Senior Continuous Improvement Analyst

CSU Careers•San José, CA

About The Position

The Senior Continuous Improvement Analyst is a high-level individual contributor and internal consultant who leads complex, institution-wide process improvement, operational analysis, and business innovation initiatives across academic, student, and administrative divisions. Working independently, the role applies advanced continuous improvement, project management, research, analytical, and facilitation methods to assess organizational challenges, develop solutions, and guide implementation to improve service delivery, operational effectiveness, and institutional performance. The position independently leads highly complex, cross-functional projects; advises campus leaders on improvement opportunities; facilitates future-state process and implementation planning; and develops analytical frameworks and performance measures for data-informed decisions. It influences outcomes across decentralized organizational units through expertise, consultation, facilitation, and consensus-building rather than direct administrative authority.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree and/or equivalent training.
Six years of administrative work experience involving study, analysis, and/or evaluation leading to the development or improvement of administrative policies, procedures, practices, or programs.
Advanced knowledge of continuous improvement, organizational analysis, process redesign, project management, change management, and operational performance methodologies, with demonstrated ability to apply them to highly complex organizational challenges.
Expert analytical and problem-solving skills, including integrating complex quantitative and qualitative information, identifying underlying principles and organizational implications, and developing strategic and operational recommendations.
Ability to independently plan, organize, lead, and implement multiple complex cross-functional initiatives with broad institutional impact.
Advanced consultative and facilitation skills, including engaging diverse stakeholders, navigating competing priorities, influencing without direct authority, and building consensus around complex or sensitive issues.
Ability to assess organizational problems from a systems-oriented perspective, anticipate downstream impacts, and develop proactive solutions aligned with strategic goals and operational implementation.
Advanced written, verbal, presentation, and data-visualization skills, including communicating complex analysis and recommendations to executive and other leadership audiences.
Demonstrated skill in research, operational analysis, performance measurement, program/process evaluation, and interpreting data to develop sound conclusions and recommendations.
Knowledge of change-management principles and ability to develop strategies that support stakeholder readiness, adoption, implementation, and sustainability of organizational change.
Ability to establish effective working relationships and serve as a trusted internal consultant to executives, administrators, faculty, staff, and other internal and external stakeholders.
Proficiency with contemporary project-management, process-mapping, analytical, visualization, and collaboration tools appropriate to the work.
General awareness of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and willingness to develop skills in their appropriate, responsible, and ethical use in higher education, consistent with institutional policies and practices.
Ability to communicate with constituents professionally and respectfully.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in business administration, public administration, higher education administration, organizational development, industrial/systems engineering, or a related field.
Professional certification in one or more relevant disciplines, such as PMP, Lean Six Sigma, Prosci/CCMP, or comparable certification.
Experience leading complex, cross-functional process improvement, organizational effectiveness, operational analysis, or institutional improvement initiatives.
Experience consulting with senior leaders and facilitating diverse stakeholder groups to analyze complex problems, develop recommendations, and build consensus.
Experience applying Lean, Lean Six Sigma, process improvement, change management, project management, or related methodologies in complex organizational environments.
Experience developing operational performance measures, analyzing organizational data, and translating findings into recommendations and decision-support materials.
Experience in higher education, the public sector, or similarly complex decentralized organizations.

Responsibilities

Plan and lead discovery sessions and value stream mapping workshops with campus stakeholders and subject matter experts to map current-state workflows.
Translate complex, cross-departmental operations into clear, standardized swim lane process diagrams using Lucidchart or similar tools.
Analyze complex cross-functional operations to identify root causes, organizational dependencies, policy and procedural barriers, service gaps, redundancies, and opportunities to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
Develop and recommend strategic and operational solutions, future-state processes, and implementation approaches for complex organizational challenges.
Consult with campus leaders and cross-functional teams, facilitate complex discussions, reconcile competing priorities, and build consensus on improvement opportunities and recommended solutions.
Develop performance measures, KPIs, and evaluation frameworks to establish operational baselines, assess opportunities, and evaluate implemented changes.
Collect, integrate, analyze, and interpret quantitative and qualitative operational information to identify trends, root causes, organizational impacts, and improvement opportunities.
Translate complex analyses into clear findings, recommendations, visualizations, and executive-level decision-support materials.
Develop and maintain reporting tools and dashboards to monitor operational performance and communicate progress toward goals.
Independently plan, lead, and implement complex cross-functional process improvement and operational initiatives, defining scope, approach, milestones, deliverables, risks, and measures of success.
Develop project charters, implementation plans, risk assessments, decision documents, progress reports, and recommendations for sponsors and institutional leaders.
Provide functional leadership to multidisciplinary project teams and coordinate work across decentralized organizational units, establishing accountability without direct supervisory authority.
Evaluate project decisions and recommendations from a broad organizational perspective, identify downstream impacts, and ensure solutions support institutional priorities and longer-term objectives.