Director, Operational Excellence

Responsibilities

• Evolves the Operational Excellence framework by refining enterprise standards, methodologies, governance, and best practices.
• Leads within the Research, Development and/or TechOps improvement portfolio, ensuring initiatives are aligned with strategic business objectives.
• Coaches and enables senior leaders and employees by providing guidance on operational excellence principles using Lean / 6 sigma methodology, change leadership, problem solving, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Influences and drives cross-functional transformation by partnering with functional leaders to identify opportunities, remove barriers, and deliver sustainable business improvements across the enterprise.
• Measures, communicates, and sustains business impact through meaningful KPIs, performance reporting, governance forums, and continuous monitoring of improvement outcomes.
• Drives performance through AI, data, and insights by establishing performance metrics and operational health indicators.
• Builds organizational capability by developing learning approaches, fostering communities of practice, and promoting continuous improvement principles and methodologies.
• Champions a culture of continuous improvement by advocating for innovation, accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Life Sciences, Operations Management, or a related discipline.
• Post-graduate degree (MBA, MSc) preferred.
• Minimum of 15 years of experience leading Operational Excellence, Business Transformation, and/or Continuous Improvement initiatives based on Lean/ 6 sigma; alternatively, 12 years of relevant experience with a Master’s degree.
• Proven track record of delivering measurable business impact across multiple functions.
• Leverage digital, data, and AI-enabled approaches where appropriate to accelerate insights and execution.
• Experience governing complex portfolios of transformation or continuous improvement initiatives.
• Experience with AI-enabled process improvement initiatives is strongly preferred.
• Experience working within a global, matrixed organization; biotechnology, pharmaceutical, healthcare, or other highly regulated industry experience is preferred.