206 Continuous Improvement Manager jobs in the United Kingdom

In this role, you will serve as a strategic partner to operational leaders. As Continuous Improvement Manager, you will provide expert guidance, training, and coaching to support the identification, development, and successful delivery of continuous improvement initiatives. Your work will be instrumental in advancing the Manufacturing Excellence strategy, driving operational efficiency, and fostering a culture of sustainable improvement across the site.

Client Details

Our market leading manufacturing client is a family business producing high-quality own-label products for many of the UK's most recognised retailers, alongside their own well-loved brands.

They foster a strong sense of community and collaboration across all teams, working together to progress. As part of a wider group, they offer stability and exciting opportunities for career development.

Description

• Ensure that delivery of continuous improvement projects and activities maintain full compliance with health & safety and environmental, risk assessments, procedures, and good practice.
• Work collaboratively with the leaders and managers of the business to build a values-based culture, ensuring that results are achieved with people at the heart of every decision, and consistent focus is given to providing a positive experience for Colleagues.
• Build good relationships ensuring everyone in the team is treated equally and with respect. Ensure relations between shifts, departments and business functions are positive, and build effective relationships with key internal and external stakeholders.
• Be accountable for driving action plans across the operation to deliver improvements in line with the Manufacturing Excellence roadmap and business objectives, and for pro-actively contributing to the wider Manufacturing Excellence community.
• Utilises advanced problem solving, process mapping and analysis to identify and scope improvement project plans which prioritise key value-streams, and align to business objectives and the broader Manufacturing Excellence strategy. Conduct gateway assessments to ensure suitability of projects to progress.
• Builds and delivers structured project plans through multi-functional teams. Leads and coordinates progress through strong stakeholder engagement, financial / resource management and risk mitigation. Ensures action plans and timelines account for business strategy and priorities, activities, and constraints.
• Provide effective leadership to multi-functional improvement teams, setting out clear action plans and accountabilities, giving constructive feedback and support, adjusting style to delegate effectively to different audiences. Builds and maintains appropriate stakeholder relationships inside and outside the business.
• Support teams, operational managers, and leaders towards adopting behaviours which drive high operational performance and successful change, using positive recognition and coaching.
• Demonstrate expertise in data-analysis, statistics, and measures to assess process performance and variability, conduct root cause analysis and perform experiments to test hypotheses and models.
• Apply and utilise the full suite of continuous improvement tools and techniques, selecting the best approach for the matter in hand and its context.
• Ensure communication channels within the team are robust and deliver timely information in a manner which involves and engages the team members.
• Develop high performing teams through effective people management and development, recruitment, retention, and succession planning, using the toolkit of People processes and practices and coaching line managers to do the same. Be pro-active in creating a culture in which each colleague feels that they matter. Review exit interview responses and take appropriate action.

Profile

• Have a full understanding of the Health & Safety and Environmental management procedures: - Safe Systems of Work, Risk Assessment, Accident Investigation & Reporting, Auditing Skills, Near Miss System, COSHH, Emergency procedures and behavioural safety approach.
• Have a thorough knowledge of what excellence looks like in a lean food manufacturing operation, and fully understand structure and delivery of a Manufacturing Excellence strategy.
• Knows how to influence, engage, and motivate at all levels. Has an understanding of different working styles and preferences, high performing team dynamics, situational leadership, etc.
• Knows how to use a coaching style to support others to take ownership of their challenges, solutions, and achievements by generating insight and clarity. Uses key coaching models e.g., GROW.
• Knows how to train and coach others to understand, use and build expertise in use of CI tools and techniques.
• Ideally has Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).
• Lean Six Sigma Black belt, or Level 5 Improvement Specialist Apprenticeship.
• IT skills, including Microsoft Office.
• People Management experience plus training and/ or qualification.

Job Offer

• Comprehensive benefits package to support your well-being.
• Opportunities to work in a large organisation within the food manufacturing industry.
• A permanent role offering stability and career progression.
• A collaborative work environment focused on innovation and excellence.

