Process Improvement Engineer

POINT HOPE MARITIME  |  RALMAX GROUP OF COMPANIES

Process Improvement Engineer

Victoria, BC

Full-time, on-site at the yard  |  One-year contract, with possible extension  |  Reports to the HSSEQ Manager

About us

Point Hope Maritime is a ship repair and docking facility on Victoria's Upper Harbour and part of the Ralmax Group of Companies. We dock and repair tugs, barges, ferries, fishing vessels and government craft — often several projects running side by side, across five trade groups: pipefitters, welders, mechanics, painters and labourers.

Over the past year we have run the largest improvement program in the yard's history: documented our core processes, redesigned how project managers and chargehands plan work together, introduced new planning software and put a management operating rhythm in place. The foundation is built. This role is about making it stick and building on it.

The role

You own the day-to-day of continuous improvement at PHM: keeping our process documentation alive, running improvement projects from problem to implemented change, and giving the management team the numbers they need to see whether the changes are working.

You sit within the HSSEQ function and work directly with the General Manager, Operations Manager, project managers and chargehands. This is a hands-on role in a working shipyard. Most improvements here are won on the shop floor, not in a document — you will spend a good share of your time out in the yard understanding how work actually gets done.

What you'll do

• Run improvement projects end to end — define the problem with the people who have it, gather the facts, propose the change, implement it with the trades and check that it held.
• Collect and analyse data for insights — pull together operational data that is often unstructured, incomplete or spread across systems, and turn it into findings the management team can act on.
• Find and test solutions — identify options from industry best practice, then facilitate trials and demonstrations in the yard before we commit to a change.
• Validate impact and build the business case — confirm results with the key stakeholders and quantify the benefit, so decisions rest on numbers rather than opinion.
• Implement solution including a shipyard MES — lead the rollout of our manufacturing execution system across planning, production and the trades, and make sure it is used consistently.
• Facilitate — run working sessions between departments when a process crosses boundaries and nobody owns the gap.

What you bring

• A degree or diploma in industrial, mechanical or manufacturing engineering, operations management or similar — or equivalent hands-on experience.
• Two or more years in process improvement, operations, quality or production engineering, ideally in shipbuilding, heavy industry, construction or manufacturing.
• Working knowledge of continuous improvement methods — lean, DMAIC, root cause analysis, process mapping — and the judgement to know when a simple fix beats a full project.
• Strong Excel skills and comfort with operational data that is incomplete, inconsistent or late. Power BI is a plus.
• Clear writing. You can produce a process document a chargehand will read and a summary a general manager will act on.
• The credibility to work with tradespeople and supervisors, and the persistence to see a change through after the initial enthusiasm has faded.
• Legal entitlement to work in Canada.

Helpful, not required: ISO 9001 experience; familiarity with MES, planning or ERP software in a project-based environment; facilitation training; a trades background.

What we offer

• An improvement program that is already running, with visible support from the management team — you are not starting from zero and you are not selling the idea.
• A yard small enough that a change you make in October is visible on the floor by November.
• Direct access to the management team.
• Compensation: $85,000 – $105,000 per year, depending on skills and experience.

Our hiring process

1. Application review
2. Introductory conversation
3. A short case assignment based on a real PHM problem (about 3–4 hours of work)
4. Offer

We use a real case rather than a hypothetical one because it is the fairest way for both sides to see what the job actually involves.

Point Hope Maritime is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates.