Manager of Continuous Improvement

Founded in 1898 and headquartered in Chicago, IL, GATX Corporation (NYSE: GATX) is an industry leader with 125+ years of success-success that is powered by our people. We are proud of our high-performance culture, hard-working and enthusiastic management team, and beautiful office space in the Willis Tower.

At GATX, we hire the best and offer our employees a dynamic, energetic, collaborative environment to enable them to make an impact from day one. Enjoy the perks and benefits of a global company with the close-knit culture and community of a much smaller one. In the same way we strive to empower our customers to propel the world forward, we are dedicated to providing our people with the tools and resources they need to move forward in their careers.

The CI Manager will lead continuous improvement efforts at one of GATX's two large-scale railcar repair facilities (Hearne, TX or Waycross, GA). This role will serve as site CI champion emphasizing Lean and Six Sigma process management with relentless problem solving. Key efforts will focus on improving the safety, quality, lead time, and value of critical business processes at the GATX repair shops.

Be the champion for Daily Management in the facility in the context of GATX's "SQDC" management framework.

Support/coach/lead DM efforts across all work centers and all levels within the facility and ensure deep understanding and full adoption of SQDC.

Lead, deploy, and educate staff in the pursuit of a relentless problem-solving culture to achieve goals within the Operations organization by use of all problem-solving methods, including DMAIC and A3 problem solving:

• Plan and conduct problem-solving sessions and workshops
• Facilitate and empower teams to engage in local problem-solving
• Lead Strategy Deployment and Value Stream Mapping efforts

Lead Kaizen/Blitz activities to drive change with sustainable results

• Ensure cross functional involvement
• Develop ownership for results
• Teach others to lead their own events, and build a culture that embraces rapid change at all levels of the organization
• Baseline and track/report realized improvements
• Ensure improvements are sustained through SPC or similar

Lead special projects and implementation of strategic initiatives for the Operations group, as identified through goal deployment

• Use the appropriate Lean / Six Sigma tools as required
• Engage and manage cross functional teams which will include Mechanical Repair, Finishing, Inspection, and other work centers in the shop, as well as corporate functions such as Engineering and Quality

Interaction:

The Continuous Improvement Manager interacts primarily with department managers, service center managers and shop floor personnel. The incumbent must also be able to prepare, present, and defend recommendations and decisions to project sponsors and senior management.

• Bachelor's degree in operations management, engineering, business or other relevant discipline is required (MBA a plus)
• 4-8 years' experience in an analytical role or facility management, preferably in Maintenance, Repair, Operations (MRO) or heavy industrial environment
• Strong knowledge and experience in applying business improvement practices such as Lean, Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints; relevant experience is desirable
• Proven experience influencing and persuading without having direct authority
• Significant Project management experience
• Six Sigma Black Belt certification from accredited institution required