If you are ready to bring your expertise to the role of Continuous Improvement Manager, we encourage you to apply today.

Artis Recruitment has partnered with a leading name in the food manufacturing sector to support their search for a new Continuous Improvement Manager.

Reporting to the Site Leader and working cross-functionally, the Continuous Improvement Manager will implement strategic Operating Best Practices across manufacturing and support functions. The role will drive continuous improvement through CI and efficiency projects, developing LEAN capability and fostering a culture of operational excellence.

About the role

• Lead, facilitate, and coordinate the training of group-standardised OBP, LEAN, and PPI (Practical Process Improvement) principles, tools, and techniques, while building internal CI capability across the site.
• Enhance decision-making and problem-solving skills across all teams to boost autonomy and speed up change
• Support achievement of the site OBP profit improvement targets by managing enhancement projects across labour, materials, and overheads
• Work closely with internal teams to understand processes and plant capabilities, using Lean principles to identify opportunities and suggest improvements
• Strive for excellence by implementing new processes and streamlining existing ones to enhance customer satisfaction, support profitable growth, ensure consistent high-quality products, and improve operational efficiency.
• Foster a proactive culture of continuous improvement to enhance KPIs across safety, quality, service, cost, and people. Encourage participation and recommendations
• Understand the bigger picture, make recommendations on sound understanding of intricacies

Your Experience

• Demonstrable track record of delivering continuous improvement within a FMCG manufacturing
• Proven ability to develop and influence key cross functional relationships
• Proactive approach to work, seek out improvements and question the norm
• Knowledge and previous experience with 6-sigma/SPC techniques within process manufacturing
• Excellent stakeholder management skills
• Great communication skills both written and verbal
• Relevant professional qualifications in either Food Science, Engineering or CI

If you are passionate about driving change and continuous improvement, please don't hesitate to apply.

Are you an experienced problem-solver with a passion for performance improvement and innovation?

We’re seeking a hands-on Continuous Improvement Manager to lead Lean and CI initiatives across our entire value chain — from supply chain and production to back-office operations. This role is part of our direct sourcing strategy and will be managed entirely in-house.

Role Objective:

To lead and coordinate continuous improvement (CI) activities across the full value stream – from production through to supply chain and back-office operations – by delivering impactful projects that improve quality, reduce cost and waste, and enhance line efficiency. This is a boots-on-the-ground role, working side-by-side with teams to embed sustainable process improvements.

Supporting the fast paced growth of our Fulfilment Operations in this role you will be identifying and delivering opportunities for improvement! As CI Manager you will be a positive agent for driving change in the Operating Region. From supporting the delivery of the improvements roadmap and driving efficiencies across a 5 pillars. you will be in a position to influence and drive positive change. This role also work closely with the wider Ocado Logistics Excellence functions, the CFC and the Operational Business Units, Delivery Operations plus the relevant Senior Leadership teams.

Responsibilities

As CI Manager you will be responsible for the delivery of improvement projects and initiatives that drive advanced performances across 5 pillars of Safety, People, Customer, Delivery and Cost:

You will also be responsible for the following tasks:

• Deliver site improvement projects to time and budget
• Work closely with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain & Technology teams to ensure the smooth roll out of site Excellence projects
• Act as the onsite representative to support and roll out projects initiated by other business areas
• Manage projects to an agreed structure with clear requirements, stakeholders and objectives
• Manage stakeholder communications to ensure that a stakeholders are kept up to date
• Carry out discovery investigations onsite to identify operational waste, areas for improvement and potential solutions using:
• Data analysis & trend mapping
• Lean methodology tools
• Operational expertise
• Qualitative insight from operational teams
• Information and legal requirements from other business areas
• Be responsible for communicating investigation and discovery results to ensure high quality information is available for project development and prioritisation

You will also contribute to onsite cadence by:

• Supporting the meeting landscape to focus and achieve buy in to quality, cost and delivery issues
• Working closely with operations teams at a levels to support them in delivering improvements
• Coaching and train operational teams to embed a culture of quality focused continuous improvement
• Supporting decision making by building cost vs benefit proposals and slide decks. Present these to the Senior Team and other key stakeholders to gain support for improvement initiatives.

