Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence Lead

vavemga; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Canopius in Manchester seeks a Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence Lead to embed a consistent approach across teams, shaping and delivering practical improvements aligned to business priorities and the end-to-end operating model.

The role spans process design, operating model improvement and delivery discipline, coordinating CI, Small Change, Projects and AI initiatives while embedding a culture of simplification and operational excellence throughout the organisation.

Qualifications

• Proven experience establishing or maturing continuous improvement capabilities in a complex organisation.
• Strong knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma and operational excellence with pragmatic application.
• End-to-end process analysis and problem-solving to deliver measurable outcomes.
• Experience across change, projects, small change and agile delivery environments.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills for senior leaders and teams.
• Ability to build trusted relationships and sustain improvement opportunities.
• Insurance, London Market or financial services exposure is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Build a Continuous Improvement community to support Canopius and Framework.
• Maintain and apply the continuous improvement framework, standards and governance.
• Coordinate improvement activity across CI, Small Change, Projects and AI initiatives.
• Apply lean and change methodologies with focus on benefits and customer outcomes.
• Drive consistency in process design, governance and measurement.
• Develop and report improvement metrics and benefits realisation.
• Support leaders in building a culture of continuous improvement and accountability.
• Maintain enterprise design standards and decision-making frameworks.
• Assess process impacts, dependencies and risks before changes progress.

Skills

CI leadership

Lean Six Sigma

Process improvement

Change delivery

Stakeholder management

Data-driven decisions

Regulated insurance experience

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.