Progress Specialist

Title Progress Specialist Description

*Please inquire directly for compensation range. Any information not provided by Van Meter is inaccurate*

Summary:

The Progress Specialist plays a crucial role in supporting our purpose of being our customer's competitive advantage by being a critical resource of one of our corporate values, Progress (Continuous Improvement), by supporting improvement initiatives through the facilitation of planning, project management, lean manufacturing, and change management techniques to drive broad scale change in the organization. This role is responsible for supporting the companies' Progress culture through a partnership with the Progress team, company leaders and the Progress Champions to promote employee involvement in company change, as well as efficiency gains and cost savings in order to positively impact the companies' profitability. The Progress Specialist is seen as a change champion for the company and sets the example by promoting our culture, 5 P's and our purpose to be our customer's competitive advantage.

Key Responsibilities & Essential Functions:

• Provide leadership and direction to project team members as well as oversee the management of the Progress champion teams from all Van Meter
• Lead all or a major phase of a project (depending on the size of the initiative) including analysis, design, development and implementation
• Consult with project leaders on company initiatives to ensure successful project execution
• Facilitate bringing the appropriate resources across the companies together to support project efforts
• Effectively communicate with project team members, business stakeholders and other areas of the company as needed
• Develop full scale project plans and associated supporting materials/deliverables
• Develop and manage work plans that include key tasks, responsibilities, timing and status
• Supports a high performing culture with a strong focus on Progress (continuous improvement)
• Educate all employees on their role and the impact Progress has on the business through return on investment
• Develop strong working relationships with all leaders to develop and strengthen the overall Progress P program
• Forge strong relationships with all Van Meter employee owners
• Collaborate with the Learning and Development team to facilitate or deliver training programs
• Manage and Track the company project inbox (Project Pool)
• Promote our culture and 5 P's

Critical Success Factors:

• Proven passion for Progress (Continuous Improvement)
• Ability to provide expertise in project management execution, planning and facilitation
• Thrives on implementing tasks, projects and change as well as thinking strategically
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Leads by example by displaying a positive work ethic, attitude and personal commitment to continuous improvement
• Strong problem solving and decision making abilities
• Ability to learn, grow, and adapt to change
• Collaborate with business owners to analyze problems and develop solutions to current business issues
• Align people, organization, processes and technology to the defined solutions
• Exhibits a professional image when working with internal and external customers
• Self-motivated
• Ability to multi-task and handle multiple priorities
• Detail orientated
• Willingness to give and receive constructive feedback
• Strong business acumen
• Brings a structured approach to developing and managing projects and change
• Able to break down complex problems or processes and develop plans for resolution
• Strong written and verbal communicator
• Strong interpersonal skills--able to build relationships in order to collaborate, communicate, and create buy-in with all levels and people in the organization
• Highly customer focused

Job Requirements/Specifications:

• Four year degree in a related field or equivalent experience required
• Demonstrated experience in project management, continuous improvement, change/risk management and/or business process redesign required
• Prior experience in analyzing trends, metrics, data and best practices required
• Previous leadership experience preferred
• Previous experience with implementing new initiatives and practices
• Ability to manage multi-functional projects
• Strong familiarity with continuous improvement software tools (ie. Visio, Microsoft Project, Excel)
• Six Sigma Green Belt and/or Lean Manufacturing certification preferred
• Travel may be required (approximately 15-20%) to our 27 locations across the Midwest

Work Environment & Physical Demands:

• Consistent, more than 2/3s of the time
  • Sitting
  • Working with hands
  • Working with fingers
  • Talking
  • Hearing
  • Work indoors
• Frequent, from 1/3 to 2/3s of the time
  • Standing
  • Vision acuity-near
  • Vision acuity-far
  • Depth perception
  • Field of vision
  • Vision adjustment
  • Works alone
  • Works with others
• Some, less than 1/3 of the time
  • Walking
  • Lifting
  • Customer contact
• Occasional, less than 1 time per week
  • Carrying
  • Bending @ the waist
  • Twisting upper body
  • Kneeling
  • Crouching
  • Crawling
  • Reaching
  • Driving

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by an incumbent. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of activities, duties or responsibilities. Incumbent may be asked to perform other duties as required.

Full-Time/Part-Time Full-Time Shift -not applicable- Position Continuous Improvement Specialist Number of Openings 1 Location Cedar Rapids About the Organization EOE Statement We are an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

This position is currently accepting applications.