Head of Continuous Improvement - Wakefield

Head of Continuous Improvement Jobs

There is no such thing as the perfect business. Every hour, inefficiencies and bad practice are going on without the owners’ knowledge, or the owners know they exist but are powerless to act. This is where the head of continuous improvement comes in. It is an analytical role that constantly audits every business process and looks for inefficiencies that can be ironed out. Depending on the size of the company, this can be a one-person job, heading up a small team or employing dozens of auditors to make the business better.

But it’s not just about the money – not directly, anyway. Often, an improvement is simply one that helps staff with their work and removes those irritations and bureaucracy that reduces job satisfaction. Sometimes it’s an environmental improvement that doesn’t have obvious financial implications but can have longer-term benefits. Improvement takes many forms, and once the head of continuous improvement has got under the skin of the company and found out exactly how it operates, it’s inevitable that the financial benefits will follow.

The skills required

The job of head of continuous improvement has two main strands – analyzing the financial matters and seeking out other procedural activities that can be improved. You will need to be prepared to get your hands dirty (sometime literally) by delving into the business, talking to employees, observing and measuring the way people work and researching alternative methodologies that can create efficiencies.

The head of continuous improvement may sometimes need to make unpopular decisions, for example choosing to outsource elements of the business or making it less top-heavy if inefficiencies are identified. While the final decision will be made by the board, you must have the confidence in your convictions to make such recommendations. Of course, the opposite is also true, and your recommendations could lead to the growth of the company. As long as you have performed detailed analyses, you will be able to present accurate projections to the board.

Head of Continuous Improvement Jobs in Wakefield

Wakefield is a city just south of Leeds that comprises the five towns of Pontefract, Castleford, Normanton, Featherstone and Knottingley, as well as other minor towns. With a population of around 325,000, it’s a moderately sized city that is overshadowed by its northern neighbour and Sheffield, which is 20 miles (31 km) to the south. Wakefield is well connected by rail and road, with the M62 and the M1 passing by its north and west respectively.

The city and its constituent towns boomed during the Industrial Revolution when vast seams of coal were discovered beneath them. The area dug hundreds of mines and this remained the key industry in the area until the 1980s when they were closed down one by one. The last remaining one is Kellingley Colliery, located at Knottingley, just east of Pontefract.

The city remains industrial, however, although the days of heavy industry are largely gone. The city’s excellent communications and central location have made it an ideal place to site warehouses, factories and distribution centres, so Head of Continuous Improvement jobs regularly appear in the Wakefield area. There are also regeneration projects going on in the city designed to diversify and stimulate the economy, and this looks set to bring further growth to an area that has had to reinvent itself completely in thirty years.

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Find Head of Continuous Improvement Jobs with Cast UK

Most businesses realise that they are sitting on inefficiencies and bad practice, but the best businesses do something proactive about it, and it’s these forward-looking businesses who come to Cast UK to help them find a head of continuous improvement. Because it falls under one of our specialisms, change and transformation, we can usually supply them with a shortlist of candidates in double quick time.

We only deal with recruitment of managerial and executive level candidates, so if you have the qualifications and the experience to become a head of continuous improvement for one of the UK’s top companies, call Cast UK today on 0333 121 3345.

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