Process Improvement Mgr

PURPOSE AND SCOPE:

The Manager, Continuous Improvement is a high impact role responsible for designing and driving a continuous improvement program. The individual will contribute to the overall reduction of costs and improved patient outcomes by driving and directing a continuous improvement approach for Production processes. He/She will provide guidance, support and expertise to ensure the appropriate implementation of the program - providing training and education to the pertinent personnel as needed. He/She will cultivate partnerships with the appropriate management to ensure the required level of support to achieve program goals and objectives. He/She will ensure all initiatives and projects are conducted in compliance with relevant regulatory requirements, and according to company standards, policies and procedures.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Create and foster a culture of continuous improvement by training and guiding site personnel on key CI principles, elements and content; develop/build site CI practitioner community
• Design and maintain an ideas generation process and work package management system for CI projects
• Manage work package management and Ideas Management
• Expedite work package creation from existing ideas list
• Lead the creation of effective continuous improvement meetings and other activities
• Preparation, leadership and support of site Core Team, Steering Committee for the CI program
• Maintain site KPIs and target documentation
• Identifies quantifiable metrics and benchmarks to measure and evaluate process improvement initiatives for general implementation and to ensure achievement of stated goals and objectives (such as cost savings over a period of time.) May develop a Scoreboard concept to measure the success of implemented process improvements.
• Continuously review and improve the KPI tree to support improvement of the business
• Provide stakeholders with the appropriate reports, updates and analyses regarding initiatives and process change program implementations
• Training /coaching on Structured Problem Solving, FMEA, and other OMS tools and techniques
• Mentoring for operational work package teams
• Continuous improvement of processes, problem solving as required, housekeeping, daily performance management and monitoring of efficiencies
• Responsible for managing and reporting the site's MIPs projects
• May participate and contribute to the budget process as it pertains to CI projects including forecasting, reporting and actual-to-date monitoring.
• Manage work Package management system in order to support the realization of company goals and to help to orient the company culture towards continuous improvement.
• Support Shop Floor Management to continuously drive down decision making as close to the place of work as possible
• Collaborates with stakeholders to identify and define problems pertaining to inefficiencies and to eliminate waste within the division facilities and programs.

• Supports the implementation and management of the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) program to transform department, area, and regional performance with respect to customer service, productivity, operations, and finance, providing support, advice and expertise. Responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

  • Collaborating with local management to identify and train LSS Team members for the pertinent LSS Team positions - Black Belt, Green Belt and Champions. May develop training programs specific to the particular project to ensure all LSS Team members are familiar with and able to fully utilize the LSS methods and tools within the specific project.
  • Providing support and guidance, acting as a mentor and resource to the LSS team members throughout the division regarding project management and the application of Lean Six Sigma methodology and tools to ensure success of local/core functional area projects.
• Maintains current knowledge regarding best practices, identifying practices relevant to the services provided by the Division and communicating this knowledge to the pertinent team members and senior management.
• Other duties as assigned.

Additional responsibilities may include focus on one or more departments or locations. See applicable addendum for department or location specific functions.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORKING CONDITIONS:

• The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Significant travel to local meetings is required.

SUPERVISION:

• May be responsible for the direct supervision of continuous improvement/Industrial engineers.

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor's Degree - Industrial Engineering or related field
• Six Sigma Black Belt Certification required

EXPERIENCE AND REQUIRED SKILLS:

• 5 - 8 years of Continuous Improvement project management experience in the healthcare or another regulated industry.
• 3+ years' supervisory or project/program management experience preferred.
• DMAIC project experience across broad functional areas
• Formal Lean training and experience leveraging key Lean management tools and methods
• Experience training and mentoring Black Belts, Green Belts and executive champions
• Experience facilitating use of Value Stream Management and Kaizen tools and events
• Proven leadership skills to develop and motivate a team
• Demonstrated ability to foster positive relationships both with and among team members
• A strong numerical comprehension and adeptness at working with statistics, analyzing and manipulating data, and making recommendations
• Strong project management skills
• An ability to structure and organize the analyses required to prove/disprove hypotheses

EO/AA Employer: Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

Fresenius Medical Care North America maintains a drug-free workplace in accordance with applicable federal and state laws.