Continuous Improvement Manager Salary & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 1,509 US job postings by 773 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for continuous improvement managers: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 1,509 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for continuous improvement managers in US job postings is $116,000 a year (534 postings from 220 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $95,000 to $136,000.
- The skills that most set continuous improvement manager postings apart are kaizen, lean, six sigma.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 4 years of experience.
Continuous Improvement Manager job postings in the US, October 2026
- $116,000
- Median advertised pay (534 postings)
- $95,000–$136,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 1,509
- US job postings from 773 employers
- 4 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a continuous improvement manager make?
The median advertised pay is $116,000 a year, from 534 US job postings by 220 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $163,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 534 US continuous improvement manager job postings: median $116,000 a year, middle half $95,000 to $136,000.
- Median: $116,000
- 25th percentile: $95,000
- 75th percentile: $136,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 0.3% |
| $40K–$50K | 3.7% |
| $50K–$60K | 3.4% |
| $60K–$70K | 3.9% |
| $70K–$80K | 2.4% |
| $80K–$90K | 7.3% |
| $90K–$100K | 9.2% |
| $100K–$110K | 11.8% |
| $110K–$120K | 12.8% |
| $120K–$130K | 13.6% |
| $130K–$140K | 9.4% |
| $140K–$150K | 6.8% |
| $150K–$160K | 3.1% |
| $160K–$170K | 3.1% |
| $170K–$180K | 5.0% |
| $180K–$190K | 1.8% |
| $190K–$200K | 1.1% |
| $200K–$210K | 0.8% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an annual salary | $120,000 | $100K–$139K | 336 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $116,000 | $95K–$136K | 534 |
What is the starting salary for a continuous improvement manager?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying continuous improvement manager jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous Improvement Manager (general) | $109,000 | 346 | 134 |
Skills employers ask for in continuous improvement manager job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 49% |
| Problem-solving | 30% |
| Analytical skills | 29% |
| Excel | 28% |
| Kaizen | 20% |
| Six sigma | 19% |
| Lean | 19% |
| Interpersonal skills | 18% |
| Microsoft Office | 18% |
| Leadership | 17% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set continuous improvement managers apart
- Kaizen202.2× as often as in all postings · 20%
- Lean87.8× as often as in all postings · 19%
- Six sigma72.7× as often as in all postings · 19%
- 5s122.2× as often as in all postings · 15%
- Value stream mapping344.4× as often as in all postings · 12%
- Standard work299.6× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Visual management376.9× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Root cause analysis26.3× as often as in all postings · 14%
- Lean manufacturing56.7× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Smed463.8× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Continuous improvement32.4× as often as in all postings · 11%
- Analytical skills3.9× as often as in all postings · 29%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a continuous improvement manager job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a continuous improvement manager do?
Employers post these jobs as Continuous Improvement Engineer, Continuous Improvement Specialist, Operational Excellence Manager, Value Stream Manager, Process Improvement Engineer and other titles. The largest specializations are Process Improvement Specialist (14%), Operational Excellence Manager (13%), Value Stream Manager (8%), CI Manager (2%), OpEx Manager (under 1%).
The closest official occupation is Industrial Engineers (17-2112.00). Its most important tasks:
- Estimate production costs, cost saving methods, and the effects of product design changes on expenditures for management review, action, and control.
- Plan and establish sequence of operations to fabricate and assemble parts or products and to promote efficient utilization.
- Analyze statistical data and product specifications to determine standards and establish quality and reliability objectives of finished product.
- Confer with clients, vendors, staff, and management personnel regarding purchases, product and production specifications, manufacturing capabilities, or project status.
- Communicate with management and user personnel to develop production and design standards.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a continuous improvement manager?
Among 778 postings that state a minimum, the median is 4 years. 2% say 0 years and 10% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 778 US continuous improvement manager job postings: median 4 years, and 10% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 2% |
| 1 yr | 7% |
| 2 yrs | 15% |
| 3-4 yrs | 29% |
| 5-7 yrs | 37% |
| 8-9 yrs | 4% |
| 10+ yrs | 6% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Other names for a continuous improvement manager: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Continuous Improvement Manager | 100 (12.9%) |
| Continuous Improvement Engineer | 84 (10.9%) |
| Continuous Improvement Specialist | 64 (8.3%) |
| Operational Excellence Manager | 35 (4.5%) |
| Value Stream Manager | 34 (4.4%) |
| Process Improvement Engineer | 33 (4.3%) |
| Process Improvement Specialist | 29 (3.8%) |
| Continuous Improvement Leader | 29 (3.8%) |
| Continuous Improvement Intern | 21 (2.7%) |
| Continuous Improvement Coordinator | 21 (2.7%) |
| Process Improvement Manager | 16 (2.1%) |
| Operational Excellence Engineer | 14 (1.8%) |
| Continuous Improvement Technician | 14 (1.8%) |
| Continuous Improvement Lead | 14 (1.8%) |
| Lean Manager | 14 (1.8%) |
| Operational Excellence Specialist | 13 (1.7%) |
| Lean Manufacturing Engineer | 11 (1.4%) |
| Continuous Improvement Analyst | 11 (1.4%) |
| Process Improvement Analyst | 11 (1.4%) |
| Process Improvement Consultant | 11 (1.4%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Continuous Improvement Manager compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous Improvement Manager | $116K | 4 years | 1,509 | – |
| Production Manager | $86K | 3 years | 8,027 | 15 |
| Manufacturing Engineer | $110K | 3 years | 10,109 | 17 |
| Chemical Engineer | – | – | 628 | 12 |
| Operations Manager | $85K | 3 years | 12,850 | 12 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Production Manager | 15 | $86K |
| Manufacturing Engineer | 17 | $110K |
| Chemical Engineer | 12 | – |
| Operations Manager | 12 | $85K |
| Quality Assurance Specialist | 13 | $105K |
| Quality Engineer | 12 | $108K |
Applying for continuous improvement manager jobs?
- Continuous improvement manager resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find continuous improvement manager jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a continuous improvement manager make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 18 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 16 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.