Lean Manufacturing Engineer

At a Glance

Legrand has an exciting opportunity for a Lean Manufacturing Engineer to join the Electrical Infrastructure division in West Hartford, CT. The Lean Manufacturing Engineer will play a key role in accelerating operational excellence by identifying, prioritizing, and executing manufacturing optimization initiatives that reduce cost, improve productivity, eliminate waste, and strengthen process capability. This position will partner closely with operations, engineering, quality, maintenance, supply chain, and frontline teams to improve material flow, labor utilization, equipment effectiveness, cycle times, changeover performance, and overall process stability. The role is responsible for leading data-driven continuous improvement projects, facilitating Lean events, developing sustainable standard work, and delivering measurable savings through practical, shop-floor-focused improvements aligned with business goals.

What Will You Do?

• Lead and execute high-impact continuous improvement projects that reduce manufacturing cost, improve productivity, increase throughput, and eliminate waste across operations.
• Identify, quantify, and prioritize improvement opportunities using production data, time studies, value stream mapping, operator feedback, and direct shop-floor observation.
• Drive implementation and sustained use of core Lean tools, including 5S, Kaizen, Cellular Manufacturing, Kanban Replenishment, SMED, Standard Work, Visual Management, and Value Stream Mapping.
• Facilitate kaizen events and structured problem-solving activities with cross-functional teams to deliver measurable improvements in cost, quality, delivery, safety, and efficiency.
• Optimize  assembly, fabrication, and material flow processes to improve product quality, process repeatability, labor efficiency, machine utilization, and cycle time performance.
• Evaluate work cells, layouts, workflows, tooling, fixtures, and equipment utilization to develop cost-effective solutions that improve productivity, ergonomics, safety, and space utilization.
• Perform time studies and labor analyses to establish standard work, identify cost drivers, and support productivity improvement plans.
• Lead/Support root cause analysis for process, quality, scrap, rework, downtime, and flow issues; develop corrective actions and verify the effectiveness of implemented solutions.
• Partner with operations leadership to build and maintain a pipeline of improvement projects tied to plant objectives, productivity targets, and cost reduction goals.
• Develop and sustain training for employees on Lean concepts, standard work, problem solving, waste identification, and continuous improvement behaviors. 

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in industrial, Manufacturing, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience in a Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, manufacturing engineering, or process improvement environment.
• Strong hands-on process /mechanical aptitude with the ability to evaluate layouts, and production processes on the shop floor.
• Strong analytical and technical skills with the ability to use data to identify improvement opportunities, quantify cost impact, and verify results.
• Demonstrated ability to support or lead projects focused on productivity improvement, waste reduction, labor efficiency, cost savings, quality improvement, or process optimization.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated success delivering measurable cost reductions, productivity gains, scrap reduction, cycle time improvement, or throughput improvement.
• Experience leading continuous improvement initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma, DMAIC, A3, 8D, or other structured problem-solving methods.
• Experience developing business cases, project charters, savings estimates, implementation plans, and sustainment controls for improvement projects.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, engage stakeholders, remove roadblocks, and deliver results on schedule.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to influence and align diverse teams and functions.
• Demonstrated effective and professional presentation skills, including the ability to communicate project results, cost impact, and next steps to leadership.
• Strong leadership, coaching, team-building, and change management skills.
• Ability to think creatively and strategically, and to take a proactive and aggressive goal-setting approach in developing a Lean culture.
• Comfortable working across operations, quality, engineering, maintenance, supply chain, finance, and production teams to drive sustained improvement.