Continuous improvement engineers can find work in almost any organization. Their job is to analyze and improve the processes of a business continually. They work closely with project managers and quality specialists to identify potential for improvement.

Continuous improvement engineers may analyze current processes in search of problem areas. They may also check for inefficiencies and gaps. Additionally, they design solutions to optimize current functions and boost productivity. To do this, they may utilize various approaches, including problem-solving frameworks and best practices.

Continuous improvement engineers may also collaborate with teams in various departments to implement their solutions and track performance. They require considerable skills to do their job, including communication and teamwork. They also need analytical thinking and attention to detail.

To become a continuous improvement engineer, you need a degree in engineering or business. Professionals looking to specialize go on to get advanced degrees in their area of interest.

What Does a Continuous Improvement Engineer Do

There are certain skills that many continuous improvement engineers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed creativity, listening skills and math skills.

Learn more about what a Continuous Improvement Engineer does

How To Become a Continuous Improvement Engineer

If you're interested in becoming a continuous improvement engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 74.8% of continuous improvement engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 16.0% of continuous improvement engineers have master's degrees. Even though most continuous improvement engineers have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Continuous Improvement Engineer
Top Continuous Improvement Engineer Jobs Near You

Continuous Improvement Engineer Career Paths

Average Salary for a Continuous Improvement Engineer

Continuous Improvement Engineers in America make an average salary of $78,918 per year or $38 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $103,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $59,000 per year.
Average Continuous Improvement Engineer Salary
$78,918 Yearly
$37.94 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Continuous Improvement Engineer

The role of a continuous improvement engineer includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general continuous improvement engineer responsibilities:

  • Co-develops plants overall mms deployment strategy. Trains key toyota production system (tps) / mms principles to all levels of the organization. Trains lean
  • A continuous improvement engineer instills a process excellence culture through involving, educating
  • Manages and executes local investment projects in the plant

There are several types of continuous improvement engineer, including:

Engineer

Role:

Engineers design and develop new products in a variety of different industries. They might be mechanical or software engineers or create electric machinery, design chemical or geotechnical processes, or help to structure civil or management disciplines. Whatever the case may be, engineers are involved in creating the diverse technologies that facilitate the processes of our lives in different areas. Combining creative thinking with the principles of mathematics and science using a wide range of technical skills, engineers work on the design, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of various products from machines, vehicles, buildings, and roads to software or social processes serving consumers, businesses, and societies.

Engineers are creative thinkers and brilliant problem solvers. They excel at mathematical, scientific, and mechanical analysis. They follow plans and blueprints with a strong focus, yet remain flexible and work well under pressure.

Engineers develop systems for solving various problems as members of a team. They know that a single component is worthless without their counterparts, so they have to be great communicators, as well, to be successful at their job.
  • Average Salary: $92,077
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Manufacturing Engineer

Role:

Manufacturing engineers are those who design and improve manufacturing systems. They work with industrial or commercial designers to redesign the products to be durable with reduced costs. Therefore, you will troubleshoot and give continuous improvement methods to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of the product. You will design and install the manufacturing equipment using knowledge of the fabrication processes, tooling, and production equipment, assembly, and quality control.

Furthermore, you will test the methods and finished products to establish standards and validate the process to improve the existing process. You will then communicate the established methods either by training or putting them into writings for other production personnel to facilitate the production process.

Manufacturing engineers work in line with the health and safety standards and environmental regulations. As a manufacturing engineer, you will earn about $70,000 yearly. Some of the required skills include problem-solving and project management skills, and you must be well versed in relevant computer software. A degree in engineering is required to qualify for this role, but a postgraduate degree would be a plus.
  • Average Salary: $78,522
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Process Engineer

Role:

The process engineers work in the chemical, biotechnology, and manufacturing industries. You will help to optimize, develop, and configure industrial processes from the foundation to the certification part. You will also design, run and upgrade processes and systems. Likewise, you will bring up the best practices, routines, and innovative solutions to improve the rates of production and quality of output. You will provide the documents required for the process and operating instructions. Also, you will perform risk assessments and manage the cost and time constraints of the process.

