Operational Excellence Program Manager

Responsibilities:
- Develop, deploy, and manage Operational Excellence programs aligned with business objectives and strategic priorities.

- Apply strong program and project management disciplines to ensure on-time, on-scope, and high-quality delivery.
- Lead cross-functional initiatives focused on productivity improvement, process optimization, quality enhancement, customer experience, and operational effectiveness.
- Own and operate Operational Excellence frameworks, governance processes, and improvement mechanisms across the organization.
- Establish program governance, metrics, dashboards, KPIs, and regular operational review cadences.
- Drive cross-functional execution to translate insights into process, policy, workflow, and organizational improvements.
- Manage program scope, schedules, risks, dependencies, communications, and stakeholder alignment.
- Develop business cases and measure realized business value from Operational Excellence initiatives.
- Communicate program status, risks, outcomes, and recommendations to leadership and stakeholders.
- Partner with Engineering, Operations, Quality, Customer Experience, and Business teams to institutionalize prevention-focused practices.
- Promote a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, operational discipline, quality, and learning.
- Support additional Operational Excellence 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 7+ years of experience in Program Management, Project Management, Operations, Quality, Continuous Improvement, Business Transformation, or related disciplines.
- Experience leading complex cross-functional programs in a matrixed organization.
- Experience driving process improvement and operational effectiveness initiatives.

Knowledge and Skills:
- Strong understanding of Operational Excellence principles, continuous improvement methodologies, and business process management.
- Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional programs and initiatives in a matrixed environment.
- Strong understanding of program and project management disciplines, tools, and methodologies.
- Experience with Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen would be a plus 

- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to influence stakeholders across all organizational levels.
- Executive-level presentation and stakeholder management skills.
- Financial acumen, business case development, and benefit realization measurement.
- Change management and organizational adoption experience.

Must Have:
- Program Management experience.
- PMP certification.
- Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional initiatives.
-- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Experience working with executive and senior leadership stakeholders.
- Demonstrated ability to influence without direct authority.

Nice to Have:
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

- Experience with Lean, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, or related methodologies.
- Experience in Technology, Networking, Hardware, Software, Services, or Customer Support organizations.
- Experience with Lessons Learned, Quality, or Continuous Improvement programs.
- Experience supporting enterprise transformation initiatives.
- Master's degree (MBA, Engineering, Operations, or related field).

Additional Skills:
Accountability, Active Learning, Business Process Improvement, Change Management, Continuous Improvement, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Customer Experience, Data Analysis, Decision Making, Executive Communication, Managing Ambiguity, Operational Excellence, Process Governance, Program Governance, Project Management, Quality Management, Risk Management, Root Cause Analysis, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Thinking.