Lean Director

Job Title: Lean Director (Six Sigma Black Belt Project Engineer)  

Department: Scale Group

Work Location: Chicago, IL 

Reports To: Scale Team, Operating Partner    

Who We Are:

Valor Equity Partners is an investment firm participating in both control and non-control investments in high growth companies across various stages of development. The firm delivers both capital and operational support services to the companies in which it invests, the operational support services are delivered by a team of Valor professionals known as the Scale Group.

Job Summary:

Valor is actively seeking a Lean Director to join the Scale Group as a Six Sigma Black Belt Project Engineer.  The Six Sigma Black Belt Project Engineer will engage as part of a team to deliver operational improvements at portfolio companies.  The companies in the Valor portfolio represent a broad range of activities and industries including: Business Services, Financial Technology, Health & Wellness, Food Service and Restaurant Operations, and Manufacturing, among others.  The Valor project teams engage across this portfolio in areas such as: productivity and throughput improvement, business process reengineering and quality system installation. In addition, they may participate in the due diligence process and provide assessment of the operational capabilities of an investment opportunity during the acquisition phase of a transaction.  On-site presence during projects is to be anticipated and extensive and extended travel to support this is a requirement.

Responsibilities:

• Identify, develop and document project scope definitions to ensure project alignment with business objectives.
• Contribute to the project team to translate project scopes into practice by identifying and delivering quality and process improvement opportunities, with the result of significant operational improvement and financial benefit.
• Partner with process owners of company teams and serve as a change agent by driving the required cultural transformation, the adoption of new work practices and by diagnosing barriers to project success and facilitating resolution
• Use data (i.e., statistical analysis, trend analysis, process capability) and other validated metrics to identify and prioritize work streams
• Accurately track, monitor and report on projects status, including producing case studies as required.

Skills/Competencies Required:

• A minimum of 5 years of business/operations experience with 2+ years of direct experience as a Black Belt
• Participation in a minimum of 3 transactional or consolidation related projects with demonstrated success and financial results
• Technical competency in process improvement skills: DMAIC, Lean, Kaizen/Work-out and change management
• Strong project management skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work with all levels of an organization
• Excellent written and verbal communication, presentation and facilitation skills
• Proficiency in all common Office productivity tools required, basic coding VBA/SQL preferred
• Ability and willingness to travel extensively

Education: 

• Bachelor’s degree
• Formal Lean Six Sigma training
• Black Belt certification preferred