Continuous Improvement Specialist

Manufacturer of Premium Meat Products in Fort Atkinson

Jones Dairy Farm, a family-owned and operated business for over 135 years, is searching for a Continuous Improvement Specialist. This is an excellent opportunity for an individual who has the desire to make a significant impact within a dynamic and growing food manufacturing company.

Position Summary:

The Continuous Improvement Specialist supports the Continuous Improvement Manager by leading and supporting projects that improve safety, quality, throughput, cost, and reduce waste across manufacturing operations. This position spends significant time on the production floor using Lean, Six Sigma, root cause analysis, standard work, and data-driven problem solving to eliminate waste, strengthen the Management Operating System, and help sustain improvements day-to-day.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and/or support continuous improvement projects on key production lines and value streams to improve safety, quality, throughput, uptime, yield, labor efficiency, and waste reduction.
• Pull, review, and analyze data from Power BI, Redzone, Maximo, Sage, and other plant systems to identify loss drivers and validate improvement opportunities.
• Build and maintain basic reports and visuals, including Pareto charts, run charts, and simple dashboards, for use in daily, weekly, and monthly operational reviews.
• Support standard setting through time studies, observations, rate validation, changeover reviews, and analysis of waste, giveaway, inedible, and other operational targets.
• Spend significant time on the production floor observing processes, talking with operators, supervisors, and mechanics, and validating actual work practices against assumed work practices.
• Create and update standard work, SOPs, visual work instructions, checklists, one-point lessons, and other documentation needed to sustain improvements.
• Train and coach team members on basic continuous improvement tools such as 5S, 5 Whys, fishbone diagrams, standard work, and root cause analysis.
• Track continuous improvement actions from meetings and projects, follow up with owners and management, and help maintain momentum through completion.
• Quantify project benefits, including labor, yield, uptime, material usage, waste reduction, and cost savings, and maintain a simple project pipeline and benefits tracker.
• Effectively communicate and collaborate with all levels of the organization.
• Accept special projects and complete them promptly.
• Must be able to work 10-hour days and 6 to 7-day weeks as needed.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in a related field.

Experience or Training: 2+ years of manufacturing experience. Prior exposure to Lean or continuous improvement tools such as kaizen, 5S, value stream mapping, standard work, or root cause analysis.

Technology/Equipment: Strong computer skills with a high-level proficiency in MS office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).  Solid basic statistics and comfort working with numbers.

Physical Requirements:

An individual must meet the mental and physical requirements described here to successfully perform this position’s essential functions. Much of the work for this position is performed in a manufacturing environment, requiring the use of PPE, uniform or protective clothing, and safety equipment. This role is expected to spend significant time on the production floor and may be exposed to cold, hot, damp, and noisy environments.

Manual dexterity to operate all office equipment efficiently; Visual dexterity to operate all office equipment efficiently; Walking; Bending; Standing; Sitting; Exposure to cold, hot, damp, and noisy environments; Lift and carry up to 50 lbs.

Benefits Package:

We offer excellent compensation and benefit packages:

• Medical Insurance with a Health Reimbursement Account
• Dental, Vision, Prescription, and Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account
• Company Paid Short Term Disability/Sick Pay
• Long Term Disability available
• 11 Paid Holidays
• 401K with a 100% Employer Match on 5.5% of eligible earnings
• Health Club Incentives
• Professional Development Including Tuition Reimbursement & more!

Qualified candidates should submit resumes and apply below.

EOE