Continuous Improvement Manager

At Link Snacks, we show up hungry, roll up our sleeves, plaid or otherwise, and dive straight into the hard work. We don’t hide from challenges; we hunt them down. We push harder, move faster, and take the kinds of big swings that built this business in the North Woods of Wisconsin four decades ago.

We’re everyday people who deliver extraordinary results. Innovation, creativity, and urgency aren’t buzzwords, they’re expectations. And just like the real protein snacks we make across our global house of brands—Jack Link’s®, Lorissa’s Kitchen®, Golden Island®, BiFi®, and Peperami® and KOOEE!® to name a few—there’s nothing artificial about us. What you see is exactly what you get: humble, gritty, passionate people who show up every day ready to not just be a participate in the meat snack industry that the Link Family created, but to move faster, innovate harder and keep raising the bar so high, the rest of the world needs a ladder just to see it.

Dominating this space across the world takes a team. A team that runs together, succeeds together, and celebrates together. A team that’s full of relentless energy and spirit that can only be fueled by one thing: a fist full of our delicious meat snacks.

Real Meat Protein. Real People. Real Results. THAT is Link Snacks.

The Continuous Improvement Manager is responsible for leading, deploying, and sustaining the Continuous Improvement (CI) plan across the plant. This role owns the CI and FI roadmap and builds CI capability at all levels of the organization which will drive performance improvement aligned with plant and enterprise goals. The CI Manager partners closely with Plant Leadership, Operations, Quality, Safety, Supply Chain, and Engineering to deliver measurable improvements in Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, and Morale.

This role sets expectations, prioritizes initiatives, coach leaders and the CI team, and ensures improvement efforts are embedded into daily management systems. The CI Manager leads the CI team and/or project resources and is accountable for the overall effectiveness and sustainability of continuous improvement outcomes at the site.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES (Essential Job Functions)

The duties and responsibilities of this position shall consist of, but not be limited to, the following:

Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence

• Owns the plant-based Continuous Improvement Plan and multi-year roadmap aligned with business objectives.
• Identifies, prioritizes, and sponsors CI initiatives that deliver sustainable improvements in safety, quality, cost, delivery, and morale.
• Leads site-level productivity, loss elimination, and waste reduction initiatives.
• Ensures replication of best practices and standard work across lines, shifts, and departments.
• Partners with Plant Leadership integrating CI into daily management, tiered meetings, KPI reviews, and operating rhythms.
• Oversees data integrity, performance measurement, and financial benefit tracking related to CI initiatives.

Leadership & Team Development

• Directly leads, coaches, and develops CI team members, setting clear expectations and performance goals.
• Builds CI capability across the organization by coaching leaders, supervisors, and team members in problem solving, Lean principles, and continuous improvement behaviors.
• Champions a culture that challenges the status quo and reinforces employee engagement in improvement activities.
• Facilitates and sponsors Kaizen events, value stream mapping, and cross-functional improvement workshops.
• Serves as a role model for structured problem solving, fact-based decision making, and change leadership.

Change Management & Communication

• Leads change management efforts to ensure adoption, sustainment, and ownership of improvements.
• Communicates CI priorities, progress, and results to plant leadership and broader stakeholders.
• Ensure consistent communication of performance metrics, improvement plans, and results through visual management and KPI systems.
• Influences without authority across functions to remove barriers and drive alignment.

Governance, Sustainability & Administration

• Establishes standard CI processes, governance, and tracking mechanisms at the plant level.
• Ensures sustainment plans, audits, and accountability systems are in place for all improvements.
• Supports capital planning by identifying CI-driven investment opportunities and ensuring strong business cases.
• Performs other duties as required to support plant and organizational objectives.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

• Willing to travel up to 10% of the time using CI expertise to work on shared projects with other plants and/or projects.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing, Business, Engineering, Food Science, or related field required.

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt.

Experience:

• 7+ years of progressive experience in continuous improvement with progressive responsibility in Continuous Improvement or Operational Excellence roles.
• Proven experience driving measurable, sustained performance improvement at the plant or multi-line level.
• Strong working knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, and structured problem-solving methodologies.

REQUIRED SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES

• Advanced understanding of Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement systems.
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to coach, influence, and develop others.
• Excellent business acumen, including financial analysis of cost savings and productivity improvements.
• Ability to lead change in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills with all levels of the organization.
• Strong analytical skills with proficiency in data analysis and KPI-driven decision making.
• Proficient in Microsoft Suite and experience in MES and ERP systems.

The salary range for this role is $100,000 to $120,000 (Salaried.)  Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, location, and candidate skill set and experience. Base pay is just one component of Jack Link’s Total Rewards package for Team Members. Other rewards may include annual incentive and program-specific awards. Jack Link’s provides a variety of benefits to eligible Team Members, including medical, dental and vision benefits, life and disability insurance, 401k participation, paid holidays, and paid time off.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS  

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a Team Member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

While performing the duties of this job the Team Member will be required to wear the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (i.e beard/hairnet, ear plugs, frock, boots, etc), stand for extended periods of time, and use hands/arms to push, pull, reach and occasionally lift above head.  The Team Member must occasionally lift, push, pull up to 25 pounds and 50 pounds infrequently. Team Members are requested to visually inspect equipment and/or product.  

WORK ENVIRONMENT 

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those a Team Member encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The work environment is a plant setting with wet/slippery floors, varying degrees of temperatures with an average temperature of 40 degrees in the production area. However, the vast amount of work is conducted in a climate-controlled office. Team Members will be exposed to raw and/or cooked meat products, and moving equipment and will be required to follow all Food Safety Quality requirements.  Travel may be required.

EEO Statement:

Jack Link’s provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic that is protected by federal, state or local law.

Jack Link’s is participant in the federal E-Verify program to confirm the identity and employment authorization of all newly hired employees. For information about the E-Verify program, please visit:  http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify/employees

Disclaimer:

This job description is intended to generally describe the nature and level of work to be performed by employees in this position. It is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and skills required of employees performing this role.