Improvement Lead in Humber

Shift details: Day shift 8.00am - 4.30pm Monday to Friday (nine day fortnight). Yes we work a nine day fortnight with every other Friday off.

Based at our Skipton, North Yorkshire manufacturing site. Please only apply if you live within a commuting distance of Skipton.

We are Dechra, a growing, global specialist within the world of veterinary pharmaceuticals. Our expertise is in the development, manufacture, marketing and sales of high-quality products exclusively for veterinarians worldwide.

The role involves leading and embedding a culture of continuous improvement throughout the value stream. The Improvement Lead is responsible for:

• Identifying inefficiencies and implementing sustainable solutions.
• Supporting operational teams in achieving performance excellence across people, safety, quality, delivery, and cost using methodologies such as Practical Process Improvement (PPI).
• Owning and coordinating the skills matrix for the department, coordinating with shift managers to plan training for individuals to improve flexibility and agility across the team.
• Supporting shift briefings and team communications to ensure alignment and engagement.
• Contributing to the people plan, supporting development and succession planning.
• Participating and encouraging the use of recognition schemes.
• Supporting incident investigations and leading on the timely closure of the resulting actions.
• Participating in hazard identification and driving closure of open hazards and actions.
• Owning the area risk assessments, conducting alongside area team to ensure correct level of detail and owning mitigation actions.
• Ensuring housekeeping standards are maintained and improved through schemes such as process confirmation and 5S.
• Leading major deviation investigation using root cause analysis tools and supporting minor deviation management with the shift managers.
• Owning and implementing Corrective & Preventative Actions (CAPAs), change controls, and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) periodic reviews through the quality management system (QMS).
• Driving Right First Time (RFT) improvements through data analysis of errors and deviations taking corrective actions to proactively improve.
• Department lead for preparation and execution of internal and external audits from document control through to housekeeping standards.
• Conducting telemetry analysis taking remedial actions as required and tracking equipment calibrations for the department.
• Leading analysis of short interval control (SIC) data and consequent overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) improvement initiatives to enhance operational efficiency, maximise output and drive schedule adherence.
• Supporting alignment of production plans via Sales and Operational Planning (S&OP) process and delivery through process optimisation.
• Conducting yield analysis and driving improvement projects to reduce waste during production.
• Reducing batch rejects through CAPA closure and improvement of RFT.
• Providing back-up support for the shift manager where required.
• Acting as the point of contact/production workstream lead for new product introductions and capital expenditure (CAPEX) projects and other key projects as required, ensuring that operational issues are addressed.

You should be a self-motivated enthusiastic individual who can lead improvements and work well within a team environment. You must have the ability to deliver performance improvements whilst supporting day-to-day production activities and remaining compliant under a regulated environment.

Essential Experience:

• Experience of low to medium volume production, manual/semi-automated processes.
• Good knowledge and understanding of Health & Safety compliance.
• Proven industry experience from a highly regulated production facility.
• A working knowledge and practical experience of pharmaceutical manufacture and ability to manage time and workload effectively.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both within the production team and cross-functionally.
• Ability to conduct detailed data analysis to determine improvement projects.
• A working knowledge and practical experience of continuous improvement methodologies.
• Proven ability to lead projects, teams, and drive change and improvement.

Desirable Qualifications:

• Qualifications in Continuous Improvement such as Green Belt (Lean Six Sigma).
• Knowledge of computerised systems such as Oracle.
• Experience of supervising and leading production shopfloor teams.

Reward:

• Great salary.
• Free onsite parking.
• Average 36 hour working week.
• Tons of training and development opportunities.
• 22.5 days annual holiday + Bank Holidays.
• Option to buy a week's holiday each year.
• 8% Employer Pension Contribution.

We look forward to receiving your application.