
Director, Continuous Improvement
Regal Rexnord · Rosemont, IL
- Level
- Director+
- Team
- Lean / CI
- Base pay
- $132k–$206k
- Travel
- 75%
- Degree
- Required
- Experience asked
- 10+ years
- Certification
- Black Belt preferred
- Industry
- Industrial
- Posted
- Today
The role in 30 seconds
A director-level continuous improvement role at Regal Rexnord (industrial) in Rosemont, IL.
- They ask for
- 10+ years · degree required · Black Belt preferred
- Tools it names
- Lean, Black Belt, Kaizen, Value stream mapping, Root cause, Automation
- Base pay
- $132k–$206k
- Day to day
- about 75% travel
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026
Continuous Improvement roles in Illinois: typical posted base $120k–$171k. This one lists $132k–$206k.
Median of the low and high ends of 12 live postings that list pay, out of 15 continuous improvement openings in Illinois, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
Illinois plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 14 other live lean / ci postings in Illinois.
- Base pay
- About 21% above similar roles
- Experience asked
- Typical (10+ years)
Typical $113k–$165k, from 8 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 10+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Lean 93%
- Six Sigma 73%
- ✓ Kaizen 73%
- ✓ Root cause 60%
- ✓ Black Belt 53%
- ✓ Value stream mapping 40%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Lean / CI team at Regal Rexnord
We found 4 people at this company and state: 1 in this kind of role, 3 leaders. Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. See them ↓
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
Write to Michael → (free) - 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is CI run from the plant floor or from a corporate OpEx group?
- Which metrics does leadership actually watch: OEE, scrap, cost per unit?
- The posting says about 75% travel. Between which sites?
- The posting mentions a Black Belt. Does the company sponsor certification?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
This plant: Regal Rexnord in Rosemont
2 other open roles at this site · 4 people we found in lean / ci roles at Regal Rexnord.
- Vice President, Enterprise Continuous Improvement & Transformation · Lean / CI · Director+
- Vice President, Quality Assurance & Regulatory Affairs · Quality · Director+
Full description from Regal RexnordAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Qualifications
- ✓Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, marketing, operations, supply chain, or a related field. Master’s degree preferred.
- ✓10+ years of continuous improvement, manufacturing or operations experience. Experience leading Lean/RBS transformation and maturity improvement across multiple sites, divisions, or business functions.
- ✓Proven application of multiple CI tools, including 80/20, value stream mapping, 6S, flow, standard work, visual management, and structured problem solving.
- ✓Black Belt in Lean/Continuous Improvement preferred.
- ✓Demonstrated ability to lead through others, influence senior leaders, and align cross-functional stakeholders around strategic improvement priorities.
- ✓Experience developing CI/RBS talent, coaching leaders, and building organizational capability through formal training, Gemba coaching, and leader standard work.
- ✓Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with plant teams, peers, executives, and external stakeholders as needed.
- ✓Ability to travel up to 75% of the time to support assigned plants and divisions, regionally and internationally.
Qualifications
- ✓MBA Preferred
- ✓Lean deployment experience within a large, global, decentralized manufacturing environment.
- ✓Industrial manufacturing industry experience.
- ✓Knowledge of enterprise-wide business system tools or and continuous improvement frameworks.
- ✓Experience in engineer-to-order or configure-to-order business environments.
- ✓Experience improving transactional process areas such as customer care, engineering, finance, commercial, product management, or quote-to-cash.
Export Controlled ITAR/EAR Compliance (Locati
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Work Model: This role can be performed remotely from an approved location, with flexibility based on business needs and applicable requirements.
____________________
Reporting to the Vice President, Regal Rexnord Business System (RBS) for the Automation and Motion Control (AMC) Segment, the Continuous Improvement (RBS) Director for the AMC Segment serves as the strategic leader responsible for accelerating operational excellence and driving sustainable business performance improvements across assigned manufacturing sites. This role partners closely with site leadership teams to deploy CI (RBS) principles, develop leadership capabilities, improve operational metrics, and create a culture of continuous improvement.
The Director, RBS acts as both coach and change agent, ensuring that RBS tools and behaviors become integrated into daily management systems and leadership practices. Success in this role is measured by measurable improvements in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and growth, employee engagement, and overall business results.
The role is accountable for translating AMC strategic objectives into clear RBS roadmaps, prioritizing initiatives with the highest business impact, and ensuring disciplined execution through leaders, site teams, and RBS/CI talent. The Director, RBS will regularly communicate progress, risks, and business impact to segment and division leadership and will influence stakeholders outside of the direct function to align priorities, resources, and decisions.
This Role Will Make an Immediate Impact By
- •Partner with site leadership teams to align operational strategies with division and enterprise objectives.
- •Facilitate the development and execution of annual and multi-year operational strategies.
- •Lead deployment of the Regal Business System across assigned facilities.
- •Ensure site improvement priorities support commercial growth, profitability, customer service, and capacity requirements.
- •Drive accountability for achievement of business objectives and key performance indicators.
- •Drive a culture where performance gaps are addressed through structured problem solving.
- •Partnering with division and segment leadership to prioritize improvement initiatives, recommend resource plans, and support staffing and talent decisions within the RBS/CI organization.
Other
Include
- •Assess site maturity and develop roadmaps to advance RBS capabilities.
- •Standardize the use of RBS tools and systems across sites.
- •Conduct regular RBS assessments, audits, and gemba reviews.
- •Ensure sustainability of improvements through standard work and leader accountability.
- •Coach site leaders on RBS principles, lean leadership, and continuous improvement behaviors.
- •Develop leadership capability in daily management, problem solving, visual management, and accountability systems.
- •Facilitate workshops, training sessions, and leadership development activities at sites.
- •Build organizational capability to achieve self-sustaining continuous improvement.
- •Establish and improve visual management systems throughout manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and support functions.
- •Drive implementation and effectiveness of tiered accountability processes.
- •Ensure performance measures are visible, actionable, and aligned to business objectives.
- •Improve management routines to accelerate issue identification and resolution.
- •Develop problem-solving capabilities at all levels of the organization.
- •Facilitate Kaizen events, Rapid Improvement Events, and cross-functional improvement projects.
- •Coach teams in root cause analysis methodologies including A3, 5 Whys, Fishbone, and PDCA.
- •Ensure countermeasures are implemented, verified, and sustained.
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