Continuous Improvement Specialist, Manufacturing Operations
Location: Calgary, AB
The Opportunity
With cutting-edge facilities in Calgary, Canada, and Tempe, USA, DSM is a leading force in electronics manufacturing. For 25 years, we have built a reputation for excellence, delivering high-quality, scalable solutions to established businesses across sectors such as energy, defense, communications, industrial, and emerging technology.
Our expertise spans complex PCB assembly, full-system integration, and supply chain optimization, ensuring precision, reliability, and efficiency at every stage. Certified through Canada’s Controlled Goods Program and the USA’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations, DSM meets the highest security and compliance standards.
This role drives operational excellence across the shop floor, leading hands-on improvement projects that deliver tangible results and embedding Lean thinking throughout our high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environment.
This is a full-time in office position, working 40 hours per week (Monday – Friday).
Responsibilities
- Operational excellence: Drive operational excellence across manufacturing and support functions, applying a continuous improvement (CI) lens to identify, prioritize, and eliminate waste.
- Shop-floor improvement projects: Lead hands-on improvement projects on the manufacturing floor, delivering measurable results in quality, cost, throughput, and lead time.
- Kaizen & improvement events: Plan, lead, and facilitate Kaizen and rapid improvement events, engaging cross-functional teams and ensuring gains are sustained.
- Leadership CI facilitation: Facilitate leadership CI events and workshops, building a culture of continuous improvement and structured problem-solving across the organization.
- New program introduction (NPI): Support new program introduction, embedding Lean principles and efficient process design into new product and process launches.
- Factory layout & industrial engineering: Drive customer experience through improved factory layout and industrial engineering—line balancing, cell design, material flow, and capacity analysis.
- Visual management: Establish and maintain visual management systems for operations and support functions, making performance, status, and standards visible at a glance.
- KPI tracking: Develop, track, and report KPIs and improvement metrics, using data to measure impact and guide decisions.
- Lean methodology (HMLV): Apply Lean tools (5S, value stream mapping, standard work, root cause analysis) tailored to a high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environment.
- Coaching & standardization: Coach teams on CI tools and standard work, and standardize best practices across the business unit.
Qualifications
- 3-5 years of continuous improvement or operational excellence experience in a manufacturing environment, with a proven track record of leading shop-floor projects that delivered tangible, measurable results.
- A bachelor’s degree in Industrial or Manufacturing Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience.
- Strong working knowledge of Lean methodology and tools (Kaizen, 5S, value stream mapping, standard work, root cause analysis), ideally in a high-mix, low-volume setting.
- Experience with factory layout, industrial engineering, and visual management for both operations and support functions.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills for data analysis, KPI tracking, and reporting.
- Excellent facilitation, communication, and stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to lead events and engage teams at all levels.
- Nice to have: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification (an asset, not required—floor results matter most), and experience in a controlled-goods manufacturing environment (ITAR / Controlled Goods Program).
Work Location: In person
