Director, Global Operations Excellence

About the role

The Director, Global Operations Excellence will drive process improvements supporting Franklin Electric's commitment to quality while contributing to margin expansion through productivity improvements.

Responsibilities

• Implement global systems and processes to establish, improve, monitor, and maintain quality standards, procedures, and documentation.
• Train and support global team members to ensure root cause identification and effective corrective actions implementation.
• Investigate quality issues, conduct root cause analyses, and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Collaborate with operations, supply chain, and engineering teams to ensure quality is designed into processes and products from the outset.
• Analyze quality metrics and recommend improvements to enhance overall performance.
• Develop effective reporting systems that enable commercial and product teams to communicate clearly and effectively with customers.
• Lead and execute Lean and continuous improvement initiatives to increase efficiency, reduce waste, and improve overall performance.
• Facilitate Kaizen events, value stream mapping sessions, and root cause analysis workshops.
• Train global team members to lead continuous improvement efforts across the organization.
• Manage the global continuous improvement project funnel and prioritize initiatives.
• Identify process gaps and implement sustainable solutions aligned with business objectives.
• Track, analyze, and report key performance indicators to measure the impact of improvement initiatives.
• Partner with cross-functional teams, including operations, supply chain, and engineering, to standardize and share best practices.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement through training, coaching, and change management.
• Support strategic initiatives by aligning continuous improvement projects with organizational priorities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Business, Operations, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in continuous improvement, quality, or operations roles with 3-6 years of experience in continuous improvement roles.
• Practical experience with Lean methodologies and Six Sigma tools.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Able to interpret financial data and support strategic decision making.
• Demonstrated strong financial acumen and business insight.
• Experience leading improvement projects and working with cross-functional teams.
• Proficiency in data analysis tools (Excel, Minitab, or similar).

Qualifications

• Likely required: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
• Potentially preferred: Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
• Experience in manufacturing and industries.
• Familiarity with quality management systems (QMS) and auditing processes.
• Effective communication and facilitation skills.