Continuous Improvement Specialist

About Daniels Health

Daniels Health is dedicated to enhancing safety within the healthcare sector through innovative, reusable medical waste containers. Our mission is to reduce needlestick injuries and promote sustainability by professionally cleaning and sanitizing containers for reuse, while managing medical waste responsibly at our treatment facilities. This closed-loop system guarantees safety, compliance, and environmental consciousness for our clients.

Job Summary

The Continuous Improvement Specialist (CIS) will spearhead strategic and practical initiatives aimed at boosting efficiency, reducing costs, and optimizing processes across Daniels Health’s U.S. operations, encompassing plants and transfer stations. This remote position requires frequent travel to collaborate with regional and local operations leadership, as well as Maintenance and Engineering teams, to implement sustainable improvements that elevate operational performance. The CIS will leverage Lean, continuous improvement, and industrial engineering principles to achieve tangible gains in productivity, safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness, while cultivating a culture of collaboration and accountability.

What You'll Do

• Implement Lean Manufacturing, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), and other structured problem-solving methodologies to eliminate waste and drive significant cost savings.
• Identify and execute opportunities to enhance safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance at processing plants and transfer stations.
• Educate, guide, and develop capabilities within cross-functional teams on loss elimination tools and methodologies.
• Engage and influence stakeholders at all organizational levels, from frontline staff to senior management, in ideation, problem-solving, solution development, testing, and deployment.
• Coach and train site teams on Lean principles, structured problem-solving, and root cause analysis techniques (e.g., PDCA, DMAIC, AMD, Loss Analysis, 8D, 5 Whys, Fishbone).
• Develop internal CI champions and establish sustainment mechanisms to ensure the long-term success of improvement initiatives.
• Support process design enhancements, automation projects, and infrastructure optimization efforts to reduce costs and increase throughput.
• Collaborate directly with site teams to achieve operational expense reductions through improved process efficiency, waste minimization, and resource optimization.
• Work closely with frontline leadership to foster a data-driven decision-making culture and an evidence-based approach.
• Develop and train sites on best practices to improve reliability, reduce variability, and enhance Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
• Lead project teams at business unit sites to deliver cost savings while building site-specific problem-solving capabilities.
• Travel approximately 50-70% of the time to various business units.

Must-Have Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, or equivalent practical experience.
• A minimum of 3 years of experience in continuous improvement, process engineering, or operational excellence within manufacturing, logistics, or industrial settings.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification.
• Demonstrated experience applying structured problem-solving methodologies like PDCA, DMAIC, DFSS, or 8D in a manufacturing or distribution environment.
• Proven track record of implementing structured loss elimination projects that resulted in measurable cost savings.
• Strong analytical, communication, and project management skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders across all organizational levels.
• Demonstrated ability to lead change initiatives across multi-site or regional operations.
• Willingness to engage in hands-on work within plant and transfer station environments.
• Experience partnering with engineering and maintenance teams on process optimization projects.

Nice-To-Have Qualifications

• Experience in a Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) environment or similar framework.
• Background in regulated industries such as healthcare, environmental services, food & beverage.
• Familiarity with ERP systems and data analytics tools (e.g., SAP, Power BI, Tableau).

Why Daniels Health

• Industry Leadership: Over two decades of expertise in medical waste management, recognized for high NPS and delivery reliability.
• Retirement Savings: 50% employer match on 401K contributions up to 6% (up to 3% employer contribution), with matching effective from Day 1 and a 5-year vesting schedule.
• Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance available from Day 1, along with paid short-term disability and company-sponsored life insurance.
• Job Security: As an essential healthcare service provider, the company offers stability, being recession-proof and non-seasonal.
• Empowering Culture: A visionary and empowering environment that values authenticity, creativity, and trust, fostering innovation, agility, and purpose-driven work.

Additional Information

The compensation range for this position is $100,531 to $120,119 annually in base salary. The final salary will be determined by factors such as prior experience, skills, certifications, and work location. Pay rates may vary by location due to local economic conditions. Daniels Health is committed to employee well-being, work-life balance, and career advancement through a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, retirement savings plans with company match, paid time off, wellness resources, life insurance, and professional development opportunities.

Daniels Health & Sharpsmart is an equal opportunity employer. Discrimination and harassment are prohibited, and equal employment opportunities are provided to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. The company adheres to all applicable laws and regulations.

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools may be utilized to assist in parts of the hiring process, such as application review and resume analysis. These tools support the recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. All final hiring decisions are made by human personnel. For more information on data processing, please contact us.