Director – Continuous Improvement

West Bend Insurance Company • West Bend, WI

2d • $157,900 - $197,375 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Continuous Improvement will establish and mature the enterprise continuous improvement capability, governance framework, and operating model. The role enables business divisions to identify, prioritize, implement, and sustain improvements that strengthen efficiency, quality, associate and customer experience, and business outcomes.

In partnership with senior executives, functional leaders, and cross-functional teams, the Director will challenge existing practices, redesign workflows, reduce complexity, and build a culture of continuous improvement. As head of the Continuous Improvement Center of Excellence (COE), the Director sets enterprise standards for methodology, governance, capability development, coaching, and portfolio oversight. The role partners with business leaders to embed ownership and execution within divisions while maintaining enterprise consistency, transparency, and alignment.

The position offers a hybrid work schedule for candidates located within 50 miles of a West Bend office, with in-person collaboration days, team meetings, and other events. The position can be based in West Bend, Wisconsin. The stated salary range is $157,900–$197,375; actual base pay depends on job-related knowledge and skills, experience, business needs, location, and internal equity. The role is eligible for a performance-based bonus.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business, operations, organizational effectiveness, technology, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in continuous improvement, business transformation, operations, process excellence, organizational effectiveness, or related leadership roles.
• Demonstrated experience leading large-scale, cross-functional process improvement initiatives with measurable business impact.
• Knowledge of process improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, value stream mapping, root cause analysis, process mapping, and performance measurement.
• Experience working with senior leaders to evaluate business processes, influence decisions, and drive change across functions.
• Ability to translate complex operational challenges into practical, actionable improvement plans.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in insurance, financial services, or another highly regulated industry.
• Advanced degree.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification.

Responsibilities

• Establish and lead the enterprise Continuous Improvement Center of Excellence (COE).
• Develop and maintain the enterprise continuous improvement methodology, standards, tools, templates, and governance framework.
• Lead, coach, and develop direct reports, managing performance and building future leadership capacity.
• Create a culture of accountability, engagement, continuous improvement, and high performance.
• Define and maintain enterprise standards for identifying, prioritizing, measuring, and sustaining improvement opportunities.
• Assess organizational continuous improvement maturity and develop capability-building roadmaps.
• Facilitate a Community of Practice to share best practices, lessons learned, tools, and success stories across divisions.
• Partner with division leaders to strengthen local ownership and accountability for continuous improvement.
• Provide leadership, coaching, standards, and oversight for evaluating business processes, workflows, handoffs, controls, and decision points to identify inefficiencies, duplication, bottlenecks, risks, and improvement opportunities.
• Develop and execute a continuous improvement strategy aligned with business priorities, the operating model, customer expectations, and transformation goals.
• Establish standards for data, performance metrics, process mapping, root cause analysis, Lean Six Sigma, and other improvement methodologies, and coach leaders in applying them effectively.
• Constructively challenge existing practices and help leaders and teams adopt more effective, scalable, and future-focused processes.
• Lead change management to support adoption of new processes, including stakeholder engagement, communication, training, readiness planning, and reinforcement.
• Establish key performance indicators and reporting mechanisms to measure improvement impact, including efficiency gains, cost savings, cycle-time reduction, quality improvement, risk reduction, and experience outcomes.
• Build continuous improvement capability by coaching leaders, developing practical tools, and creating repeatable methods for process review and redesign.
• Establish and monitor standards for benefit validation, sustainment, and accountability.
• Provide executive leadership with regular reporting and recommendations on enterprise improvement performance, capability maturity, and strategic opportunities.
• Create governance and prioritization routines so improvement opportunities are evaluated, sequenced, resourced, and connected to enterprise priorities.
• Advise senior leadership on operational effectiveness, process modernization, and opportunities to simplify work while strengthening execution.

Benefits

• Medical and prescription insurance
• Health Savings Account
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Short- and long-term disability
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Life and Accidental Death & Disability insurance
• Accident and Critical Illness insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Pet insurance
• Paid time off; standard first-year PTO is 17 days, prorated based on month of hire, with enhanced PTO potentially available for experienced candidates
• Performance-based bonus eligibility

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director