Operational Excellence Director (FTC)

Are you someone that has a passion for operational excellence and appetite for leading teams? Do you enjoy solving complex business conundrums by applying smart operational improvement strategies? Are you a natural team leader and motivator, with a demonstrable aptitude for risk and innovative thinking?

Is yes, then please continue reading.

As a forward thinking and innovative business, we are embarking on an ambitious Operational Transformation to enhance how we deliver services to our clients and improve our operating margins.
 

We are looking for an experienced operational excellence professional to lead our newly created national continuous improvement team. The aim of this change is to drive consistency in how we approach ‘transformation’ across the business and deliver increased impact from the projects that we deliver.

You will be directly responsible for 2-4 Continuous Improvement Leads, as well being accountably for the following objectives:

• Managing a wider team of 20+ change specialists and change champions located across the UK.
• Ensure the team has the right focus and project mix to deliver maximum value.
• Take ownership for talent development, succession planning and budget management.
• Translate the Operational Excellence Terms of Reference into a 24-month programme.
• Consolidate and track the progress and performance of a wide range of disconnected operational improvement initiatives.
• Define the next phase of the Operational Excellence Journey.

Key deliverables

Deliver a portfolio of change which achieves measurable results for the business:

• Ensure the change portfolio has clear targets which are tied to business metrics, prioritizing those with highest value.
• Provide coaching and guidance to PMs and Continuous Improvement Leads through the project lifecycle.
• Engage with Market and Regional Management teams to ensure changes lead to improved performance.

Ensure changes are embedded and benefits are realised after project closure

• Utilise the Operational Excellence community to coach and monitor delivery teams to ensure change is embedded and ‘sticks’.
• Partner with finance to ensure effective benefit realization tracking & interventions are in place.
• Demonstrate a clear return on investment from the team to the Group Executive committee.

Experience required

• Leading change in a portfolio management environment highly desired.
• Management consultancy background.
• Have a proven track record of building and leading engaged teams on a direct reporting and matrix basis.
• Leading a change function within a service organisation.
• Deploying KPI management systems.
• A proven track record of identifying and delivering tangible financial benefits associated with Operational Excellence and a demonstrable track record of delivering large scale, transformational operating model change programmes.
• Setting up a new function from ground zero.
• Managing and leading a nationally dispersed team of operational excellence resources.
• Governing a portfolio of programmes and projects.
• Setting up effective benefit realisation.
• Establishing and rolling out a lean six sigma methodology / tools.
• Delivering training on lean methods to achieve certification.
• Communicating with and influencing C-Suite stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Business / Economics / Engineering degree
• Masters in Business (desirable)
• Lean Black Belt