Salary: £45,000 - £55,000 plus benefits

Ricardo’s Performance Products division are seeking a Continuous Improvement Manager (CI). Reporting to the Head of Manufacturing, you will play a pivotal role in driving performance improvements, innovation and change with a successful precision batch machine shop. You will need the tenacity to complete improvements expediently, efficiently, with a sustainable outcome.

Key accountabilities

• Leverage methodologies in the precision batch machine shop, including Value Stream Mapping, 5S, Kaizen events and TPM along with use of other lean tools.
• Manage the CI team to deliver maximum benefit across the business, whilst developing the team to create greater value.
• Proactively address gaps in performance, whether related to quality, productivity, or customer satisfaction.
• Analyse machining production routings, identifying inefficiencies for improvement.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive sustainable improvements.
• Monitor and analyse cutting tooling management, implementing cost-effective improvements.
• Train and mentor team members in new processes and methodologies to ensure that changes are sustained.
• Create and maintain KPIs and metrics that effectively drive improvements.
• Foster a positive work environment that encourages collaboration and creativity. 

Preferred skills and experience and knowledge

• Educated to degree standard in a relevant engineering discipline or able to demonstrate equivalent knowledge through experience.
• Extensive experience of working with ‘appropriate’ Lean Tools and Methodologies.
• Knowledge of a Machining environment.
• Work at all levels of an organisation especially engaging machining team members.
• Financial acumen to demonstrate tangible benefits.
• Communication and collaboration with all business functions.
• Training and mentoring.
• Leadership and management skills to develop a CI team to add greater value.
• Working with peer group to deliver overall business objectives.
• Justification and implementation of new equipment.
• Analytical mindset with a sharp eye for identifying process weaknesses.
• Confidence in leading organisational change.

Desirable

• Have previously worked in a low volume machine shop manufacturing environment.
• Have worked in both automotive and/or aerospace quality systems.

Working with Ricardo

You will be warmly welcomed into our workplace where every voice matters. We are diverse thinkers and doers, coming together to create a culture of inclusion. We will support you to find your place.

We will encourage you to use your passion and expertise to make a positive impact through the projects you work on. Your knowledge and desire to bring about change will be invaluable in helping deliver innovative solutions that support communities across the globe in becoming safer and more sustainable.

Wellbeing and work life balance

Wellbeing is at the core to our culture, allowing employees to flourish and to achieve their full potential. Our People are important to us, and we take pride in our wellbeing programs and policies that support individuals including flexible working, careers policy, mental health first aiders and readily available support through our extensive Employee Assistance program.

Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person's potential, and we'll help you reach yours. We have an ambitious diversity, equality, and inclusion approach as explained here. We value diversity; recognising that a more diverse workforce creates a richer and more varied working environment.

Diversity also drives innovation, by allowing us to offer our clients the best consultancy service that we can. As part of our commitment to engage positively and pro-actively with all our employees and to ensure an inclusive culture, we are a recognised as a 'disability confident' employer.

Next steps

Once you have submitted your application a member of our Recruitment Team will be in touch. Please be aware that the timing can vary dependent on the volume of applications that we receive for each role and in some cases, we may start to review applications prior to the closing date.

Ricardo is a Disability confident employer please advise the recruitment team via recruit@ricardo.com if you require any adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment process.