, Lean Leader, or comparable Lean certification.
- Six Sigma Green Belt certification or higher.
- Proficiency with data analysis and visualization tools such as Microsoft Excel, Minitab, and Power BI.
- Experience implementing standard work, visual management, leader standard work, and daily management systems.
Additional InformationAddress Location: 1780 West Fork Dr. Lithia Springs, GA 30122Our teams are at the heart of our purpose to positively contribute to the communities where we
live, work and play. Full-time* team members receive** medical, dental and vision benefits starting day 1. Other benefits include PTO, paid holidays, FSA, life insurance, LTD, STD, 401k, EAP, discount programs, tuition reimbursement, training, and professional development.
*Full-time is defined as regularly working 30+ hours per week. **Union programs may vary depending on the collective bargaining agreement.
