Continuous Improvement Lead

Xylem • Charlotte, NC

5d • $100,000 - $130,000

About The Position

Xylem is a Fortune 500 global water solutions company dedicated to advancing sustainable impact and empowering the people who make water work every day. As a leading water technology company with 23,000 employees operating in over 150 countries, Xylem is at the forefront of addressing the world's most critical water challenges. We invite passionate individuals to join our team, dedicated to exceeding customer expectations through innovative and sustainable solutions. Continuous Improvement (CI) Lead – Transactional Excellence Travel: Up to 50% About Xylem Xylem is a global water technology company committed to creating innovative and sustainable solutions to the world’s water challenges. Across more than 150 countries, our people are united by a purpose: to build a more water‑secure world through technology, collaboration, and continuous improvement. The Opportunity Xylem is seeking a Continuous Improvement (CI) Lead to help accelerate enterprise‑wide performance through Lean transformation in transactional and service environments . This role is designed for a CI leader who thrives beyond the factory floor and is passionate about improving how businesses operate across functions such as Finance, Sales, IT, Customer Service, and Operations . Reporting into the Water Solutions and Services (WSS) organization, the CI Lead partners closely with functional and site leadership to improve end‑to‑end business processes, enhance customer value, and deliver measurable financial impact. This role blends strategic influence, hands‑on execution, and coaching to embed Lean thinking as a sustainable way of working.

Requirements

• A successful candidate brings deep experience in Continuous Improvement and Lean methodologies, particularly within transactional, service, or enterprise environments
• A bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, or a related field is required
• Lean certification and/or Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification is strongly preferred.
• Typically, this role requires 5–10 years of experience in CI or operational excellence roles, with a demonstrated ability to lead change across functions and influence without direct authority.
• Experience applying Lean in Finance, Sales, Shared Services, IT, or Customer Operations is essential.
• Strong financial acumen is required, including the ability to interpret performance metrics, understand P&L impacts, and connect improvement initiatives to financial outcomes.
• Excellent facilitation, communication, presentation, and stakeholder‑management skills are critical, along with the ability to balance strategic thinking with hands‑on execution.
• This role is well suited for a motivated CI leader who enjoys working in a global, matrixed, and fast‑paced environment and is comfortable traveling up to 50% to support assigned sites and teams.

Nice To Haves

• A master’s degree is preferred.
• Lean certification and/or Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• The CI Lead enables teams across multiple sites and functions to adopt Lean principles and continuous improvement mindsets.
• This includes leading and coaching transactional improvement initiatives, building CI capability, and standardizing processes and methodologies that drive simplicity, flow, and performance.
• Responsibilities include partnering with business and functional leaders to identify improvement opportunities across key transactional value streams such as order‑to‑cash, quote‑to‑order, procure‑to‑pay, record‑to‑report, IT service management, and customer experience.
• CI initiatives are aligned to strategic priorities and focused on delivering meaningful, quantifiable results for customers and the business.
• The role facilitates cross‑functional improvement events, mentors teams in Lean tools such as process mapping, value stream mapping, problem solving, and standard work, and supports teams in sustaining gains over time.
• The CI Lead also analyzes operational and financial performance metrics, identifies trends and root causes, and helps leaders translate insights into action.
• In addition, this role plays a key part in sharing best practices and lessons learned across the organization, helping build enterprise‑wide consistency and maturity in Continuous Improvement.
• The CI Lead actively models Xylem’s values and Growth Enabling Behaviors by fostering accountability, empowerment, and a culture of learning and innovation.

Benefits

• At Xylem we offer a competitive compensation package with a generous benefit package, including Medical, Dental, Vision plans, 401(k) with company contribution, paid time off, paid parental leave and tuition reimbursement.
• At Xylem, you'll not only contribute to solving water issues but also have the chance to make a difference through our paid Volunteer Program, Xylem Watermark.
• We prioritize our employees' well-being through inclusion and belonging as well as our Employee Resource Groups (ERG).

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees