Continuous Improvement Engineer - Legrand Way

Reporting to: Factory Development Director

Department: Operations \- Production Engineering

Company: Davenham Switchgear Ireland \& UK (part of the Legrand Group)

Base Location: Davenham Switchgear, Irelandith occasional paid international travel to Legrand Group sites

Remit: All Davenham sites across Dublin 22 and the UK, w

Contract:Permanent, full\-time

About Davenham

Davenham Switchgear is the leading low\-voltage (LV) switchgear business in Ireland, designing, manufacturing and commissioning electrical power distribution systems for local and multinational clients across the data centre, infrastructure, pharmaceutical and industrial sectors. Today we have more than 600 people across Ireland and the UK, and we are still growing.

Since 2024, having grown from a local family\-run company, we have been part of the Legrand Group, a global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructure with sales of more than €9bn and a presence in close to 90 countries. That gives us the best of both worlds: local leadership autonomy, backed by the resources, standards and opportunities of a multinational.

The Opportunity

This is a rare chance to build something from the ground up. As Davenham's first dedicated Continuous Improvement Engineer, you will lead the implementation of the Legrand Way, the Legrand Group's Lean management system, across our Irish and UK operations, and shape how we work as we scale.

You will join at a moment of real momentum. Becoming part of Legrand has brought positive, progressive change, progress over the last two years has been substantial, and you will find willing partners at every level, from the shop floor to the leadership team. You won't be fighting to be heard: you will be shaping decisions in a room that is already listening.

Bringing an engineering mindset to the shop floor, you will turn the Legrand Way roadmap into practical results. That starts with accurate standard times and routings, giving the business a reliable, data\-driven basis for capacity planning, scheduling, quoting and costing. From there, you will work with Production, Engineering, Quality and Supply Chain to deliver measurable gains in safety, quality, delivery and cost.

We are looking for someone who takes real ownership, whose approach is: "Tell me the outcome you want to achieve, and leave the delivery to me." You will have the trust and backing of supportive managers and leaders to do exactly that. If you enjoy building, improving and leading change rather than maintaining the status quo, this is the role for you.

Key Duties \& Responsibilities

Implementing the Legrand Way

• Act as Davenham's Legrand Way champion and the main point of contact with the Legrand Group on Lean.


• Assess current operations against Legrand Way standards and, with the leadership team, build and deliver a phased deployment roadmap with clear milestones.


• Establish the core foundations of the system: 5S, standard work, visual management and tiered daily management (SQDC: Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost).


• Launch pilot areas that deliver visible results quickly, then scale what works across all production areas and sites.


• Run regular maturity assessments and report progress to the senior leadership team.


• Work with the Legrand Group Lean network and mature Legrand sites to bring in proven practices, share Davenham's successes, and keep our standards current as the Legrand Way evolves.

• Carry out time studies, work sampling and other work measurement techniques to set standard times for every build operation, from metalwork and busbar fabrication through to assembly, wiring and testing.


• Build, validate and maintain routings, operations, work centres and labour standards in the ERP/MRP system, making sure they reflect the current method of manufacture.


• Analyse actual versus standard hours by build and operation, investigate variances, and use the findings to improve both the process and the accuracy of the standards.


• Provide Engineering, Estimating and Commercial teams with accurate labour content to support quotations and product costing for engineered\-to\-order projects.


• Develop capacity and line\-loading models across our sites to inform build planning, scheduling, recruitment and resourcing decisions.


• Turn improved methods into clear visual work instructions and operator standards, in conjunction with Engineering and Quality.

• Map current and future\-state value streams for our LV switchgear and critical power product families, and deliver the resulting improvement plans.


• Improve flow and eliminate waste using tools such as line balancing, takt time, SMED, kanban, point\-of\-use material supply and error\-proofing.


• Plan and facilitate kaizen events and cross\-functional improvement projects, making sure the gains stick.


• Drive structured problem solving (5 Whys, Ishikawa, A3, 8D, PDCA) with Quality Control and Testing teams to reduce rework, test failures and non\-conformances.

• Design and optimise factory layouts, material flow and workstations, including for new and expanded production facilities.


• Evaluate technologies, tooling and equipment, and build the investment case (ROI, payback) for new machinery, automation and technology, with a focus on productivity, energy use and environmental impact, feeding into the annual budget process.


• Ensure health \& safety, ergonomics and manual handling are designed into every process and layout change, working with the EHS team.

• Train and coach managers, supervisors and operators in Lean tools and problem solving, becoming the go\-to Lean mentor for other departments, including Logistics and Supply Chain.


• Create and run an employee improvement ideas process, recognising and celebrating successes across Ireland and the UK.

• Always abide by the Legrand Group Core Values and Code of Ethics and strive to meet and exceed the Group's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments.

• Legrand Way deployment milestones delivered to plan, with improving maturity assessment scores across all sites.


• Percentage of active routings with validated, time\-studied standard times.


• Improvement in labour productivity and reduction in hours per build against standard.


• Annualised cost savings delivered through improvement projects.


• Improvement in on\-time delivery, first\-pass test yield and rework levels.


• Number of kaizen events and employee improvement ideas completed and sustained.

Internally: the senior leadership team, Factory Development, Production and Engineering Directors, Production Managers and supervisors across our Irish and UK sites, Engineering and Design, Quality Control and Testing, Procurement \& Stores, Planning, Finance, HR and EHS. Externally: the Legrand Group Lean / Legrand Way network, and equipment and tooling suppliers.

Qualifications, Experience \& Skills

Essential

• Degree (Level 7/8\) in Manufacturing, Industrial, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.


• Minimum of 5 years' experience in a continuous improvement role within a manufacturing environment.


• Demonstrable experience implementing a Lean management system or Lean transformation, with strong working knowledge of Lean tools (e.g. VSM, 5S, line balancing, standard work, 5 Whys, PDCA) and a track record of sustained results.


• Proven hands\-on experience of time studies and work measurement, and of building and maintaining routings and labour standards in an ERP/MRP system.


• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or equivalent Lean qualification.


• An analytical, data\-driven approach, with advanced Excel skills for analysing hours, capacity and cost.


• A passion for Gemba: a strong work ethic, a sharp eye for waste, and the creativity to find solutions when options seem limited.


• Strong leadership and influencing skills, with the confidence to engage and coach people at every level, from operators to senior management.


• Excellent communication, presentation and documentation skills, and well organised.


• Full driving licence and flexibility to travel regularly between Davenham sites in Ireland and the UK, and occasionally internationally.

• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.


• Experience in engineered\-to\-order or high\-mix, low\-volume assembly, ideally in LV switchgear, critical power or electrical panel building.


• Experience deploying Lean across multiple sites or in a fast\-growing business.


• Knowledge of predetermined motion time systems (MTM, MOST).


• AutoCAD or similar for factory layout, and data visualisation tools (e.g. Power BI).

Pay: €70,000\.00\-€75,000\.00 per year

Application question(s):

• Are you satisfied this is an onsite position with occasional travel to the UK? (every 1\-2 months for a day)


• Are you authorised to work in the Republic of Ireland, UK and EU?


• Will you now or in the future require sponsorship for employment visa status to work in the Republic of Ireland, UK or EU?


• do you hold a degree (Level 7/8\) in Manufacturing, Industrial, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline?

• CI experience within a manufacturing environment: 5 years (preferred)

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or equivalent Lean qualification (preferred)

• Ireland (required)

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