Operational and Process Excellence Lead

At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections,  where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

We are seeking a highly experienced and results-oriented Operational and Process Excellence Lead to join the affiliate leadership team of our Diagnostics Affiliate in Johannesburg. This strategic role will be pivotal in shaping, implementing, and sustaining a culture of operational excellence within the organization. By leveraging industry best practices, continuous improvement methodologies, and your ability to lead diverse teams, you will drive transformation across business-critical processes to deliver significant business value.

You will work closely with cross-functional stakeholders within the affiliate, regional teams, and global functions, ensuring alignment with the organization's broader strategic objectives. This role holds direct responsibility for a team of professionals whose aim is to deliver process improvements, enhance operational efficiencies, and support large-scale change initiatives.

Key Challenges

Strategic Leadership

• Serve as a critical member of the affiliate leadership team, providing strategic direction on operational and process excellence initiatives.

• Develop and implement an affiliate-wide operational excellence roadmap aligned with the organization's overall business strategy and goals.

• Actively contribute to affiliate strategy discussions by integrating process excellence with organizational objectives.

Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Lead the design, execution, and governance of affiliate-wide process improvement programs to optimize efficiency, performance, and customer satisfaction.

• Design and implement frameworks, tools, and metrics to monitor and evaluate operational performance.

• Oversee deployment of Lean & Agile or other relevant methodologies to drive continuous improvement.

• Partner with functional and regional leaders to analyze, re-engineer, and optimize key workflows and business processes.

• Drive the adoption of digital tools and technologies to enhance operational agility and performance.

• Overall accountability for Export & Sanction compliance .

Change Management & Leadership Development

• Be a change ambassador within the affiliate, championing operational excellence and fostering an innovation-driven mindset.

• Establish coaching and training programs to build capabilities in process excellence across all levels of the organization.

• Drive cross-functional alignment to ensure successful adoption of new processes, systems, and tools.

Team Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop the Operational and Process Excellence team to deliver high-impact initiatives.

• Foster a collaborative and innovative team culture to enhance individual and collective performance.

• Allocate resources effectively to support strategic projects, ensuring alignment with business priorities.

Performance Management & Reporting

• Develop and maintain key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success of process improvement initiatives and operational efficiency goals.

• Provide regular reports and data-driven insights to the affiliate leadership team to guide decision-making.

• Act as the key point of contact with regional/global operational excellence forums and input into global best practices.

BBBEE

• Develop sustainable and fit for purpose BBBEE strategy for the organization

• Synchronize and monitor all functions responsible for being compliant with BBBEE

• Provide regular reports and data-driven insights to the affiliate leadership team to guide decision-making.

• Implementation of agreed programs

Who you are as our ideal candidate

• You hold a Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Operations Management, or a related field (Master’s degree preferred).

• You have 10+ years of relevant experience in process excellence, operations, or a related field, with at least 5 years in a strategic leadership role.

• Proven track record of implementing operational excellence frameworks in highly matrixed organizations.

• Strong experience with Lean, Agile and other continuous improvement methodologies.

• Hands-on experience leading large-scale process transformation initiatives.

• Strong experience in BBBEE Management controls and implementation is an asset

• Skills & Competencies - 

• Exceptional leadership skills with the ability to influence cross-functional teams and stakeholders at all levels.

• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, with the ability to derive insights from complex data.

• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills to engage stakeholders and inspire teams.

• Deep understanding of digital transformation trends and their implications for operational excellence.

• Capable of thriving in a fast-paced, high-change, and collaborative business environment.

A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.

Let’s build a healthier future, together.