PRINCIPAL CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT ENGINEER (LEAN MASTER - SIX SIGMA)(BILINGUAL)

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at jnj.com.

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Job Function:

Supply Chain Manufacturing

Job Sub Function:

Manufacturing Process Improvement

Job Category:

People Leader

All Job Posting Locations:

Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico

Job Description:

About MedTech

Fueled by innovation at the intersection of biology and technology, we’re developing the next generation of smarter, less invasive, more personalized treatments.

Your unique talents will help patients on their journey to wellness. Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/medtech

Fueled by innovation at the intersection of biology and technology, we’re developing the next generation of smarter, less invasive, more personalized treatments.

Are you passionate about improving and expanding the possibilities of surgery? Ready to join a team that’s reimagining how we heal? Our Surgery team will give you the chance to deliver surgical technologies and solutions to surgeons and healthcare professionals around the world. Your contributions will help effectively treat some of the world’s most prevalent conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Patients are waiting.

Your unique talents will help patients on their journey to wellness. Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/medtech

We are searching for the best talent for PRINCIPAL CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT ENGINEER​  (LEAN MASTER - SIX SIGMA)(BILINGUAL) for Ethicon Endo in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Purpose:

The Principal Continuous Improvement Engineer serves as the site's senior technical expert in Continuous Improvement, providing leadership in Lean, Six Sigma, operational excellence, and structured problem-solving methodologies.

This role is responsible for shaping and deploying the site's continuous improvement strategy to support business growth, improve Gross Profit, and accelerate operational performance. The position partners closely with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, and Site Leadership to identify, prioritize, and execute high-impact initiatives focused on productivity, quality, cost, capacity, and customer service.

The Principal Continuous Improvement Engineer leads complex cross-functional improvement efforts, supports new product introductions, manufacturing transfers, automation initiatives, and process optimization projects while ensuring the application of robust Lean and Six Sigma methodologies.

As the site's subject matter expert, this position coaches project leaders, engineers, and functional teams while driving the adoption of a continuous improvement culture and developing sustainable business capabilities across the organization.

You will be responsible for:

In accordance with all applicable federal, state and local laws/regulations and Corporate Johnson & Johnson, procedures and guidelines, this position:

CORE RESPONSABILITIES:

• Develop and maintain the site's Continuous Improvement roadmap aligned with business objectives, strategic priorities, and future growth plans.
• Identify, prioritize, and lead opportunities to improve productivity, cost reduction, waste elimination, process optimization, and quality enhancement initiatives.
• Partner with Finance to identify, quantify, and validate financial impact generated through continuous improvement projects.
• Support the successful launch, stabilization, and optimization of new products, technologies, automation systems, and manufacturing processes.
• Provide technical leadership for complex operational challenges requiring advanced Lean and/or Six Sigma methodologies.
• Translate business priorities and strategic objectives into structured improvement projects with measurable and sustainable results.
• Lead cross-functional continuous improvement projects focused on quality, service, productivity, cost, capacity, yield improvement, scrap reduction, labor efficiency, throughput, and operational excellence.
• Establish and maintain a pipeline of strategic improvement opportunities aligned with site business objectives.
• Influence site strategy by identifying operational constraints and opportunities that improve long-term competitiveness and business performance.
• Collaborate with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Planning, Maintenance, Finance, and New Product Introduction teams to drive sustainable business results.
• Coach and mentor engineers, project leaders, supervisors, managers, Green Belts, and Black Belts in the application of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies.
• Build and develop a scalable coaching structure across the site by identifying, training, and leveraging qualified Green Belts and Black Belts to serve as coaches, project reviewers, and mentors, accelerating capability development and certification efforts throughout the organization.
• Partner with JJOS business process owners to drive process maturity and continuous improvement by providing Lean and Six Sigma expertise, coaching, assessments, structured problem-solving support, and capability development to strengthen process performance, standardization, and sustainment across the site's core business processes.
• Lead capability building and development of continuous improvement competencies throughout the organization.
• Lead opportunity assessments, process evaluations, value stream analyses, and business performance improvement workshops.
• Develop and deploy best practices, standards, methodologies, and governance processes related to continuous improvement.
• Promote a culture of structured problem solving, operational excellence, and data-based decision making.
• Follows and observes all regulatory requirements (GMP’s, ISO, FDA, internal policies) applicable to area of responsibility.
• Responsible for communicating business-related issues or opportunities to next management level
• Responsible for following all Company guidelines related to Health, Safety and Environmental practices as applicable.
• For those who supervise or manage a staff, responsible for ensuring that subordinates follow all Company guidelines related to Health, Safety and Environmental practices and that all resources needed to do so are available and in good condition, if applicable
• Responsible for ensuring personal and Company compliance with all Federal, State, local and Company regulations, policies, and procedures
• Performs other duties assigned as needed.

