James Hardie is the industry leader in exterior home and outdoor living solutions, with a portfolio that includes fiber cement, fiber gypsum, composite and PVC decking and railing products. Our family of trusted brands includes Hardie , TimberTech , AZEK Exteriors, Versatex , fermacell , and StruXure .
With over 8,000 employees and our U.S. operating entities headquartered in Chicago, we boast 31 operating sites, 6 recycling facilities, and 6 research and development centers globally. Powered by a dynamic workforce, we're united by our purpose of Building a Better Future for All through sustainable innovation, a Zero Harm culture, and a commitment to empowering our people and communities.
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SummaryJames Hardie's Global Research & Development organization is focused on market-driven innovation that delivers high-impact products, systems, and technologies that enable long-term growth.
The Value Stream Mapping Engineer, will help build and scale a unique capability that applies Lean, Value Stream Mapping (VSM), systems thinking, and engineering principles to residential construction and installation workflows across the North American Exteriors and Home Interiors portfolios.
This role goes beyond traditional process improvement. The position leads end-to-end VSM studies from planning and field execution through analysis, reporting, and implementation of recommendations that improve installation productivity, product design, workflow efficiency, commercialization decisions, and customer outcomes.
This is a unique opportunity to build something new: a manufacturing-inspired, data-driven approach to understanding and improving jobsite performance across multiple product portfolios.
This position reports to the Home Exteriors and Interiors Application Engineering Manager and is based in Fontana, California.
Why This Role Is Different Most Lean and continuous-improvement roles focus on factories, operations, or supply chains. This role applies those same principles to the jobsite, where the work directly influences product design, installation innovation, customer experience, commercialization strategy, and future technology development.
Candidates who enjoy observing work firsthand, solving ambiguous problems, translating technical observations into business impact, and building new capabilities will thrive in this role.
What You'll Do:Study Execution and Insight Translation to Business Action (60%) - Lead Value Stream Mapping studies across product portfolios, including intake, scope definition, study planning, field or test-site coordination, video capture, data analysis, reporting, and follow-through.
- Observe and analyze installation workflows to identify waste, productivity barriers, rework drivers, pain points, and opportunities for improvement.
- Define study objectives, hypotheses, data requirements, success criteria, assumptions, and limitations to ensure findings are technically sound and decision-ready.
- Coordinate installation resources, site access, subject-matter expert input, and cross-functional review to deliver high-quality studies.
- Analysis of jobsite video footage to extract VSM data; partnering with external service providers, auditing data quality and knowledge management of data.
- Translate VSM findings into clear recommendations for product design, tools, installation methods, training, launch planning, and commercialization.
Standardized and Scalable VSM Process Development (20%) - Develop and continuously improve the methods, standards, tools, and analytical frameworks that enable consistent, repeatable, and scalable VSM studies.
- Establish best practices for data collection, task definitions, analysis, reporting, technical review, and traceability.
- Build organizational capability by coaching engineers, contributors, and cross-functional stakeholders in VSM principles, study execution, and interpretation of findings.
Digital Enablement and Future Capability Development (20%) - Lead evolution of VSM from a largely manual process toward a scalable, technology-enabled capability.
- Evaluate opportunities to improve efficiency through digital tools, automation, analytics, and video-based analysis.
- Partner with internal teams and external experts to explore future applications of computer vision, simulation, and AI-assisted technologies within VSM workflows.
What You'll Bring:- Strong understanding of Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, Value Stream Mapping, workflow analysis, productivity improvement, and structured problem solving.
- Ability to structure ambiguous problems, define hypotheses and assumptions, analyze workflows, and make technically sound recommendations.
- Strong project leadership, technical communication, facilitation, presentation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
- Ability to influence decisions without direct authority through data, technical reasoning, and clear communication.
- Interest in applying digital tools, automation, analytics, simulation, and emerging technologies to improve engineering workflows and decision making.
Education and Experience
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline; see the Preferred Candidate Backgrounds section for representative fields and disciplines.
- Minimum 8+ years of experience in manufacturing, industrial engineering, process engineering, operations excellence, continuous improvement, product development, application engineering, construction engineering, or related technical fields.
- Demonstrated record of leading complex technical initiatives involving multiple stakeholders and translating analysis into business action.
- Experience conducting observations, process evaluations, field investigations, pilot activities, operational improvement initiatives, or technical assessments.
- Experience with Six Sigma, Lean Transformation, or Toyota Production System (TPS) is a plus.
- Experience using digital tools, data analytics, automation, simulation, or emerging technologies to improve technical workflows is preferred. Exposure to computer vision or AI-assisted workflows is a plus but not required.
Preferred Candidate Backgrounds Candidates may come from a variety of technical disciplines including:
- Manufacturing Engineering
- Technical Consulting
- Experience in building products, construction, or installation processes is advantageous but not required. If you have built a career improving processes, eliminating waste, analyzing workflows, and driving measurable business results, we would like to hear from you.
What You'll Receive:As of the date of this posting, a good faith estimate of the current pay scale for this position is $120k to $135k. Placement in the range depends on several factors such as experience, skills, geography and internal equity and may change over time. This position qualifies for benefits and you will be eligible to participate in a bonus plan.
At James Hardie, we recognize that our success depends on our people. We've worked hard to build a generous and competitive benefits program that demonstrates our commitment to our employees.
- Compensation: competitive salary and bonus eligibility
- Insurance: day-one health coverage medical, dental, vision, life insurance
- Paid Time Off: vacation and company holidays
- Retirement: 401(k) with 6% match
- Investments: Employee Stock Purchase plan (ESP)
- Work-Life Balance: parental leave, wellness programs
- Purpose. Impact. Community: Sustainability Initiatives | James Hardie
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James Hardie Building Products Inc. is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, genetic information, veteran's status, marital status, pregnancy, disability, or any other basis protected by law.
James Hardie will comply with any applicable state and local laws regarding employee leave benefits, including, but not limited to providing time off pursuant to the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, in accordance with its plans and policies.
The position responsibilities outlined above are in no way to be construed as all encompassing. Other duties, responsibilities, and qualifications may be required and/or assigned as necessary.
