Director, Continuous Improvement

Restek is looking for a builder. As our Director of Continuous Improvement, you’ll stand up an enterprise-wide continuous improvement program, developing the systems, the talent, and the Lean culture that make operational excellence part of how we work every day across Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, and Customer Experience.

Reporting to the Vice President of Operations, you’ll be our principal change agent, leading everything from multi-year transformation programs to focused Kaizen events. Your work will directly shape our strategic priorities by reducing waste and scrap, raising quality, speeding flow, improving the customer experience, and growing profitability.

What You’ll Do

• Set the Strategy
• Own the multi-year CI roadmap, aligned with Restek’s strategic plan, annual operating plan, and Operations priorities.
• Establish the management system that makes improvement stick (daily management, tiered huddles, A3 problem solving) and define a CI maturity model to guide each function’s progress.
• Partner with Finance to validate savings and ensure improvement gains show up in the P&L.
• Lead the Work
• Personally lead and facilitate high-impact Kaizen events, Value Stream Mapping, and transformation projects tied to safety, quality, delivery, cost, inventory, and customer outcomes.
• Drive measurable gains in OEE, first-pass yield, scrap and rework, on-time delivery, lead time, inventory turns, customer response time, and total cost of quality.
• Make sure improvement work is well scoped, resourced, and sustained, and bring the best practices from inside and outside Restek to every team.
• Make an Impact Across the Business
• Manufacturing: Improve safety, quality, throughput, changeover, and productivity through standard work, visual management, and a Lean production system.
• Customer Experience: Help deliver an industry-leading experience through faster response and resolution, better processes, and digital enablement.
• Supply Chain: Strengthen supplier quality and delivery, optimize inventory, and streamline order-to-cash, delivering measurable cost savings.
• Engineering: Partner on design for manufacturability, new product introduction, and change management to speed time-to-market and build it right the first time.
• Build Capability and Culture
• Build, lead, and develop the Continuous Improvement team.
• Design and deliver Restek’s CI training curriculum, including Lean fundamentals, Yellow/Green/Black Belt paths, problem-solving methods, and leader standard work.
• Coach senior leaders and frontline managers in CI thinking, and develop change agents at every level to scale CI beyond the central team.
• Put the metrics and dashboards in place that make progress visible from the manufacturing floor to the executive team, and share wins and learnings across the organization.

How We Lead at Restek

Restek leaders model our core values and act as stewards of our culture. They communicate openly, build trust, and support the growth and well-being of their teams. They think globally and act locally, create clarity around goals, hold themselves accountable, partner across functions and regions, and lead with humility and service so every employee-owner can contribute to Restek’s success.

What You Bring

Qualifications

The typical requirements for this role include a bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration (master's degree, preferred), or a related field, plus 10 years of progressive operations and CI experience, including at least 5 years in a senior CI or operational excellence leadership role in manufacturing, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

Additional Skills & Abilities

A proven track record of leading enterprise-level Lean transformations with sustained, financially validated results.

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification (Master Black Belt certification is preferred)

Hands-on experience across multiple functions (manufacturing, supply chain, quality, customer service, and/or engineering), with credibility on the manufacturing floor and with leadership.

Experience leading and developing CI practitioners and managers.

Deep fluency in the CI toolkit: Lean (5S, standard work, visual management, flow, pull, SMED, TPM, Kaizen), Six Sigma (DMAIC, SPC, DOE), Value Stream Mapping, Hoshin Kanri, and structured problem solving (A3, 8D, 5-Why, fishbone).

Advanced Excel and Power BI (or equivalent) skills for data-driven decision making.

A servant-leader and coach who thinks strategically, executes in detail, and influences from the manufacturing floor to the Leadership Team, with outstanding written, verbal, and executive presentation skills.

Experience in a regulated manufacturing environment (e.g., FDA, ISO 9001, ISO 13485, GMP) or in scientific instruments, life sciences, chromatography, analytical, or precision-manufactured products and experience bringing digital tools and analytics (e.g., MES, ERP, Power BI, advanced analytics) into the CI toolkit is preferred.

This full onsite position will require the successful completion of a standard background check in accordance with Restek policy. Employment with Restek will require successful completion of a pre-employment drug screen.

What Makes Restek Unique

We prioritize work-life balance and well-being with offerings like generous PTO, unlimited sick time, onsite fitness center and wellness program with incentives, childcare reimbursement, and adoption assistance—giving you the tools to Own Your Well-Being. Through our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and robust 8% retirement contributions, you can Own Your Financial Future while sharing in the success you help create. Our commitment to development ensures you can Own Your Growth through learning opportunities, career advancement programs, and a collaborative culture that values innovation and teamwork.

At Restek, our core values—We Care, Better Every Day, Respect for All, and Win Together—are at the heart of everything we do. We care deeply about our employee-owners, our customers, and the communities we serve around the world. We strive to be better every day by fostering personal and professional growth while delivering solutions that drive positive global change. We value respect for all, creating a workplace where every voice matters and diverse perspectives drive innovation. And we believe we win together, celebrating shared success as a 100% employee-owned company.

We are an equal opportunity employer, considering applicants without regard to race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, religion, military or veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. Restek provides reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and applicable laws.

If you’re ready to join a team that lives its values and empowers you to Own Your Future, we’d love to hear your story. Apply today.