Continuous Improvement Lead - 12 month fix term Cwmbran, South Wales

Job Title: Continuous Improvement Lead

Applications open till 3rd July

Knauf stands for opportunity. We know that opportunity looks different to each person, and we are proud that we see opportunity in everyone. This exciting role within Knauf Insulation in the Innovation Team could be the perfect next opportunity for you to build a unique career, in a values-led culture with a clear purpose of making tomorrow a home for all of us. We are a global manufacturer of construction materials and within our Group, our 41,500 team members in 90 countries across 300 sites provide a huge opportunity for anyone with ambition and energy. We value everyone's contribution equally and we ask that you bring your whole self to work, to enrich the business further, as together we achieve more in a safe and inclusive environment.

Knauf Insulation is proud to be part of the Knauf Group. To learn more about the business, click here.

Can you say 'yes'?

• Do you enjoy working collaboratively?
• Do you have a clear drive for improvement?
• Do you have strong communication skills?

What you'll be doing

• Always ensure safety first and have influence in all interactions to maintain a safety focus.
• Respect the Knauf values: Commitment, Entrepreneurship, Partnership and Menschlichkeit and apply them in your daily work.
• Champion a CI culture and support the teams with knowledge of CI tools, techniques and ways of working.
• Provide and share continuous improvement knowledge and technical skills, at all levels to identify opportunities and define projects to achieve clear goals.
• Provide the business with the skills to complete Kaizen Events, planning and facilitating events as necessary to support improvement initiatives.
• Provide clear technical guidance to the wider plant team supporting where necessary.
• Identify process optimisation/improvement opportunities and align to the annual business objectives.
• Support and facilitate business projects, to allow Process Leaders, Engineering Teams and Shift Leaders to become self-sufficient in terms of leading improvement initiatives.
• Ensure that the site has access to all sources of best practice, internal and external to the Knauf business, so that we gain and sustain a competitive advantage.
• Provide support to personnel in completing Six Sigma Training and provide assistance and understanding in the application of tools and techniques.
• Work with the plant Teams and the Process Excellence Manager in the Industrial Performance Team to ensure our CI process remains rigorous, aligned to the framework and capable of sustaining Continuous Improvement in the future.
• Implement a clear structured approach to problem solving, using the appropriate tool for the scenario (5 Why, 8D, DMAIC, etc).
• Lead and expand digital CI initiatives, support the development of teams (POKA, Digital communication boards, etc).

What we'd love for you to have:

We are interested in you as a person, your attitude, behaviours and values. If you have the willingness to learn anything you need for the role that you don't already have, we'd love to speak to you.

• Clear drive for improvement, proactive and appetite to learn new skills.
• Strong KI Values.
• Ability to engage process personnel in process improvement - Workshops, Improvement Groups, etc.
• Experience of continuous process plant operation, 5S, operator asset care and problem solving.
• Communicative and collaborative style which is motivating and engaging to individuals and teams.
• Ability to challenge the status quo and not accept opinion as fact.
• An aspiration and drive to develop and learn new methods and techniques.
• Good communication and influencing skills.

We'll provide:

• Enhanced Holiday Pay - 33 days including bank holidays plus the opportunity to purchase more.
• 16 weeks Company Sick Pay after 3 months of service.
• Group Income Protection.
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity and Adoption packages.
• Life Assurance - 4 x annual salary.
• Defined Contribution Pension Scheme.
• Staff Bonus Scheme.
• Career Progression Routes.
• Employee Assistance Programme through Health Assured.
• Westfield Health Cash Plan.
• Perkbox.
• Access to Costco Membership.
• Wickes Employee Purchase Scheme.
• On site Gyms.
• Wellbeing Initiatives and Mental Health First Aiders.
• Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• On site Car Charging Points.

Knauf Insulation welcomes applications from everyone and is committed to treating everyone equally, regardless of: age, sex, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, religion/belief, sexual orientation, marriage/civil partnership or pregnancy/maternity. In particular, we encourage applications from people from a minority background or from demographics that are underrepresented in the manufacturing industry.

We are a Disability Confident Leader (Level 1) and take care to ensure good EDI (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion) practices in all our operations. If you are invited to an interview, a member of our team will be in touch via email to enquire about any access requirements or reasonable adjustments that we can make for your interview.