Head of Operational Excellence

Success Academy Charter Schools•New York, NY

About The Position

Success Academy is seeking a Head of Operational Excellence (Head of Edge) to lead a team of Lean/PE and Project Management practitioners, with full leadership responsibility for all strategic operational improvement and change management activities across the enterprise. In this role, you will be the owner of the PE strategy and pipeline, accountable for driving measurable performance improvement across the company. You will strategically partner with all leaders across SA to: identify and continuously improve business processes where performance improvements are required; drive a PE mindset and ensure an appropriate foundation of PE skills in the organization; and provide coaching and training to leaders and employees as they enable improvements and sustain results using PE tools, analytics, and improved performance reporting.

Requirements

8+ years of demonstrated process improvement / operational excellence or lean business system experience with proficiency in applying lean or growth principles in a variety of situations.
Effective coaching skills/developer of talent with demonstrated ability to work effectively in a team environment, with a track record of building and developing high-performing cross-functional problem-solving teams.
Experimentation mindset – able to help teams take and manage risk, drive experimentation to facilitate learning.
Demonstrated ability to lead an organization through significant change without losing momentum; ability to inspire continuous focus on key business drivers, as well as Success Academy Charter Schools' mission and values.
Strong communicator, both verbal and written, to engage, influence, and get buy-in from all levels of internal and external stakeholders.
Mastery of a variety of PE tools (specifically: Lean, DMAIC/PSP, Daily Management, Kaizen, Standard Work, and Policy Deployment/Strategic Business Transformation) and proficiency in applying them to deliver measurable results.
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, or another relevant field.

Responsibilities

Develop the PE roadmap, aligned with business priorities, in partnership with senior leadership and business and functional leaders to achieve annual targets, functional KPIs, and strategic plan objectives.
Promote and facilitate the diagnosis of workflow impediments and other wastes throughout the business, and provide expert counsel on appropriate PE tools to eliminate them.
Lead focused Problem Solving Process (PSP) and Kaizen events to drive process improvement and cross-functional communication.
As the owner of PE tools, promote their use and improvement (Standard Work, Transactional Process Improvement (TPI), Problem Solving Process (PSP), Daily Management, Kaizens) to foster continuous improvement throughout the organization.
Be an active leader in Policy Deployment (Strategic Transformation / Hoshin Kanri) and Daily Management initiatives in partnership with business leadership.
Own, deliver, and improve the PE training program. Promote and facilitate employee training in PE Fundamentals, Lean tools, and other PE training sessions as required. Evaluate and approve candidates for the Certified Practitioner level.