Sr. Manager, Continuous Improvement

For nearly 70 years, Master Brand has been shaping the places where people come together, enriching lives and creating meaningful memories for our customers. That, combined with our stylish products, expansive dealer and retail network, and dedicated associates, has helped make us the number one North American residential cabinet business. Our unique culture of continuous improvement is based on trusting the tools, empowering the team and moving forward, and is kept alive by our more than 14,000 associates across 20 plus manufacturing facility and offices.

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The Senior Manager, Continuous Improvement is an enterprise-level change leader accountable for driving step-change performance across Master Brand operations. This role owns the strategy, deployment, and sustainment of the Master Brand Production System (MPS) and is directly responsible for delivering measurable, sustained improvements in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and culture. The Senior Manager will set expectations, challenge the status quo, and hold leaders accountable for results while building organizational capability in lean manufacturing, problem-solving, and disciplined execution.

This position operates with a high degree of autonomy and influence, partnering with senior operations leadership to translate business strategy into execution. Success requires decisive leadership, rigorous follow-through, and the ability to lead complex, multi-site transformations while developing leaders at all levels of the organization.

This person will be based at our Waterloo, IA location, but must have the flexibility to travel to support other locations as needed. Relocation assistance may be considered.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and drive the enterprise deployment of the Master Brand Production System (MPS), ensuring consistent application, disciplined execution, and measurable business impact across all assigned facilities.
• Set the standard for lean manufacturing excellence by aggressively identifying gaps, challenging existing practices, and driving adoption of proven best practices across plants and divisions.
• Lead large-scale, cross-functional improvement initiatives with full accountability for results, including safety, quality, delivery, cost, and working capital performance.
• Serve as a strategic advisor and coach to plant managers and senior operations leaders, influencing decision-making and strengthening leadership capability in lean principles and structured problem solving.
• Direct and prioritize the Continuous Improvement roadmap across multiple sites, ensuring alignment with enterprise strategy and operational priorities.
• Plan, lead, and govern kaizen events, value stream transformations, and Future State designs, ensuring execution discipline and long-term sustainment.
• Hold operations leadership accountable for execution of Future State plans through rigorous follow-up, performance reviews, and escalation where necessary.
• Champion a zero-incident safety culture by driving site-specific safety strategies, targeted MBCI initiatives, and visible leadership engagement.
• Identify, evaluate, and lead implementation of new technologies, equipment, systems, and process innovations that strengthen MBCI’s manufacturing platform and deliver maximum return on investment.
• Develop and mentor Continuous Improvement leaders and teams, building internal capability and succession for long-term operational excellence.
• Establish clear metrics, governance, and reporting mechanisms to track progress, surface risks, and ensure sustained results.

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, or related field required; advanced degree or professional manufacturing certification (e.g., Lean Six Sigma, ASQ) preferred
• 7+ years of continuous improvement experience, with emphasis in lean manufacturing.
  
  Experience implementing new manufacturing technologies and process innovations preferred
• Leadership experience in a manufacturing organization.
• Demonstrated capability to develop and mentor continuous improvement leaders
• Proven track record of leading large-scale…