Head of Operational & Process Excellence

About Us:

How many companies can say they’ve been in business for over 177 years?!

Here at ZEISS, we certainly can! As the pioneers of science, ZEISS handles the everchanging environments in a fast-paced world, meeting it with cutting edge technologies and continuous advancements. ZEISS believes that innovation and technology are the key to a sustainable future and solutions for global change. We have a diverse range of portfolios throughout the ZEISS family in segments like Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology, Consumer Markets, and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology. We are a global company with over 42,000 employees and have over 4,000 in the US and Canada alone! Make a difference, come join the team!

What’s the role?

The Head of Operational & Process Excellence, North America plays a pivotal role in driving operational efficiency and excellence within ZEISS North America. This position leads a high-performing team focused on bridging strategic business units with business services and overseeing large-scale transformation programs. The mission is to cultivate a culture of continuous improvement and execution excellence, resulting in enhanced productivity and efficiency across all ZEISS North America activities, while ensuring compliance with regulations.

Sound Interesting?

Here’s what you’ll do:

Implementation of Project eNAble:

• Lead the successful implementation of project eNAble, an Executive Board sponsored transformation program.

• Drive the transition to continuous improvement and quality management post-project closure within ZEISS Business Services.

Process Excellence Management:

• Organize, moderate, and run end-to-end process design workshops in collaboration with businesses and Business Services.

• Develop comprehensive documentation of inputs/outputs, process steps, roles, responsibilities, and improvement opportunities.

• Manage PMO activities to track milestones and provide structured status reporting to the ZEISS Executive Board.

• Direct the Process Excellence team in determining implementation items/content and developing implementation plans.

• Support the development of tracking logic/tools for joint KPIs (End-to-End Performance Management).

• Partner closely with eNAble project lead and PMO to deliver on agreed milestones.

Enabling Harmonized Processes and SBU Fit4 Roll-In:

• Enable the introduction of harmonized processes across the organization.

• Support SBUs for Fit4 roll-in (S4Hana – ERP implementation) to align all businesses onto a common ERP and associated end-to-end processes.

Process Organization and Continuous Improvement:

• Conduct end-to-end process modeling and identify improvements, hand-offs, KPIs, and synergies.

• Define the interaction model between customers/business services and educate the organization on best practice continuous improvement methodologies, tools, discipline, and culture.

• Ensure appropriate training for the Process Excellence team and enable teams from both SBUs and Business Services towards continuous improvement thinking and methodologies.

• Act as a continuous improvement "challenger" on senior levels within ZEISS North America following the implementation of process improvements.

• Act as an interface to a wide range of senior stakeholders both within North America and on Corporate/global levels.

Quality Management:

• Develop capabilities across North America for operational quality management.

• Establish a governance framework leveraging existing standards from the global Operational Excellence team.

• Implement regular audit schedules and partner with the business to identify improvement opportunities.

• Support the business with accreditation as required.

• Stay abreast of and share industry best practices.

• Provide steering, education, and advisory support to the business.

Team Structure:

• This role manages a team of 5 direct reports:

  • 2 FTE Operational Excellence Managers

  • PMO Lead/Business Transformation

  • 1 Process Excellence Manager

  • 1 Quality Manager

Do you qualify?

Education and Certification:

• Master's degree preferred, with additional Supply Chain or Process Management certifications highly desirable.

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive responsibility in a fast-paced environment.
• Track record in identifying, selecting, motivating, and developing staff.
• Proven experience mana