• LEAN EXPERTISE RESPONSABILITIES:

• Lead value stream transformation initiatives across manufacturing and support functions.
• Drive waste elimination and flow optimization efforts throughout the value chain.
• Facilitate Value Stream Mapping activities and future-state design workshops.
• Lead Kaizen events focused on productivity, lead time reduction, throughput improvement, and inventory optimization.
• Develop and implement Lean Management Systems including visual management, standard work, leader standard work, daily management, and tier accountability processes.
• Support manufacturing layout optimization, line balancing, material flow improvements, and capacity expansion initiatives.
• Drive sustainable implementation of Lean principles and behaviors throughout the organization.
• Identify and eliminate non-value-added activities across operational and transactional processes.
• Support business growth through Lean system design and operational scalability.

• SIX SIGMA EXPERTISE RESPONSABILITIES:

• Lead advanced problem-solving initiatives utilizing DMAIC methodology.
• Apply advanced statistical tools to reduce variation, improve process capability, and improve product quality.
• Lead Design of Experiments (DOE), Measurement System Analysis (MSA), Process Capability Analysis, Regression Analysis, Hypothesis Testing, and Statistical Process Control initiatives.
• Support process validation, process characterization, and process optimization efforts.
• Coach engineers and project leaders in the application of Six Sigma methodologies and advanced statistical analysis.
• Identify and eliminate root causes of complex operational and quality challenges through data-driven decision making.
• Improve process capability, stability, and reliability through structured Six Sigma methodologies.
• Support critical business initiatives requiring deep analytical and statistical expertise.

• POLICIES: Know and follow EES policies and procedures; ensure that direct reports know and follow EES policies and procedures related to work activities performed in area of responsibility.

  TRAINING: Complete training in area of responsibility and ensure that direct reports are trained in area of responsibility within allowed time period. Training is required for changes in existing policies and procedures, for new assignments and for implementation of new policies and procedures. Complete required periodic re-training and ensure that required periodic re-training takes place for direct reports in areas such as safety and environmental.

• SAFETY: Set standards for safe behavior. Recognize and reward safe behavior in others. Ensure that direct reports employ safe practices. Enforce safety policies & procedures. Evaluate staff members’ safety performance and ensure that safety is a part of each direct report’s GPMS. Provide resources (time and money) necessary to maintain safety process. Ensure safety structure is in place in form of working committees and department coordinators.

  Other:

• Responsible for communicating business-related issues or opportunities to next management level
• Responsible for following all Company guidelines related to Health, Safety and Environmental practices as applicable.
• For those who supervise or manage a staff, responsible for ensuring that subordinates follow all Company guidelines related to Health, Safety and Environmental practices and that all resources needed to do so are available and in good condition, if applicable
• Responsible for ensuring personal and Company compliance with all Federal, State, local and Company regulations, policies, and procedures
• Performs other duties assigned as needed

Qualifications / Requirements:

o   Principal Continuous Improvement Engineer:

• o   University / Bachelor’s Degree or Equivalent.
• o   Lean Master Black Belt Certification
• o   Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification
• o   Generally, requires (6-8) years related experience knowledge and skills to successfully develop this position´s responsibilities.
• o   Demonstrated experience leading complex cross-functional strategic improvement initiatives with measurable business impact.
• o   Demonstrated experience delivering significant improvements in productivity, quality, cost, profitability, capacity, customer service, and operational performance.

• Strong technical leadership and ability to influence without direct authority.
• Proven ability to lead highly complex cross-functional business improvement initiatives.
• Strong change management, stakeholder management, collaboration, and influencing skills.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to connect operational improvements to financial performance, Gross Profit improvement, and business strategy.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively across all organizational levels.
• Strong analytical, statistical, and structured problem-solving capabilities.
• Strong decision-making skills supported by data and business analysis.
• Ability to coach, mentor, and develop technical and operational talent.
• Deep understanding of manufacturing systems, production processes, operational performance metrics, and quality systems.
• Strong understanding of standard cost, productivity metrics, yield performance, capacity utilization, and profitability drivers.
• Strong understanding of GMP, FDA, ISO, QSR, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Ability to identify operational risks, process gaps, variation, waste, and improvement opportunities.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, statistical software (Minitab or equivalent), Power BI, Visio, and data analytics tools.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end supply chain processes and customer-focused operational performance.
• Proven Change Management Skills (Change Integration Process.)
• Assertive Influencing & Collaboration/Teaming Skills.
• Track Record of tangible Improvements.

 

 

Required Skills:

 

 

Preferred Skills:

Agile Manufacturing, Budget Management, Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Control (CMC), Compliance Management, Developing Others, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Inclusive Leadership, ISO 9001, Leadership, Mentorship, Plant Operations, Process Control, Process Improvements, Quality Standards, Quality Systems Documentation, Resource Management, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Statistical Process Control (SPC), Systems Thinking, Team Management