Vice President of Operational Excellence

Overview

The Vice President of Operational Excellence is a senior executive role dedicated to optimizing and continuously enhancing the operational management system of the organization. This position holds accountability for creating and executing strategies in operational excellence, business process reengineering, lean management, and boosting cross-departmental efficiencies. By developing standardized, digitized, and continuous improvement-focused operational systems, the role drives cost reduction, quality improvements, and organizational effectiveness, thereby supporting the company’s sustainable growth and competitive advantage.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop the comprehensive operational excellence strategy along with a medium- to long-term roadmap for process improvements.
• Lead the shift from legacy experience-based operations to standardized, data-driven, and process-centric management systems.
• Ensure the operational excellence plans align tightly with the company's overall business goals.
• Manage core business process optimization and business process reengineering (BPR), implementing continuous improvement tools such as Lean, Six Sigma, and Kaizen.
• Remove inefficiencies by eliminating waste, improving quality, and enhancing delivery performance.
• Design and enforce enterprise-wide cost optimization mechanisms to improve profit margins and asset utilization.
• Establish and advance unified quality management systems, standard operating procedures, and best practice replication.
• Promote superior customer satisfaction and consistent organizational performance through high standards adherence.
• Champion digital transformation efforts by driving implementation of platforms like ERP, MES, and BI, and utilize data-based KPIs for enhanced decision-making.
• Coordinate cross-functional collaboration across departments including Production, Supply Chain, Sales, Finance, and HR to achieve operational improvements.
• Set up and lead an Operational PMO or Excellence Office to manage strategic operational projects and change initiatives throughout the enterprise.
• Recruit, develop, and sustain a strong operational excellence team skilled in lean management and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Encourage a culture of operational excellence that permeates the entire organization fostering broad-based engagement.

Qualifications and Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree or higher in Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related discipline is mandatory.
• Preferred additions include an MBA and certification as a Lean or Six Sigma Black Belt.
• Possess over 20 years of experience in operations management, process improvement, or continuous improvement areas.
• Have at least 15 years in senior leadership roles with evidence of successfully establishing operational excellence frameworks in large-scale organizations.
• Demonstrate expertise in operational system design, lean management, cost control, cross-functional leadership, and organizational influence.
• Preferred backgrounds include experience within manufacturing, supply chains, or large-scale service environments.
• Demonstrated exposure to global operations or multi-regional management scenarios is desirable.
• Experience leading digital transformations or smart manufacturing initiatives is an asset.
• Proven ability to manage enterprise-level PMOs or operational transformation offices is advantageous.