Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence Lead

Canopius; Manchester; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Canopius in Manchester is seeking a Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence Lead to embed a unified CI approach across the business. You will design and deliver practical improvements, working with operating teams, third‑party partners and change delivery to enhance efficiency, quality and customer outcomes.

The role combines hands‑on improvement delivery with capability building, focusing on reducing waste and driving simplified, standardised processes in a regulated insurance

Qualifications

• Proven experience establishing, leading or maturing continuous improvement capability across a complex organisation.
• Strong knowledge of Lean, Lean Six Sigma, process improvement and operational excellence methodologies.
• End-to-end process analysis and problem-solving capability, translating insight into practical improvements with measurable outcomes.
• Experience across change, project, small change and agile delivery environments with governance, prioritisation and delivery discipline.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, able to explain complex processes and governance to senior leaders and teams.
• Ability to build trusted relationships across business functions and sponsor improvement opportunities.
• Comfortable operating independently, bringing structure to ambiguity and owning frameworks, standards, reporting and improvement ways of working.
• Data-led mindset with ability to define measures, track benefits and drive decisions from insights.
• Insurance/London Market or broader financial services experience preferred, with understanding of regulated environments.
• Experience designing enterprise process standards, playbooks and governance artefacts for consistent ways of working.

Responsibilities

• Build a Continuous Improvement community within Canopius and Framework to support improvements.
• Support the maintenance and practical application of the continuous improvement framework, standards and governance processes.
• Coordinate improvement activity across CI, Small Change, Projects and AI initiatives for alignment and prioritisation.
• Apply best practice approaches to process improvement and change implementation, considering benefits, risks and customer outcomes.
• Drive consistency in process design, documentation, governance and measurement across functions.
• Support development and reporting of improvement metrics, benefits realisation and operational performance insights.
• Support business leaders in embedding a culture of continuous improvement, innovation and accountability.
• Support development and maintenance of enterprise design standards and decision‑making frameworks.
• Provide CI input into business design discussions, assessing impacts, dependencies, benefits and risks.

Skills

Lean Six Sigma

Process Improvement

Change Delivery

Stakeholder Influence

Data-driven Decisions

Regulated Financial Services

Process Governance

End-to-end Analysis

AI Opportunities

Job description

The Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence Lead will support and embed a consistent approach to continuous improvement, working across teams to identify, shape and deliver practical improvements that align to business priorities and the end-to-end operating model.

Working across Canopius, the role will contribute to process design, operating model improvement and delivery discipline, helping ensure activities across Continuous Improvement, Small Change, Projects and AI-enabled initiatives are coordinated, clearly owned and appropriately routed.

The Continuous Improvement Lead plays a key role in embedding a culture of continuous improvement, operational excellence, and simplification across Canopius. Based in Manchester, the role focuses on working closely with operational teams, change delivery, and third‑party partners to identify, design, and implement sustainable improvements to processes, services, and ways of working.

The role combines hands‑on improvement delivery with capability building, supporting teams to adopt pragmatic Lean and continuous improvement approaches that improve efficiency, quality, consistency, and customer outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Build a Continuous Improvement community within Canopius and Framework to support
• Support the maintenance and practical application of the continuous improvement framework, standards and governance processes.
• Help coordinate improvement activity across Continuous Improvement, Small Change, Projects and AI initiatives to support alignment, clear ownership and appropriate prioritisation.
• Apply best practice approaches to process improvement, operational excellence, Lean methodologies and change implementation, ensuring improvement opportunities consider benefits, risks, process impacts and customer outcomes.
• Drive consistency in process design, documentation,governanceand measurement across all business functions.
• Support the development and reporting of improvement metrics, benefits realisation and operational performance insights.
• Support business leaders in creating a culture of continuous improvement,innovationand accountability
• Support the development and maintenance of enterprise design standards, governanceprocessesand decision‑making frameworks.
• Provide continuous improvement input into business design discussions, helping assess process impacts, dependencies, benefits, risks, resource needs and customer outcomes before changes are progressed.

Skills and experience

• Proven experience establishing, leading or maturing continuous improvement capability across a complex organisation, ideally within a regulated financial services or insurance environment.
• Strong knowledge of Lean, Lean Six Sigma, process improvement and operational excellence methodologies, with the practical judgement to apply them pragmatically rather than academically.
• Strong end‑to‑end process analysis and problem‑solving capability, with the ability to translate insight into practical improvement opportunities, clear recommendations and measurable outcomes.
• Experience working across change, project, small change and agile delivery environments, with a sound understanding of prioritisation, governance, delivery discipline and dependency management.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to explain complex process, operating model and governance concepts clearly to senior leaders, operational teams and change stakeholders.
• Ability to build trusted relationships across business functions and act as a credible partner to leaders, helping them identify, shape and sustain improvement opportunities.
• Comfortable operating independently, bringing structure to ambiguity and taking ownership for frameworks, standards, reporting and continuous improvement ways of working.
• Data‑led and outcome‑focused mindset, with experience defining measures, tracking benefits, interpreting operational performance data and using insight to drive better decisions.
• Insurance, London Market or broader financial services experience preferred, with an understanding of regulated operational environments, controls, customer outcomes and risk considerations.
• Experience designing or maintaining process standards, playbooks, repositories, ownership models and governance artefacts that support consistent enterprise‑wide ways of working.
• Ability to identify duplication, overlap and fragmentation across improvement activity, and to help route initiatives through the most appropriate delivery path.
• Awareness of AI‑enabled improvement opportunities and the ability to assess where automation, data or technology can simplify work, improve quality or enhance operational performance.