Manager, Continuous Process Improvement And Equipment Maintenance

By joining the Bio-Techne team you will have an impact on future cutting-edge research. Bio-Techne, and all of its brands, provides tools for researchers in Life Sciences and Clinical Diagnostics.

Position Summary:

Bio-Techne is looking for a Manager, Continuous Process Improvement and Equipment Maintenance at our Minneapolis, MN campus.  This is a key role responsible for optimizing existing equipment, team leadership and support of Director, Continuous Improvement in identifying process and Equipment changes to enhance quality, yield and throughput.

You will lead a team of skilled equipment technicians to optimize current machine operating time, ensure unplanned disruptions are addressed immediately, ensure documentation consistent with QMS and lead efforts that are focused on Process Improvements in yield and service delivery advancements. 

We are highly complex manufacturing site focus on liquid and lyophilized proteins, antibodies and immunoassays, you will engage and leading Kaizens, Value Stream current / future state processes with Operations, Quality Control, and Research & Development teams.  Success in this position requires the use of a variety of skills to identify, analyze and implement opportunities for improvement within our laboratories for cell culture, protein/antibody purification, immunoassay reagent preparation, as well as the complete production cycle from production to shipment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead a team of technicians completing calibrations, PM’s and emergency equipment repairs.
• Interact with vendors and service providers.
• Support Director, Process Engineering to identify improvement initiatives to variability reduction, equipment down-time, lead time reduction and waste elimination.
• Leadership and collaboration in process and Equipment related to line transfers and new production introductions.
• Coach and mentor Technicians in lean philosophies to complete scheduled maintenance and enable an environment that identifies and eliminates barriers
• Develop standard work procedures for training and operations.
• Develop methods to minimize change over time and reduce downtime.
• Champion Kaizen events document via VSM (Value Stream Mappings) existing processes, identify fail points and develop solutions.
• Responsible for improvements on improved organizational productivity/operating efficiency and service delivery to our customer base.
• Create an environment of continuous learning by conducting lessons-learned events that identify root cause of performance failure and assist team in long-term corrective actions.
• Calculate financial cost & benefits; validate results with process owners.
• Manage Process Improvement implementation, escalations, cost and scope.
• Provide coaching support to organization’s managers to support their improvement efforts.
• Utilize change management techniques to ensure the improvements are sustained.

Education and Certification

• Requires a Bachelor’s Degree in related field and 5-8 years of progressive relevant experience
• Up to 5 years management experience preferred
• 3-5 years of leading a team of technicians.
• Certified as a Lean Six Sigma Green or Black Belt.

Skills Required

• B.S/B.A. in Mechanical, Biological Science Engineering or related field with at least 5 years of operations.
• 3-5 years of experience leading team improvement efforts in production facilities.
• Strong background in a complex, fast pace, high throughput environment consisting of scientific manufacturing labs, bottling and kitting operations.
• Effectively engage teams in the value of Lean, VSMs and Continuous Process Improvement.
• Ability to manage projects and work independently across one or more active improvements.
• Lead teams of cross-functional business partners to effectively determine the scope of improvement effort and business impact.
• Ability to quantify the impact to process metrics and financials.
• Build consensus and support for chosen solution(s).
• Must be skilled in the use of Microsoft office products, specifically MS Project and Visio.
• Have highly developed facilitation and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to analyze complex data to draw supportable conclusions and recommendations.
• Enthusiastic, energetic, and highly driven, with the desire to learn our business.
• Live our company values of EPIC.

 Preferred but not required

• Masters’ degree in business, finance, or related field
• Experience with Minitab statistical software is desired.

Why Join Bio-Techne:

• We offer competitive salaries along with extensive medical, vision, and dental plans for you and your family starting on day one!
• We invest in our employees’ financial futures through 401k matching and an employee stock purchase plan.
• We help our employees develop their careers through mentorship, promotional opportunities, training and development, internship programs, and more.
• We offer employee resource groups, volunteer paid time off, employee events, and charity drives to build a culture of caring and belonging.
• We foster a culture of empowerment and innovation, where employees feel valued and encouraged to bring their new ideas to the table.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

Bio-Techne is an E-Verify Employer in the United States.