Senior Manager, Continuous Improvement

Who We Want

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Senior Manager of Continuous Improvement to lead the development and deployment of a world-class culture of operational excellence across our organisation. This role will report to the Site Lead and sit on the SLT. This leader will drive strategic alignment, Lean transformation, and sustained performance improvement by empowering teams, building capability, and embedding continuous improvement as a core business discipline. The successful candidate will combine strong leadership and coaching skills with a deep understanding of Lean methodologies, change management, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver measurable and lasting business impact.

What You Will Do
Technical / Managerial Responsibilities

• Lead and evolve the site’s Continuous Improvement (CI) strategy, aligning with divisional and corporate goals around Cost, Quality, Delivery, People, and Innovation.
• Develop, mentor, and lead a high-performing CI team, ensuring a robust talent pipeline and strong succession planning.
• Act as the strategic thought partner to senior leaders, coaching them on Lean leadership, problem-solving, and performance management.
• Champion Shingijutsu / Kaizen, Lean, and Six Sigma methodologies to drive breakthrough improvements in productivity, flow, and waste elimination.
• Lead major site-wide improvement programs and business transformation initiatives that impact multiple value streams, ensuring measurable results and sustainability.
• Embed Leader Standard Work (LSW), tiered accountability, and visual management systems to ensure ongoing operational discipline and continuous learning.
• Translate site and business unit strategies into actionable objectives, cascading them effectively through the CI organisation.
• Build organisational capability through training, coaching, and hands-on facilitation of improvement events and workshops.
• Leverage strong influencing and communication skills to engage diverse stakeholders, from operators to executives, in achieving shared goals.

Business Responsibilities

• Drive financial accountability by leading cost transformation initiatives, productivity programs, and value stream optimisations that improve profitability and efficiency.
• Partner with functional leaders to identify and prioritise strategic improvement opportunities, developing business cases and ensuring alignment with corporate priorities.
• Foster a culture of innovation and empowerment, enabling employees at all levels to contribute to process improvements.
• Apply structured problem-solving methodologies (A3, DMAIC, PDCA, GPS, PPS) to drive root-cause analysis and sustain corrective actions.
• Benchmark best practices across Stryker sites and the broader industry, ensuring the organisation remains at the forefront of manufacturing and operational excellence.
• Support strategic planning, KPI alignment, and execution tracking, ensuring consistency and transparency of performance management across the organisation.

Compliance and Quality

• Ensure all CI initiatives uphold Stryker’s standards for quality, safety, and regulatory compliance.
• Lead and mentor others to apply Lean tools in compliance-sensitive environments, ensuring improvements align with QMS, EHS, and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain accurate documentation of CI activities, results, and governance metrics in accordance with company policy.

Education / Work Experience

• Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in Engineering, Business, or related field required; Master’s degree preferred.
• 10+ years of relevant experience in manufacturing, operations, or continuous improvement, with 4+ years in people leadership roles.
• Proven track record of deploying Lean or Operational Excellence programs within a large manufacturing or regulated environment (medical device or similar industry preferred).
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification (or equivalent) preferred.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional teams and achieving measurable, sustainable performance improvements.

Knowledge / Competencies

Technical Skills Required

• Expert-level understanding of Lean, Six Sigma, and problem-solving methodologies.
• Proficiency in strategy deployment (Hoshin Kanri), value stream mapping, and standard work development.
• Demonstrated ability to lead Kaizen events and deliver quantifiable outcomes.
• Familiarity with digital transformation and analytics tools that support CI initiatives (e.g., Power BI, digital Gemba boards, or IIoT dashboards).

Leadership Skills

• Inspiring and inclusive leader who develops others through coaching, feedback, and recognition.
• Strong ability to influence without authority and build trust across organisational levels.
• Skilled communicator who can translate complex improvement concepts into actionable business strategies.
• Proven capability to manage multiple high-impact initiatives simultaneously and deliver results on time and within budget.
• Culturally adept and experienced in leading diverse teams in a fast-paced, results-driven environment.

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