Continuous Improvement & Industrial Engineer

Location: North Sioux City, SD

Department: Operations / Manufacturing Excellence

Reports To: Plant Manager

Position Summary

We are seeking a results-driven Continuous Improvement & Industrial Engineering Engineer to lead operational excellence, manufacturing process improvement, equipment reliability initiatives, and small capital projects within our 300-500 person manufacturing facility in North Sioux City, South Dakota.

This role will serve as a key change agent responsible for improving safety, quality, productivity, equipment uptime, and overall plant performance. The successful candidate will lead Lean Manufacturing initiatives including 5S, standard work, kaizen events, SOP development, autonomous maintenance, TPM activities, and root cause problem solving while also managing facility and manufacturing improvements such as layout optimization, workflow design, equipment installations, and capital projects.

This is a hands-on position requiring a strong floor presence and the ability to work closely with operations, maintenance, quality, engineering, and supply chain teams to implement sustainable improvements that drive measurable business results.

Key Responsibilities

Continuous Improvement & Lean Manufacturing

• Lead Lean Manufacturing initiatives throughout the facility.
• Drive and sustain plant-wide 5S programs and visual workplace standards.
• Facilitate kaizen events focused on productivity, quality, safety, capacity, and cost reduction.
• Identify and eliminate waste using Lean principles.
• Conduct value stream mapping and develop future-state process designs.
• Support establishment of continuous improvement culture through employee engagement and training.
• Develop and monitor key performance indicators for operational improvement initiatives.

Standard Work & Process Excellence

• Develop, implement, and maintain standardized work across manufacturing operations.
• Create and revise SOPs, work instructions, visual aids, and training materials.
• Conduct time studies, labor analysis, and workflow assessments.
• Establish best practices that improve consistency, repeatability, and safety.
• Support training and coaching of supervisors and operators on Lean methodologies and standard work.

Reliability & Maintenance Improvement

• Partner with maintenance and operations teams to improve equipment reliability and uptime.
• Support Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) initiatives.
• Lead implementation of autonomous maintenance programs throughout production areas.
• Analyze downtime and equipment performance data to identify recurring losses.
• Facilitate root cause investigations and corrective action implementation.
• Improve preventive maintenance effectiveness and equipment ownership at the operator level.
• Develop visual maintenance standards and equipment care procedures.

Industrial Engineering & Plant Layout Optimization

• Analyze material flow, labor utilization, and production constraints.
• Design and implement improved manufacturing cell layouts and workflow arrangements.
• Lead facility layout planning for new equipment, process changes, and future capacity requirements.
• Support warehouse and production space optimization initiatives.
• Conduct capacity analysis and bottleneck assessments.
• Evaluate opportunities to improve labor productivity, throughput, and inventory flow.
• Develop plant layout drawings and facility improvement recommendations.

Capital Projects & Facility Improvements

• Manage small-to-medium capital projects from concept through startup.
• Develop project scopes, ROI analyses, timelines, and capital requests.
• Coordinate equipment installations, machinery moves, and facility modifications.
• Work with vendors, contractors, and internal stakeholders to execute projects safely and efficiently.
• Monitor project costs, schedules, and performance against objectives.
• Support facility infrastructure improvements including utilities, workspaces, storage areas, and production support systems.
• Ensure projects comply with safety, environmental, and quality requirements.

Data Analysis & Problem Solving

• Utilize Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to identify and solve operational challenges.
• Lead structured problem-solving initiatives using:
• o A3 Thinking
• o 5 Why Analysis
• o Fishbone Diagrams
• o Pareto Analysis
• o DMAIC Principles
• Analyze production, quality, maintenance, labor, and downtime data.
• Present recommendations and project results to plant leadership.

Required

• Bachelor's degree in: Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Operations Engineering, Related technical discipline
• 3-5 years of experience in manufacturing, industrial engineering, process improvement, or operational excellence roles.
• Demonstrated success leading Lean Manufacturing initiatives.
• Experience with: 5S, Standard Work, Kaizen Events, SOP Development, Root Cause Analysis, Visual Management
• Experience managing projects from planning through implementation.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and data analysis tools.
• Excellent communication and project leadership skills.

Preferred

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt.
• TPM or reliability improvement experience.
• Manufacturing facility layout and workflow design experience.
• Capital project management experience.
• AutoCAD or facility layout software experience.
• CMMS system experience.
• Power BI experience.
• Food, consumer products, industrial manufacturing, or high-volume production experience.

Key Performance Indicators

Success in this role will be measured by improvements in:

• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
• Equipment uptime and reliability
• 5S audit performance
• Standard work compliance
• Labor productivity
• Manufacturing throughput
• Scrap and waste reduction
• Maintenance effectiveness
• Kaizen implementation rate
• Safety performance
• Capital project execution and ROI
• Facility space utilization
• Production flow efficiency

First-Year Priorities

• Establish sustainable 5S practices across all production areas.
• Create and implement standardized work and SOPs for critical operations.
• Launch and expand autonomous maintenance and TPM activities.
• Reduce downtime through structured reliability improvement projects.
• Identify and execute high-return capital projects ($5K-$250K range).
• Improve plant layout, material flow, and space utilization.
• Lead multiple kaizen events with measurable productivity impacts.
• Develop a plant improvement roadmap supporting future growth and capacity requirements.

What Success Looks Like

The ideal candidate is a hands-on engineer who is equally comfortable leading a kaizen event, coaching operators on standard work, investigating chronic downtime, redesigning a production layout, or managing a $100,000 capital improvement project. This individual will spend significant time on the manufacturing floor driving change, building accountability, and delivering measurable improvements in safety, quality, productivity, reliability, and plant capacity.