Corporate Lean Manager Jobs

James Hardie Building Products Inc. is the North American leader in fiber cement home siding and exterior design solutions. Hardie® products offer long lasting beauty and endless design possibilities with trusted protection and low maintenance. The company pioneered modern fiber cement building products and continues to invest in innovation to transform the industry. James Hardie is a high-performance organization, with an unwavering commitment to Zero Harm. The company proudly employs a diverse workforce of over 3,000 employees across operations in North America.

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Reporting to the North American Lean Leader, the Lean Manager is responsible for leading the lean transformation for multiple sites in North America and will support the continuation of the global transformation that is in progress. They will drive successful implementation of improvement projects across their sites enabling James Hardie to continue to grow and drive profitability. The position will be a strategic business partner to site leadership, accountable for and oversee the implementation of sustainable process improvements and will be responsible for measuring and reporting results to ensure change initiatives deliver expected business results. This position can be located at a plant (TX, VA, IL) or our corporate office in Chicago. Travel 25-50% based on location.

Thisposition is tied to the central Lean group with specific local plant partnerships. The Central Lean Manager is part of a team of three, all reporting to the North American Lean Leader. This position is expected to deliver training methodologies to supported facilities to enable plant personnel to facilitate their execution of Lean components.

This person is the primary coach and mentor in supported plants for the HMOS four non-negotiables. The four non-negotiables are: 5s procedures, visual management techniques, operator and leader standard work, and implementation of a high functioning Daily Management System. The Central Lean Manager will lead the local plants in building a systemic culture of Continuous Improvement with the end goal being a self-sustaining, robust, belief in providing a 1% improvement every day. The incumbent will be the primary driver and coach for management of HMOS Lean initiatives by local leadership teams. He or she will ensure that Lean progress, once achieved, is locked in to prevent any variation from the Lean achievements. Finally, the Central Lean Manager will train stakeholders in supported plants to lead and participate in VOO(Kaizen) events.

What You’ll Do:

The position will focus on growth and transactional process improvement projects. Responsibilities include:

• Assists in the development of improvement roadmaps (i.e., how to use tools and processes to drive sustainable improvement results)
• Change Management
• Works closely with leadership to implement continuous improvement in targeted areas
• Drives targeted, sustainable improvement by leveraging consulting skills and change management processes
• Ensures successful kaizen events by installing and ensuring commitment to the kaizen process which includes 1) planning of kaizen with a dynamic funnel process, 2) kaizen execution, and 3) sustainment of kaizen
• Supports focused deployment of Lean tools across the organization to assure excellence n operational execution

• Responsible for team and cross-functional communications (written and oral)
• Communications:
• Elevates critical business decisions to the appropriate management teams and/or functional managers

• Promotes and facilitates kaizen leadership
• Collaborates with internal and external business partners for benchmarking performance and knowledge building of industry best practices to guide decisions for implementation of projects
• Develops and maintains strong relationships with functional leaders to drive success of projects and teams
• Promotes and facilitates diagnosis of work flow impediments throughout the business and provides expert counsel on appropriate tools to eliminate them
• Influences cross-functional collaboration
• Relationship/People Management:

• Actively reviews policy and practice improvements to drive performance excellence
• Influences cross-functional systems effectiveness
• Continuous improvement of the product development process to optimize time to market
• Process Improvement knowledge through delivery of high quality and high impact deliverables
• Process Management:

• Foster a diverse workplace that enables all participants to contribute to their full potential in pursuit of organizational objectives.
• Leadership Requirements:
• Lead a group or team of employees in the achievement of organizational goals. Guide, coach, direct, and develop direct reports.
• Focuses on Voice of Customer, Voice of Business, personal accountability, and an unyielding commitment to results.
• Monitor and ensure compliance with company policies and procedures (e.g., federal/country and regulatory requirements).
• Provide leadership through influence in a complex, matrixed environment.

What You’ll Bring:

• Demonstrated ability to coordinate across disciplines and integrate all aspects of business as they impact development projects, including negotiation of scope, roles and responsibilities, specifications, timelines, and resources up, across, and down in the organization.
• Excellent communication skills; comfortable in front of all levels of the organization, as well as external customers.
• Minimum of 7-10 years of lean, six sigma, continuous improvement experience; daily management, strategy deployment, and problem solving in manufacturing environment
• Proficient in Lean, including Kaizen (continuous improvement design and facilitation)
• Capable of working independently under ambiguous and/or changing conditions.
• Strong leadership, negotiation and conflict management skills.
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification preferred
• Demonstrated ability to function independently in a high-impact position, with deadline and resource constraints.
• Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in leading process improvement projects in manufacturing environment
• Experience using process improvement tools.
• Demonstrated proficiency applying Lean principles in a variety of situations
• Minimum 5 years’ experience leading continuous improvement teams, driving transformational change, in manufacturing environment
• Bachelors Degree required. Advanced degree (MS, MBA) is desirable.

What You’ll Receive

• Paid holidays, paid vacation including Jury Duty and bereavement leave
• Employee Assistance Program
• Community Involvement & Sustainable Solutions - Fire Resistant Siding to Help Rebuild the Grizzly Flats Community | James Hardie
• Parental Leave
• Wellness Program
• At James Hardie, we recognize that our success depends on our people. We've worked hard to build a generous and competitive benefits program that demonstrates our commitment to our employees.
• 401(k) Retirement plan that will match 100% of employees saved dollars up to the first 6% of your salary
• Comprehensive low-cost co-pay Health Insurance; medical, dental, prescription, and vision insurance benefits for every 30+ hour full-time employee. Insurance starts on day one!
• And more

Apply now and come “home” to Hardie!

James Hardie Building Products Inc. is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, genetic information, veteran's status, marital status, pregnancy, disability, or any other basis protected by law.