Independent Lean Implementation Consultant (Manufacturing) North America

Independent Lean Implementation Consultant (Manufacturing) – North America

About the work 

 
CCi helps manufacturers improve performance quickly and make the gains last.

Engagements often begin with a Rapid Deployment phase. In this phase we analyze losses and waste at site level, turn the biggest opportunities into focused improvement projects, and coach the site teams to deliver them through a clear governance cadence.

This phase also introduces the operational excellence concepts that underpin our longer-term TRACC programmes, so the site is ready to build on its early results.

We’re looking for experienced, English-speaking Lean Consultants who can lead this work on the ground, combining hands-on manufacturing expertise with the ability to coach, influence and deliver through others.

What you’ll do 

• Coach site teams to lead their own improvement projects, building their confidence and capability in Lean, TPM and structured problem solving rather than doing the work for them.

• Carry out loss and waste analyses with the site, quantifying and costing losses in OEE, yield, waste, labour and changeovers. 

• Help the site prioritize opportunities and turn them into scoped, chartered projects with clear owners, targets and timelines.

• Set up governance: project reviews, steering meetings, action tracking and benefits reporting.

• Introduce key operational excellence concepts, such as daily management, leader standard work and problem-solving routines, to prepare the site for a longer-term programme. 

• Make sure benefits are validated and sustained, with standards in place before projects close.

• Engage people from operators to site leadership, so the client owns the results. 

• Report progress against agreed engagement deliverables.

What we’re looking for 

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  • An outstanding implementation consultant who knows how to build capability and lead through others, not simply deliver the solution themselves.
  
  
  • 10+ years’ manufacturing operations experience, including hands-on continuous improvement responsibility.
  
  
  • Industry experience, ideally within food & beverage, chemicals, pharmaceuticals or FMCG.
  
  
  • Strong Lean manufacturing expertise, including approaches such as TPM, SMED, 5S, leader standard work and root cause problem solving.
  
  
  • A strong track record of delivering improvement projects with measurable, financially validated and sustainable results.
  
  
  • Fluent English, with the credibility and communication skills to coach on the shop floor and engage senior management.
  
  
  • Comfortable travelling to client sites, typically 2–3 days per week.
  
  
  • Lean Six Sigma Green or Black Belt certification.
  
  
  • A qualification in Industrial, Mechanical or Chemical Engineering.
  
  
  • Authorised to work in the country in which you are being engaged.
  
  
  
  

⭐ Nice to have 

• Even better if you bring:
  
  
  
  • Previous consulting or interim transformation experience.
  
  
  • Hands-on experience with loss trees, cost deployment or similar loss-analysis approaches.
  
  
  • Experience working across different manufacturing sites, environments or cultures.
  
  
  • Experience coaching teams through change and embedding new ways of working.
    
    
  
  
  
  

What we offer 

• This is an opportunity to do more than advise. You’ll work alongside manufacturing teams, turning improvement opportunities into measurable results.
  
  
  
  • A competitive day rate, plus agreed expenses.
  
  
  • A paid 4.5-day training programme in CCi’s methodology and tools in January 2027.
  
  
  • Exposure to international manufacturing clients and real operational challenges.
  
  
  • The opportunity to continue with clients into longer-term TRACC programmes, with further training and development in the methodology 
  
  
  • The opportunity to work with experienced manufacturing and operational excellence professionals while maintaining the flexibility of independent consulting.
  
  
  
  

Working arrangement 

• Flexibility with real on-site impact.
  
  
  
  • You’ll work as an independent contractor through your own registered business, (registered in your applicable state, province, or jurisdiction), on a defined-deliverable basis. 
  
  
  • This is a client-facing, travel-based consulting role, with site presence typically 2–3 days per week, depending on the engagement.
  
  
  • Work away from the client site can be managed flexibly around engagement requirements and agreed deliverables.
  
  
  • Engagement locations will vary based on client needs, giving you the opportunity to work across different manufacturing environments.