Regional Continuous Improvement Manager

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced and highly collaborative Regional Continuous Improvement Manager, U.S. Operations to enable and accelerate continuous improvement across our U.S. locations, helping the organization address key challenges, implement strategic changes, and deliver sustainable improvements in business performance. 

The role will serve as a Lean and Continuous Improvement enabler and facilitator, partnering with leaders and teams across the organization to identify opportunities, address root causes, facilitate cross-functional improvement, and translate opportunities into practical, sustainable solutions. 

A key focus will be developing and sustaining a consistent Lean and Continuous Improvement framework across the U.S. organization, establishing common methodologies, tools, and approaches while facilitating multi-site alignment, standardization, and sharing of successful practices across locations and functions. 

In addition to enabling continuous improvement across the organization, the role will have clear ownership and accountability for selected strategic improvement projects, bringing together cross-functional teams, addressing barriers, and driving initiatives through implementation and measurable, sustainable results. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Continuous Improvement Enablement: Enable leaders and teams to effectively apply Lean and Continuous Improvement principles to key operational and business priorities, helping identify opportunities, challenge existing ways of working, eliminate waste, address root causes, and improve overall performance. 

• Lean and Continuous Improvement Framework: Develop, enable, and continuously strengthen a consistent Lean and Continuous Improvement framework across U.S. organization.  

• Cross-Functional Process Improvement: Facilitate cross-functional improvement initiatives that bring teams together to understand end-to-end processes, identify constraints and root causes, simplify ways of working. 

• Multi-Site Alignment and Standardization: Partner with operational and functional teams across U.S. locations to identify opportunities for alignment and process standardization, share successful practices and lessons learned, and enable effective solutions to be replicated across the manufacturing network where appropriate. 

• Strategic Improvement Project Delivery: Take clear ownership for the planning, implementation, and delivery of selected strategic improvement projects, establishing objectives, milestones, ownership, measures of success, and cross-functional engagement to drive initiatives through successful completion. 

• Operating Model Change and Implementation Support: Partner with operational and functional leaders to enable the successful implementation of operating model changes, facilitating process assessment and redesign, identifying gaps and dependencies, defining and implementing new or improved processes where required, and helping teams embed effective new ways of working. 

• Root Cause and Structured Problem Solving: Facilitate the application of structured problem-solving and root cause analysis methodologies, enabling teams to move beyond symptoms, understand underlying causes, develop effective countermeasures, and implement sustainable solutions. 

• Kaizen and Lean Facilitation: Facilitate Kaizen events, workshops, and other Lean improvement activities, bringing cross-functional teams together to identify opportunities, solve problems, eliminate waste, and translate improvement ideas into actionable changes and measurable results. 

• Lean Capability Development: Strengthen organizational capability in Lean and Continuous Improvement through practical education, guidance, facilitation, and hands-on support, enabling leaders and teams at all levels to effectively apply relevant methodologies and tools within their areas of responsibility. 

• Impact and Benefits Realization: Partner with teams to establish clear objectives and measures of success for improvement initiatives, using operational and financial data to understand performance, prioritize opportunities, evaluate impact, validate benefits, and support the sustainability of implemented improvements. 

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Build strong partnerships across Operations, Engineering, Quality, HSE, Supply Chain, Finance, Customer Service, HR, IT, and other functions, enabling Lean and Continuous Improvement methodologies to support broader operational priorities and strategic initiatives. 

#HP 

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business, or a related field. 
• Minimum of 7–10 years of progressive experience in Continuous Improvement, Lean, Operational Excellence, manufacturing engineering, operations, or a related field within an industrial or manufacturing environment. 
• Strong practical knowledge and demonstrated application of Lean and Continuous Improvement methodologies, including Kaizen, root cause analysis, structured problem-solving, 5S, value-stream mapping, standardized work, visual management, waste elimination, and process optimization. 
• Demonstrated experience developing, enabling, or supporting Lean and Continuous Improvement frameworks across multiple manufacturing locations. 
• Proven experience facilitating cross-functional process improvement and helping teams translate complex operational challenges into practical and sustainable solutions. 
• Experience supporting significant operational transformation or operating model changes, including process assessment, redesign, implementation, and adoption of new ways of working. 
• Demonstrated experience leading and delivering strategic Continuous Improvement or operational improvement projects with measurable business outcomes. 
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification preferred. 
• Experience using Power BI, data analytics, or similar tools to support performance analysis and data-driven decision-making preferred. 
• Experience with Lean management systems, Continuous Improvement tools, and project-management methodologies preferred. 

Additional Requirements: 

• Ability and willingness to travel regularly across U.S. operational locations to support strategic initiatives, Continuous Improvement activities, Kaizen events, cross-functional process improvement, and operating model implementation. 
• Ability to work effectively across multiple manufacturing locations, functions, and levels of the organization. 
• Strong facilitation and influencing skills, with the ability to engage effectively with senior leadership, functional teams, and shop-floor employees. 
• Hands-on and collaborative approach, with the ability to move effectively between strategic priorities, organizational enablement, and practical implementation. 
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and selected strategic projects in a dynamic manufacturing environment. 
• Strong focus on measurable results, practical implementation, organizational capability, and sustainability of improvements. 

Additional Information

Rotork is the market-leading global flow control and instrumentation company, helping our customers manage the flow of liquids, gases and powders across many industries worldwide.

Our purpose is Keeping the World Flowing for Future Generations.

For over sixty years, the world has relied on us to create the things that keep everything moving. From oil and gas to water and shipping, pharmaceuticals and food- these are the flows on which our modern world depends.

Today we're respected and admired for our people, performance and products. Our success flows from our commitment to engineering excellence, and that's what we will always pursue, safely and sustainably.

Rotork is going through an exciting period of change and growth, building on our existing market success. It's a great time to join us and make an impact in shaping the future of our business.