The process engineer will need a Bachelor's degree in Engineering to be able to practice in the role. Professional certificates can be an advantage to be able to work as a process engineer. You should have proven work experience which gives the required knowledge of process-related standards and familiarity with health and safety regulations. Working knowledge of process engineerings software packages like CAD or AutoCad is also often required. The earning of a process engineer is $77,627 annually.
  • Average Salary: $82,443
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Continuous Improvement Engineer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active continuous improvement engineer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where continuous improvement engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Continuous Improvement Engineer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,748$89,639
2Texas1,191$77,994
3Florida850$67,872
4Massachusetts844$84,190
5Virginia827$82,901
6New York762$82,196
7Illinois707$73,613
8Ohio663$73,440
9North Carolina655$73,238
10Pennsylvania613$73,364
11Washington598$91,546
12Michigan590$79,610
13Georgia590$70,750
14Minnesota529$84,802
15Arizona522$87,833
16Maryland499$82,335
17Colorado485$80,756
18Indiana448$69,130
19Wisconsin405$70,425
20Alabama356$74,189
21Oregon344$83,590
22New Jersey341$88,849
23Connecticut295$92,472
24Tennessee293$67,214
25South Carolina290$72,156
26Missouri254$73,336
27Utah250$77,029
28Kentucky201$67,683
29Iowa176$70,809
30Arkansas151$70,813
31New Hampshire143$70,397
32Nebraska128$65,663
33Delaware112$75,862
34Nevada110$82,104
35Kansas105$84,005
36Mississippi103$73,261
37Oklahoma86$79,125
38Louisiana84$79,129
39Idaho76$80,827
40New Mexico66$76,746
41Rhode Island58$82,475
42West Virginia57$69,836
43Maine52$75,239
44North Dakota43$69,295
45Vermont35$64,654
46Hawaii28$66,751
47Montana27$82,524
48Alaska27$83,158
49South Dakota25$66,936
50Wyoming22$83,287

Continuous Improvement Engineer Education

Continuous Improvement Engineer Majors

10.4 %

Continuous Improvement Engineer Degrees

Bachelors

74.8 %

Masters

16.0 %

Associate

7.2 %

Top Colleges for Continuous Improvement Engineers

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Business
Mechanical Engineering
Engineering
Industrial Engineering

2. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Biology
Chemical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering

3. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Biology
Engineering Technology
Chemistry
Electrical Engineering

4. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,094

Enrollment

32,974

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Biology
Business
Electrical Engineering
Civil Engineering

5. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Mechanical Engineering
Business
Electrical Engineering
Industrial Engineering

6. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Business
Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Chemistry

7. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Biology
Business
Chemistry
Mechanical Engineering

8. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Business
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Industrial Engineering

9. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Biology
Business
Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering

10. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Business
Biology
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering

Top Skills For a Continuous Improvement Engineer

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 9.2% of continuous improvement engineers listed lean manufacturing on their resume, but soft skills such as creativity and listening skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Continuous Improvement Engineer Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Continuous Improvement Engineer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Continuous Improvement Engineer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Continuous Improvement Engineer Demographics

Continuous Improvement Engineer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
81%
Female
Female
19%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among continuous improvement engineers, 18.6% of them are women, while 81.4% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among continuous improvement engineers is White, which makes up 67.3% of all continuous improvement engineers.

  • The most common foreign language among continuous improvement engineers is Spanish at 50.0%.

Online Courses For Continuous Improvement Engineer That You May Like

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1. Process Improvement

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In this course you will focus on process improvement. You will learn how to set organizational priorities for continuous process improvement, how to execute process improvement projects, and how to sustain the initiative for continuous improvements. You will be able to: • Relate underlying principles to frameworks and techniques used for process improvement • Synthesize information to make decisions for organizational initiatives and process improvement • Apply analytical techniques for...

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2. Continuous Improvement Tools

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Essential Lean Tools and Techniques for Business Process Improvement, Operational Excellence, and Customer Satisfaction...

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3. Six Sigma: Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (Part 3) (Accredited)

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Six Sigma Black Belt - P3 (Accredited) Improve & Control Phase Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification Earn PDUs...

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Best States For a Continuous Improvement Engineer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a continuous improvement engineer. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, Washington, California, and New Jersey. Continuous improvement engineers make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $92,472. Whereas in Washington and California, they would average $91,546 and $89,639, respectively. While continuous improvement engineers would only make an average of $88,849 in New Jersey, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Connecticut

Total Continuous Improvement Engineer Jobs: 295
Highest 10% Earn:
$121,000
Location Quotient:
1.27

2. Washington

Total Continuous Improvement Engineer Jobs: 598
Highest 10% Earn:
$121,000
Location Quotient:
1.17

3. Arizona

Total Continuous Improvement Engineer Jobs: 522
Highest 10% Earn:
$117,000
Location Quotient:
1.27
Full List Of Best States For Continuous Improvement Engineers

How Do Continuous Improvement Engineer Rate Their Jobs?

What do you like the most about working as Continuous Improvement Engineer?

Development of others. Winning as a team. Goal is to work smarter, not harder. Opportunity to do many different types of roles, depending on what industry you are working in. Show More

What do you NOT like?

It can be frustrating to not receive recognition for contributions. Depending on structure/organization, it may be hard to have your voice heard, so speaking up and being aggressive in your thoughts or beliefs is necessary Show More

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Top Continuous Improvement Engineer Employers

Most Common Employers For Continuous Improvement Engineer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Meta$137,310$66.0114
2General Motors$96,089$46.208
3Harley-Davidson$95,229$45.7810
4The Kraft Group$94,651$45.5176
5The Dow Chemical Company$93,986$45.1931
6Medtronic$90,757$43.6310
7Lockheed Martin$88,092$42.357
8John Deere$84,614$40.6810
9Ryder System$81,561$39.2119
10IM Flash Technologies$81,051$38.976

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