About you

The ideal candidate will shape and drive a world class employee experience and environment to attract and retain the right people and lead your teams to foster a culture of respect, identity, loyalty, trust and aspiration where people are engaged and motivated to commit to Ocado and our values.

You will possess these following qualities:

• Ability to persuade, negotiate and influence key stakeholders
• Confidence in delivering informative, we-organised presentations
• Experience of managing projects
• Experience of analysing and utilising data
• Previous experience in a continuous improvement environment or the use of Lean methodology tools
• Previous experience in a 24/7 productivity conscious warehouse environment
• Working knowledge of food safety practices
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft and Google suite
• Excellent problem solving skis with a solution focus & strong bias for action
• Strong verbal & written communication and numeracy skis
• Be a recognised self starter with excellent personal organisational skis

What we offer you

Our employee benefits are designed for you, we care about people and we’ve ensured we have a wealth of benefits that focus on your well-being. We regularly review our benefits to ensure we are supporting our employees appropriately.

• Wellbeing Support: Access dedicated apps and an Employee Assistance Programme for holistic well-being.
• Pension Plan: Secure your future with our pension scheme, featuring up to 7% employer contribution matching.
• Private Medical Cover: Rest easy with comprehensive private medical insurance.
• Family-Friendly: We support your family with maternity, adoption, shared parental leave, and paternity leave.
• Financial Aid: Get interest-free train tickets and join our Cycle to Work Scheme
• Share Schemes: Join exciting share plans to participate in our success.
• Shopping Perks: Enjoy a 15% discount on Ocado.com and savings at popular retailers and restaurants.
• Financial Protection: We offer Income Protection and Life Assurance for financial security. We're dedicated to your well-being, professionally and personally. Unlock these exceptional benefits at Ocado Logistics. Explore our employee-funded options, including Dental Insurance, Travel Insurance, and more through Benefits+.

Why Ocado?

We've got you covered! Embark on a journey of well-being and fulfilment at Ocado Logistics! We place your well-being at the forefront and offer an array of perks to support your holistic development. Experience a healthy work-life balance and take comfort in our comprehensive healthcare coverage. Moreover, we understand the significance of financial security in fostering a sense of stability and peace of mind. Enjoy competitive salaries and exclusive employee discounts, all aimed at promoting your overall well-being. Join Ocado Logistics today and thrive in a culture that truly values and supports your well-being at every step of your journey.

About us:

Our teams are putting the world’s retailers online using the cloud, robotics, AI, and IoT. We provide services to partner clients globally via our innovative advanced robotics technology, known as the Ocado Smart Platform ("OSP"), this drives our highly automated, multi-million-pound Customer Fulfilment Centres (CFCs). In our CFCs - together with the proprietary software applications - we operate a world-class online grocery business that automates the single pick of products, ready for your online delivery.

Join the Samworth Brothers Team and become part of our dynamic family!

At Samworth Brothers, we genuinely care about our colleagues and strive to create an engaging environment that values your unique contributions. We are committed to your success and offer a range of exceptional benefits that we believe supports your life and personal aspirations: -

• Enhanced pension scheme
• Private health scheme
• Empl.

WHJS1_UKTJ

Continuous Improvement Manager (Known internally as IWS Manager )

Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees (Home of McCoy’s, POM-BEAR and more) 

On-site  

Join our snack-loving team! Due to internal progression, we're looking for a Continuous Improvement Manager/IWS Manager to join our team at KP Snacks in Billingham. Fancy being part of a group where your ideas matter and your growth is celebrated? Keep reading – this might just be your next adventure! 

The IWS Manager has the site accountability for the ongoing phased development of Intersnack Work Systems (IWS) and helps the site to achieve their Compelling Business Need (CBN), reduce losses and achieve total employee engagement.

What’s in it for you?   

