Mars
Continuous Improvement Manager
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Job Opportunity: Continuous Improvement Manager
Location: Birstall, Leeds
Salary: Competitive + Bonus + Benefits
Type: Full-time, Permanent
We are looking for a CI Manager to play a pivotal role in delivering new production assets while leading the site's continuous improvement agenda across a fast-paced pet food manufacturing environment. You will lead commissioning, validation and start-up of new equipment while driving operational excellence through the identification and elimination of production losses. Working in partnership with production, engineering, maintenance, and site leadership teams, you will influence stakeholders at all levels to build capability, align priorities, and embed a culture of continuous improvement that delivers sustainable business performance. This role is critical to ensuring our lines start strong, run efficiently, and continuously improve—helping us deliver the quality pet nutrition that millions of pets rely on every day.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead commissioning, validation, and start-up (CVS) of new production lines, equipment, and new product introductions, ensuring successful operational handover and sustainable performance.
- Own the site's continuous improvement roadmap, aligning improvement priorities with operational and business objectives.
- Build strong relationships with production, engineering, maintenance, quality, supply chain, and site leadership teams to drive alignment and successful delivery of improvement initiatives.
- Lead site-wide loss analysis across OEE, waste, downtime, and speed loss, translating operational data into business-focused improvement opportunities.
- Engage and influence stakeholders across all functions to prioritize resources, remove barriers, and deliver measurable operational improvements.
- Lead cross-functional improvement teams, fostering collaboration, accountability, and ownership to achieve shared performance goals.
- Develop and present business cases for improvement initiatives, communicating risks, opportunities, and expected benefits to site leadership.
- Coach and support leaders, engineers, and operators in Lean, TPM, and structured problem-solving methodologies, building continuous improvement capability across the site.
- Champion a culture of operational excellence, encouraging data-driven decision-making, ownership, and continuous learning.
- Apply structured problem-solving techniques including Root Cause Analysis, 5 Whys, and DMAIC to eliminate recurring losses and improve process capability.
- Monitor, communicate, and review improvement performance with key stakeholders, ensuring benefits are sustained and opportunities for further optimization are identified.
- Support the rapid ramp-up of new production assets, working collaboratively across functions to achieve target safety, quality, delivery, cost, and performance metrics.
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About You
- Engineering or technical degree (or equivalent experience) within manufacturing or engineering.
- Significant experience within FMCG or other high-volume manufacturing environments, ideally food or pet food.
- Proven success leading cross-functional continuous improvement and operational excellence programs.
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build credibility and drive alignment across production, engineering, maintenance, quality, and senior leadership teams.
- Demonstrated ability to engage and coach teams at all levels, creating ownership and accountability for continuous improvement.
- Strong understanding of OEE, loss analysis, reliability improvement, and waste elimination.
- Experience applying TPM, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or equivalent operational excellence methodologies.
- Excellent analytical, communication, and facilitation skills, with the ability to translate operational data into compelling improvement plans.
- Confident leading change in a fast-paced manufacturing environment while balancing operational priorities and stakeholder expectations.
- Visible and collaborative leader with a strong shopfloor presence and the ability to influence without direct authority.
- Results-driven with a proven track record of delivering sustainable improvements in safety, quality, service, cost, and productivity.
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What can you expect from Mars?
- Be part of a purpose-driven business: A Better World for Pets
- Work on products that make a real difference to the health and happiness of pets globally
- Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.
- Join a purpose-driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
- Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
- An industry-competitive salary and benefits package, including a company bonus.
Mars is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable adjustments for individuals with disabilities, long-term health conditions, or who are neurodiverse during the application and recruitment process. To request reasonable adjustments, complete our Reasonable Adjustment Request Form here.
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Mars is a family-owned business with more than $35 billion in global sales. We produce some of the world’s best-loved brands: M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, DOVE®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, EXTRA®, ORBIT®, 5™, SKITTLES®, BEN’S ORIGINAL®, and COCOAVIA®. Alongside our consumer brands, we proudly take care of half of the world’s pets through our nutrition, health, and services businesses such as Banfield Pet Hospitals™, BluePearl®, Linnaeus, AniCura, VCA™, and Pet Partners™. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in more than 80 countries. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom – inspire our 140,000 Associates into taking action every day towards creating the world we want tomorrow.
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