Are you looking for a role that will challenge you at the highest levels of the organization? Can you see yourself leading complex, enterprise‑wide improvement initiatives that influence strategy and execution across all mission areas? Does the idea of driving measurable performance improvements with visible executive impact inspire you? If this sounds like you, the Lean and Continuous Improvement Manager may be the opportunity you’ve been looking for—apply today!
What will you be doing!
- Enterprise Lean Execution
- Leading and delivering Lean and continuous improvement initiatives aligned with corporate objectives and CEO priorities.
- Translating leadership intent into executable improvement initiatives across mission areas and functional organizations.
- Recommending annual enterprise Lean priorities and regularly briefing senior leadership and the CEO on progress, outcomes, and realized benefits.
- Work Planning & Control (WPC) Improvement
- Driving enterprise-wide improvements to Work Planning & Control processes to improve efficiency, predictability, and execution performance.
- Identifying systemic barriers to effective planning and execution and leading cross-functional problem-solving efforts.
- Ensuring improvements are practical, embedded into daily operations, and sustained over time.
- Leadership Through Influence
- Leading improvement initiatives through matrixed and dotted-line operational personnel across the enterprise.
- Working directly with operators, engineers, supervisors, and managers to enable ownership of improvement outcomes.
- Serving as a coach and mentor to leaders and teams in Lean thinking, structured problem solving, and continuous improvement practices.
- Culture, Capability, and Results
- Building and reinforcing a continuous improvement culture rooted in real work and operational outcomes.
- Developing Lean capability through hands-on application, coaching, and mentoring rather than stand-alone training programs.
- Defining, tracking, and communicating performance indicators and realized benefits to ensure improvements support safety, quality, schedule, cost, and human performance expectations.
- Executive Reporting, Performance Management, and Governance
- Developing, managing, and continuously refining enterprise-level performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor improvement outcomes, benefits realization, and alignment with corporate and CEO priorities.
- Preparing executive-level dashboards, reports, and presentations for senior leadership, including Vice Presidents and the CEO, clearly articulating progress, risks, trade-offs, and recommendations.
- Leading monthly and quarterly program reporting, ensuring accuracy, insight, and relevance for executive decision-making.
- Providing authoritative recommendations to the DVP and executive leadership regarding improvement priorities, sequencing, and resource deployment.
Other duties as assigned by your manager.
What we are looking for:
- Education
- University degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, or related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Experience
- Significant experience leading Lean and continuous improvement initiatives in complex operational environments.
- Demonstrated experience influencing outcomes across matrixed organizations without direct line authority.
- Experience working directly within operational settings (e.g., operations, maintenance, engineering, project delivery).
- Experience in nuclear, energy, or other highly regulated / high-hazard industries is an asset.
- Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
- Strong practical knowledge of Lean and continuous improvement methodologies applied to real operational problems.
- Proven ability to translate leadership intent into executed improvement work.
- Excellent stakeholder engagement, facilitation, coaching, and mentoring skills.
- Strong communication skills, including experience briefing senior and executive leaders.
- Sound judgment in balancing safety, quality, schedule, cost, and human performance considerations.
- Ability to understand bias for action, ownership mindset, and strong delivery focus.
- Strong project management capability, including experience in planning, sequencing, and executing complex, cross-functional improvement initiatives with competing priorities and stakeholders.
- Demonstrated ability to apply project management disciplines (e.g., scope definition, scheduling, risk management, dependency management, and benefits tracking) to ensure enterprise improvement initiatives are delivered predictably and sustainably.
- Knowledge of Work Planning & Control (WPC) or similar enterprise execution systems is highly desirable.
- Familiarity with regulatory, safety, and quality expectations in complex industrial environments.
- Security Clearance Eligibility Required
- Reliability Status with Site Access Security Clearance (SASC), which has a minimum requirement of 3-5 years of verifiable history in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and/or the United Kingdom. CNL implements security screening in accordance with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's “Standard on Security Screening” and the “Policy on Government Security.”
Working Conditions:
Why CNL?
Does the idea of working with a dynamic team across Canada to advance nuclear science and technology for a clean and secure world excite you? At CNL, we’re reinventing ourselves to be industry leaders—pioneering solutions to the problems that matter most.
From building the next generation of clean nuclear and hydrogen energy technologies, to developing targeted cancer treatments, to continuing our global leadership in environmental remediation—we are driven by impact, innovation, and purpose.
What We Offer: A Total Rewards Package
We believe in taking care of our people. Here’s what you can expect as part of our team:
- Paid time off: vacation, sick, personal, and floater days
- Benefits effective Day One – no waiting period
- Tuition support to help you keep learning and growing
- A defined-benefit pension plan or a defined-contribution pension plan, depending on your employee group, to support your long‑term financial security
Do Our Priorities Resonate with You?
- Delivering clean energy for today and tomorrow
- Restoring and protecting the environment
- Contributing to the health of Canadians
If so, you’ll feel right at home at CNL!
Location: Hybrid
Located in the heart of the Ottawa Valley, our Chalk River site offers a beautiful natural setting with forests, lakes, and wildlife right at your doorstep. Surrounding communities such as Deep River, Petawawa, and Pembroke provide access to excellent recreation and a great quality of life.
Please note: This is a hybrid position, with a combination of remote work and onsite presence at our Chalk River Laboratory, Ontario.
Our Commitment to Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
At CNL, we are committed to fostering an environment that promotes equity, diversity, and inclusion. We celebrate and welcome employees, stakeholders, and partners of all backgrounds and identities. Click here to read all about it!
We are proud to uphold a workplace culture grounded in our Core Values:
- Respect
- Teamwork
- Accountability
- Safety
- Integrity
- Excellence
These values drive our employment practices and ensure meaningful career development opportunities and accommodations for all employees.
CNL is an equal opportunity employer. If you require accommodation during any phase of the hiring process, please let us know via jobs@cnl.ca. All requests will be handled with confidentiality.
CNL operates on sites located on the traditional lands, waterways and ceded and unceded territories of Indigenous peoples. CNL recognizes and affirms all First Nations, Métis communities and Inuit in this land we now know as Canada. We acknowledge, respect and seek to better understand Indigenous history, rights and title on the lands where we work and develop projects. We honour and respect the importance of the relationship between Indigenous peoples and their lands, waters and territories.
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