Operational Excellence Programs Manager

Responsibilities:
- Define and drive the Operational Excellence vision, strategy, priorities, and roadmap across the organization.
- Lead and develop a global team of Operational Excellence Program Managers responsible for delivering strategic improvement initiatives.

- Lead executive steering committees, governance reviews, and strategic planning discussions.

- Develop executive-level reporting that communicates portfolio status, risks, performance trends, and realized outcomes.
- Provide performance management, coaching, mentoring, development planning, and career growth opportunities for team members.
- Build organizational capability in Program Management, Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement, and Change Management disciplines.
- Lead a portfolio of Operational Excellence programs focused on improving efficiency, quality, scalability, customer experience, and business outcomes.
- Establish governance frameworks, operating rhythms, metrics, dashboards, KPIs, and executive review cadences.
- Partner with executive leadership to identify, prioritize, and sponsor strategic improvement opportunities.
- Sponsor and oversee Lessons Learned programs, postmortem reviews, corrective action initiatives, and prevention-focused activities.
- Ensure business improvement recommendations are implemented, measured, and sustained over time.
- Oversee program prioritization, resource allocation, risk management, dependency management, and portfolio health.
- Manage operational excellence investments, budgets, forecasting activities, and business value realization.

- Drive organizational change management efforts associated with process, policy, technology, and operating model transformations.
- Foster a culture of accountability, operational discipline, continuous improvement, quality, and customer-focused decision-making.
- Support additional strategic business transformation initiatives and perform other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience Required:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, or related field (required).
- Master's degree desirable.
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification required.

- Typically 10+ years of experience in Program Management, Operations, Quality, Continuous Improvement, Business Transformation, or related disciplines.
- Minimum 3+ years of people management experience.
- Demonstrated success leading global teams in a matrixed environment.
- Experience managing large-scale cross-functional programs, portfolios, or transformation initiatives.
- Experience influencing executive stakeholders and driving organizational change.

- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or equivalent certification preferred.

Knowledge and Skills:
- Strong understanding of Operational Excellence principles, business process management, and continuous improvement methodologies.
- Demonstrated experience leading teams, programs, and portfolios within a global matrixed organization.
- Expertise in program and portfolio management disciplines, governance practices, and business transformation frameworks.
- Experience with Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, root cause analysis, and corrective action methodologies.
- Strong leadership, coaching, and talent development skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence executive-level stakeholders.
- Strong analytical, organizational, and strategic problem-solving capabilities.
- Experience developing operating models, governance frameworks, KPIs, dashboards, and business performance metrics.
- Financial acumen, forecasting, budget management, and business case development experience.
- Change management and organizational adoption expertise.
- Ability to balance strategic planning with operational execution.

Must Have:
- People management experience.
- Experience leading global teams.
- PMP certification.
- Demonstrated Program Management or Portfolio Management experience.
- Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement, or Business Transformation experience.
- Experience driving cross-functional initiatives in a matrixed organization.
- Executive stakeholder management and communication skills.
- Demonstrated ability to influence organizational change and business outcomes.

Nice to Have:
- Lean Six Sigma  Green Belt certification.
- Experience with Lean, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, or related methodologies.
- Experience in Technology, Networking, Hardware, Software, Services, or Customer Support organizations.
- Experience leading enterprise-wide transformation initiatives.
- Experience with Quality Management Systems and Lessons Learned programs.
- MBA or advanced degree in Business, Engineering, Operations, or related field.

Additional Skills:
Accountability, Business Transformation, Coaching and Mentoring, Continuous Improvement, Cross-Functional Leadership, Customer Experience, Data Analysis, Decision Making, Executive Communication, Financial Management, Global Team Leadership, Managing Ambiguity, Operational Excellence, Organizational Change Management, People Leadership, Portfolio Management, Process Governance, Program Governance, Quality Management, Risk Management, Root Cause Analysis, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Planning.