Are you ready to facilitate the cultural development towards a mentality of excellence? Do you have a structured way of working and an engaging personality? Do you wish to be a part of a committed team and be a leader that inspires respect for people, continuous learning and have a relentless pursuit of improvement? If so, we have the perfect opportunity for you!

Join Wipak and be a driving force as our

CI MANAGER, FOOD DIVISION

In this role, you will lead the Continuous Improvement (CI) function for the Food Division. You will work with on-site teams across the 5 manufacturing sites in the food division where you will define systems, processes, and strategies, focusing on Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, and People (SQCDP). Your goal is to ensure the delivery of a manufacturing vision and improvement roadmap in line with continuous improvement principles and the Wipak Operational Excellence System.

You will collaborate closely with colleagues in other business divisions to ensure a harmonized approach in all Wipak locations. The local CI Manager or CI Specialist will report to you in a matrix structure, and you report to the Operational Excellence Director, Food Division. This full-time position can be based in any Wipak location in France, Germany, Poland, Spain, or the UK. Frequent travel and fluency in English are required.

Your key responsibilities include:

• Implementing the Wipak Operational Excellence System to ensure optimum efficiencies, effectiveness, and profitability by eliminating waste and variability.
• Maintaining a solid understanding of the operational capabilities of the plants in the Food Division.
• Conducting data analysis and process mapping to identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement, and collaborating with stakeholders to define project scope, objectives, and deliverables.
• Driving a sustainable culture of continuous improvement by initiating and supporting change, meeting business needs through the identification and sharing of best practices.
• Monitoring and tracking the progress of improvement projects to ensure timely completion and achievement of desired outcomes.
• Providing support and guidance to team members on continuous improvement methodologies and tools.

What are we looking for?

• Typically, master’s or bachelor’s degree or industry related qualification.
• Strong leadership, team building, coaching and development skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, articulate and engaging with the ability to quickly establish good relationships with colleagues including frontline staff, leadership and management teams, external customers, and suppliers to motivate and engage teams to develop a continual improvement culture.
• A track record of driving improvement, together with in depth practical experience of delivering projects using Lean Manufacturing techniques such as 5S, standardised work, MDI, problem solving, VSM, SMED, Kaizen and TPM, with evidence of how improvement projects have delivered real sustainable results financially and behaviourally.
• Ability to work effectively in a matrix organisation and with cross-functional teams with the emotional intelligence to operate in a multicultural environment.
• A hands-on and proactive approach that gets things done.

What are we offering?

• An interesting and meaningful role with possibility to leave a mark in the industry.
• Opportunities for career growth and development within a global organization.
• A supportive and collaborative work environment where your contributions are valued.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.

Ready to lead the future?

For further information, please contact Andrew Newbold, Operational Excellence Director, Food Division via email andrew.newbold(@)wipak.com or via phone +44 7793 081039 on 17th and 18th of December at 14:00-15:00 GMT.

Apply for the job

If this role sounds like a great fit for you, please send your CV and cover letter with salary request by December 31, 2024. We will start processing applications already during application period.

We look forward to welcoming you to our team at Wipak – wish you luck!