We believe in giving back and making sure you're happy and thriving. Here's a taste of what we offer: 

• Attractive salary, depending on the skills and experience you can bring 

• £7.5k car allowance

• Bonus scheme – with an excellent track record of over-achievement 

• Annual Salary Review 

• Medicash health cash plan/Private healthcare/Digital GP/Best Doctors (2nd Medical Opinion service) and Cancer care 

• Company sick pay (eligibility criteria exist) 

• Holiday buy scheme 

• Electric Vehicle Scheme 

• KP4ME - online benefits, discounts, prizes, competitions and information platform with access to mental, physical and financial wellbeing information and tools 

As Continuous Improvement Manager/IWS Manager, what will you be doing?  

Leadership  

• Lead the line organisation through the relevant IWS Phase Journey to drive performance improvement and sustainable results 

• Maintain a clear understanding of priorities, including execution requirements and resource planning, particularly with regard to people and capability 

• Coach and support site organisation to effectively set direction during Daily Direction Setting (DDS), ensuring alignment with site-level targets 

• Provide leadership for the FI/WPI Pillar, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and capability building 

• Influence peers and cross-functional teams to align on priorities and deliver results, including through indirect leadership and collaboration across organisational boundaries 

Loss Elimination  

• Develop the IWS Site Master / 90-Day Plan to address losses and build capability 

• Lead execution of 90 Day Plans to eliminate losses using IWS tools 

• Monthly review of Site Master Plans and results 

• Drive breakthrough results in OEE, Planned and Unplanned Downtime while delivering against the Master Production Schedule (use OPM and other tools) 

• Lead issue resolution “to Root Cause” on the floor of chronic stops  eg (IPS, UPS) 

DMS Capability Build  

• On the floor coaching of line leads andATMs 

• Perform hands-on coaching (actual usage) on the 8 RTT DMS’s 

• Loss Elimination 

• Skill Development/Technical Mastery/Behavioural 

• Coach the use of standard work to eliminate non-value added work, including coaching the link to effort reduction  

A little bit about our location

Billingham is our largest factory in the UK and is home to many of your favourite snack brands (McCoy’s, POM-BEAR, Wheat Crunchies and Discos) as well as about 700 colleagues. It’s a huge, complex site and is growing significantly over the next few years, which provides plenty of opportunity to grow and develop your career. If you enjoy solving problems, working collaboratively with colleagues and have a positive outlook, we’d like to hear from you! 

Who are we?   

Glad you asked! We're KP Snacks, proud to be part of the Intersnack family. Picture this: over 15,000 of us, spread across more than 30 countries, all working together to create the snacks you love. From Hula Hoops to McCoy's, we're the team behind your favourite munchies. 

Here in the UK, we're about 2,400 strong, spread across seven factories and our Slough HQ. But don't let our size fool you – we're as close-knit as they come. We believe in speaking our minds, celebrating our differences, and pushing boundaries together. 

Diversity isn't just a buzzword for us.  We're on a mission to create a workplace where everyone belongs. So, even if you don't tick every box, we want to hear from you! Your unique perspective could be just what we need. Also, if there's anything we can do to make this process easier for you, just give us a shout.  

We’d love to hear from you if can demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and experience:

• Demonstrated leadership in Continual Improvement across multiple stakeholder groups 

• Familiarity with IWS is beneficial but not required 

• Proven problem-solving capabilities using tools such as fishbone diagrams, 5 Whys, and root cause analysis (RCA) 

• Strong coaching and communication skills, with the ability to engage and influence others effectively 

• Skilled in leading structured change initiatives and driving sustainable improvements 

• Excellent planning and organisational abilities 

• Collaborative mindset with a proactive approach to seeking input from the wider team 

• High level of personal accountability and ownership for delivering results 

• Competence in handling large volumes of data; minimum intermediate proficiency in Excel 

• Experience operating as part of a leadership team or demonstrable readiness to step into such a role, with the strategic thinking and influence required at that level 

#LI-SC1 #LI-ONSITE