CI Manager at Kraft Heinz in Hastings, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Job Description

Continuous Improvement Manager

• Opportunity to grow your Continuous Improvement career!
• Collaborative and dynamic work environment
• Location: Tomoana, New Zealand

Grow Your Continuous Improvement Career with Kraft Heinz!

The Continuous Improvement (CI) Manager is responsible for leading and embedding the Kraft Heinz Management System (KHMS) and supporting TRIO frameworks across the Tomoana site. This role drives productivity, cost-reduction, culture of problem-solving, and reliability outcomes by coaching leaders, empowering CI Leads and Process Owners, and ensuring disciplined use of MOS, Lean, Six Sigma, and standardised work.

As a member of the Site Leadership Team (SLT), the CI Manager partners closely with Operations, Quality, Engineering, Planning, and Supply Chain to identify systemic losses, improve performance, uplift capability, and strengthen ways of working. The role provides strategic direction, technical CI expertise, and leadership to ensure Tomoana achieves sustainable improvements in safety, quality, cost, reliability, engagement, and delivery.

The Company

The Kraft Heinz Company is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, with eight $1 billion+ brands and global sales of approximately $25 billion. Our brands are truly global, with products produced and marketed in over 40 countries. These beloved products include condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee, infant and nutrition products, and numerous other grocery products in a portfolio of more than 200 legacy and emerging brands.

Key position responsibilities include, but not limited to:

• Lead the site’s continuous improvement program — set priorities, track progress, and make sure improvement activities are governed and followed through.
• Work with Operations and Engineering to put line-focused operating systems in place (standard work, daily checks, and quick problem-solving at the production line).
• Run the site steering group that coordinates priorities, meeting cadence, and accountability between teams.
• Coach and mentor leaders and front-line teams in structured problem solving, loss analysis, and creating clear, repeatable standard work.
• Build and maintain simple productivity reporting and dashboards to find, prioritise, and track improvement opportunities (yield, labour, overhead, and capital use).
• Lead cross‑functional projects to reduce costs and waste — improve yield, make better use of labour and equipment, and reduce indirect spend.
• Deliver training and capability development (Lean, Six Sigma and structured problem solving) and support clear certification and development paths for CI leaders.
• Own and improve performance management tools and visual boards so daily/weekly/monthly measures clearly link to losses and site priorities.
• Ensure improvement work supports safety, product quality and regulatory compliance, and help drive lasting corrective actions from root‑cause analysis.
• Lead and develop the CI team — set goals, coach, manage performance, and build a high‑trust, accountable culture.

About you:

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, or a similar discipline (or equivalent experience)

• Green Belt certified or equivalent continuous improvement certification

• Experience leading a continuous improvement team, Lean, or transformation projects

• 3–5 years’ experience working in manufacturing operations

• Practical, structured problem‑solving skills (DMAIC, A3, RCA)

• Experience with performance systems, KPIs, dashboards, and operational governance

• Ability to coach senior leaders, supervisors, and front‑line teams; strong presentation, communication, and stakeholder management skills

• No direct reports (works with CI Leads on a dotted‑line basis)

• Strong communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills

• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, prioritise tasks, and meet deadlines

• Eligibility to work New Zealand with full working rights

Benefits of working with us

• Pay for Performance – industry leading variable compensation offerings tied to company and individual performance on top of a competitive base salary package
• Parental Leave – paid time off for both primary AND secondary caregivers
• Leave Options – Purchased leave, volunteer leave and LiveWell leave programs to give you even more flexibility to plan your life and spend time on causes that matter
• Great Place to Work certification in Australia and New Zealand
• In House Training Programs
• Corporate Discount Programs

Ready to make an Impact?

If you're passionate about continuous improvement, eager to learn, and enjoy working in a team environment, please submit your application. We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis and reserve the right to close our job advertisements early.

Location(s)

Tomoana

Kraft Heinz is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Underrepresented Ethnic Minority Groups/Women/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity and other protected classes.