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 (CI) efforts at GATX’s railcar repair maintenance facility. This role will serve as a site CI champion ensuring full adoption of Safety, Quality, Delivery and Cost (SQDC) components, lead Kaizen and Blitz events that deliver measurable, sustainable improvements, embed 5S practices, and lead/manage the Strategy Deployment process (x-matrix) within site operations. The individual must be passionate about process transformation, operations management, strategy and data driven problem solving.

Champion Daily Visual Management (DVM) within the SQDC framework. Drive consistent use of visual tools across all work centers through training/coaching and managing the process. Ensure transparency, accountability, and continuous performance improvement.

Lead Kaizen/Blitz projects to drive change with sustainable results

• Analyze data, identify and scope improvement opportunities
• Acquire cross functional involvement
• Develop ownership for results
• Responsible for establishing baseline and tracking/reporting realized improvement to ensure improvements are sustained.

Implement and sustain 5S through training/coaching, creation and maintenance of visual standards and structured audits.

Support strategic initiatives and facility capital projects that reinforce operational excellence.

Educate in the pursuit of creating a problem-solving culture:

• Build capability by teaching teams to lead their own Kaizen events and other core lean methodologies
• Train/coach the team on Strategy Deployment process

Education and/or Experience required (including certifications):

• Bachelor’s degree in Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, business or other relevant discipline is required
• 5 years’ experience in an analytical role or facility management, preferably in Maintenance, Repair, Operations (MRO) or heavy industrial environment
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or higher certification is preferred
• Proven experience influencing and persuading without having direct authority
• Project Management certification and experience is a plus.

Key Competencies (non-technical behavioral skills, i.e. presentation, negotiation, customer service skills), in priority order. Select from “key competencies for job descriptions” list:

• Interpersonal savvy in change management and conflict resolution
• Analytical skills
• Coaching
• Influencing and persuading without having direct authority
• Excellent verbal and written communication

Other (i.e., physical requirements, travel, etc. that is not covered above):

• Travel requirements vary with assignments, 5-10% of the time across N. America