Director, Danaher Business Systems (Continuous Improvement, Lean, Operations)

Danaher Corporation•Muskegon, MI

20d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director, Danaher Business Systems is responsible for leading deployment and maturation of the Danaher Business System (DBS) across Cytiva’s Muskegon site, in alignment with business priorities, site complexity, and operational readiness. The role supports Day 1 manufacturing readiness, including approved validation, and aligns site and project functions to enable safe start-up and consistent product quality. The Director strengthens the site’s daily management system and coaches leaders and teams in DBS principles, tools, and problem solving. The role coordinates high-impact Kaizen events and site improvement initiatives, encourages independent Kaizen leadership within the Muskegon team, and connects the site with wider Cytiva and Danaher resources and peer networks. This position reports to the Senior Director Operations, Muskegon, is part of the Operations leadership team, and is based on-site in Muskegon, Michigan.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, operations, business, or a related field.
Demonstrated success coaching senior leaders and cross-functional teams to strengthen operating rigor, drive accountability, and align competing priorities with critical business outcomes.
Ability to lead in high-pressure, evolving environments while balancing competing priorities.
Deep knowledge of DBS tools, daily management, transactional process improvement, visual project management, lean conversion, leader standard work, problem-solving processes, and sustainment monitoring and coaching, with demonstrated ability to apply them at scale.
Strong business judgment and ability to translate enterprise and site needs into clear improvement priorities, measurable outcomes, and disciplined execution.
Exceptional facilitation, influence, and change leadership skills, with credibility to challenge and guide leaders across functions and levels.

Nice To Haves

Five or more years of experience leading business system deployment, continuous improvement, or operational excellence in complex manufacturing or operations environments.
Experience in a start-up, high-growth, or evolving site environment.
Experience working with competing operational and project priorities, including cross-functional coordination, timeline management, and resource constraints.
Experience at Danaher or in another highly mature lean business system environment.

Responsibilities

Establish core DBS elements to support Day 1 manufacturing readiness, including approved validation, and align site and project functions around safe start-up and consistent product quality.
Strengthen the site’s daily management system through visual management, leader standard work, and accountability routines.
Coach leaders to use DBS rigor to drive accountability while building trust, engagement, and sustained improvement.
Assess DBS maturity with site leadership, identify gaps, and coach leaders and teams on DBS principles, tools, and problem solving.
Coordinate high-impact multi-Kaizen events and site-level improvement initiatives while enabling the Muskegon team to lead individual Kaizens independently.
Influence and appropriately challenge leaders so improvement commitments are clear, measurable, and followed through.
Connect the site to broader Cytiva and Danaher DBS resources, best practices, and peer networks.