The Senior Manager, Continuous Improvement will lead the design, deployment, and governance of the Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) across warehousing, transportation, and freight forwarding operations. This role owns process optimization initiatives end-to-end, from opportunity identification through implementation and sustainment, using Lean, Six Sigma, and industry-standard 3PL best practices. The ideal candidate combines strong analytical rigor with hands-on operational leadership, driving measurable improvements in productivity, cost-to-serve, safety, quality, and customer service levels across the network.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) Leadership
• Own and evolve the site/regional CIP strategy, including the pipeline of kaizen events, DMAIC projects, and rapid-improvement initiatives.
• Establish and track a savings/benefit pipeline (cost avoidance, productivity gains, quality improvements) with clear ROI documentation.
• Build and maintain a CIP governance cadence (idea intake, prioritization, project charters, stage-gate reviews, close-out) tied to business KPIs.
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement through training, coaching, and visible leadership at all levels of the operation.
• Process Optimization
• Conduct time studies, process mapping (VSM), and root cause analysis across warehousing (receiving, put away, picking, packing, VAS, shipping) and transportation/freight forwarding workflows.
• Redesign standard operating procedures (SOPs) to eliminate waste, reduce variability, and improve throughput, labor productivity, and space/asset utilization.
• Partner with Industrial Engineering to develop and validate labor standards, engineered labor standards (ELS), and slotting/layout optimization.
• Identify and lead automation, WMS/TMS system enhancement, and technology adoption opportunities that support scalable process improvement.
• Data & Performance Management
• Build dashboards and reporting to track OTIF, productivity (UPH/CPH), cost-per-unit, dock-to-stock, order accuracy, safety incidents, and other operational KPIs.
• Use statistical analysis to identify variation, bottlenecks, and improvement opportunities across sites.
• Prepare and present improvement business cases and results to site leadership, regional leadership, and customers as needed (QBRs).
• Stakeholder & Change Management
• Act as the primary liaison between operations, engineering, IT, and customer-facing teams on improvement initiatives.
• Lead cross-functional improvement teams and manage change through structured communication, training, and sustainment plans.
• Support new site start-ups and customer implementations by embedding CI principles and best-practice process design from day one.
• Facilitate Lean/Six Sigma training (Green Belt/Yellow Belt level) for site operations teams to build internal CI capability.
• Standardization & Best Practice Sharing
• Develop and maintain a network-wide playbook of standard processes, layouts, and best practices for replication across sites.
• Conduct site assessments/audits against operational excellence standards and drive corrective action plans.
• Benchmark performance across internal sites and against industry standards to identify improvement targets.

REQUIRED SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Business, or related field.

5+ years of experience in continuous improvement, industrial engineering, or operations roles within 3PL, logistics, warehousing, freight forwarding, or manufacturing environments.

Demonstrated experience leading Lean/Six Sigma projects (Green Belt or Black Belt certification preferred) with quantifiable results.

Strong working knowledge of warehouse and transportation operations, WMS/TMS systems, and labor management systems.

Proficiency in process mapping, time studies, statistical analysis, and improvement tools (5S, Kaizen, DMAIC, PDCA, Value Stream Mapping, Root Cause Analysis).

Strong project management skills with ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously across sites.

Experience in a multi-site or regional CI role within a global 3PL or logistics network.

Experience supporting new site launches, customer onboarding, or network design projects.

Familiarity with automation/robotics evaluation (AS/RS, AMRs, sortation) and digital transformation initiatives in logistics.

Operational and financial acumen (cost-to-serve, labor economics)

Bias for action with attention to sustainable, data-driven results

Travel Requirements: 50% travel to support multi-site initiatives, audits, and training across the regional/national network.

• Six Sigma Black Belt certification

Language Skills:

• N/A

Mathematical Skills:

• Good mathematical skills

• Analytical problem-solving and structured methodology (DMAIC/PDCA)
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills, including experience presenting to senior leadership and customers.
• Change leadership and influence without direct authority
• Coaching and capability-building mindset