Business Analysis Manager (Operational Excellence Manager)

Wolters Kluwer•Chicago, IL

22d

About The Position

The Operational Excellence Manager plays a hands-on and strategic role in identifying, executing, and sustaining continuous improvement initiatives across Service and FCOE operations. This individual contributor partners with leadership to assess current-state workflows, identify inefficiencies, and define future-state solutions. The role drives measurable improvements through data-driven analysis, technology enablement, and methodologies including Lean, Six Sigma, and Agentic AI. The manager performs process assessments, studies workflows, develops process maps, and recommends improvements to reduce operating expenses, increase throughput, reduce defects, and improve cost-to-serve metrics. The role develops business cases and executive-ready recommendations; leads cross-functional improvement initiatives; tracks progress, risks, dependencies, and results; and develops reusable standards and toolkits. The position uses analytics, reporting, and root-cause analysis to diagnose performance issues and validate impact. It partners with technology teams to explore automation, AI, agentic AI, and other emerging tools, and defines and monitors KPIs. It also collaborates across departments to gather requirements and execute changes, leads change-management activities such as communications, training documentation, and SOP updates, and advises senior stakeholders on progress and outcomes. Domestic travel may be up to 10% annually.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required.
At least 5 years of experience in operational improvement, service delivery, fulfillment, business analysis, or process optimization roles.
Hands-on experience with process mapping, workflow analysis, value stream mapping, and root-cause analysis.
Proficiency with process mapping and visualization tools such as Visio, Lucid, Miro, or Smartsheet.
Experience with continuous improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, or Kaizen.
Strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, including the ability to interpret data, identify root causes, and develop actionable solutions.
Proficiency with Excel, Power BI, analytics, and workflow tools.
Solid understanding of business operations, strategic planning, and financial modeling for business-case development.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to influence cross-functional teams and senior leadership.
Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with strong attention to detail.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate across functions and build relationships.
Proven ability to lead teams and stakeholders through change, resolve conflict, and work in dynamic environments.
Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Analytics, or a related field.
Lean or Six Sigma certification.
Experience supporting digital transformation or automation initiatives.
Familiarity with AI-driven process improvements and emerging technologies.
Familiarity with enterprise systems and data analytics tools such as Power BI.
Experience working with technology partners to implement digital solutions.
Experience with Microsoft Office Suite, including MS Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook; project management software such as Smartsheet or JIRA; workflow mapping tools such as Visio, Miro, or Lucid; and reporting tools such as Power BI or equivalent.

Responsibilities

Conduct process assessments to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, risks, and improvement opportunities using Lean, Six Sigma, and other process-improvement methodologies.
Perform time-motion studies, workflow observations, and quantitative assessments to establish baseline performance and identify improvement levers.
Create current-state and future-state process maps using tools such as Visio, Lucid, Miro, or Smartsheet.
Recommend and implement improvements to lower operating expenses, increase throughput, reduce defects, and improve cost-to-serve metrics.
Lead business-case development, including cost-benefit analyses, effort estimates, options, and risk assessments, and present executive-ready recommendations.
Lead cross-functional improvement initiatives and manage projects directly as needed to ensure timely delivery and measurable outcomes.
Track and document initiative progress, risks, escalations, dependencies, and results for portfolio visibility and reporting.
Develop reusable standards, playbooks, and toolkits to promote consistent ways of working and support scale.
Use data analytics, reporting tools, and root-cause analysis to diagnose performance issues, quantify opportunities, and validate impact.
Partner with technology teams to explore and validate automation, AI, agentic AI, and other emerging technologies for operational workflows.
Define, collect, and monitor KPIs and operational metrics to evaluate initiative impact and guide ongoing improvements.
Maintain documentation and partner with the reporting team to create dashboards and artifacts for operational monitoring and decision-making.
Collaborate with Technology, Product, Service Operations, FCOE, and other departments to gather requirements, validate process changes, and execute improvement plans.
Lead change-management activities, including communications, training documentation, SOP updates, and adoption support.
Provide senior stakeholders and leaders with structured updates on progress, challenges, risks, and outcomes.
Travel domestically up to 10% annually.