Head Operational Excellence, GBS India

Sodexo; Mumbai; On-site; INR 4,500,000 - 7,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Sodexo, a global leader in quality of life services, seeks a Head of Operational Excellence for GBS India in Mumbai. The role partners with business and operations leaders to diagnose service delivery challenges and translate them into practical, measurable improvement programs across processes, controls, and governance.

The incumbent applies Lean Six Sigma, DMAIC, Kaizen, and value-stream methods to drive productivity, quality, cycle times, risk management, and customer experience while

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Management, Engineering, Statistics, Finance, CS, PM or related field.
• Certifications in Agile, PMP, Lean, Design Thinking or Systems Thinking are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Conduct structured diagnostics of end-to-end service delivery across experience, vendors, people, process, technology, and governance.
• Frame problem statements, hypotheses and transformation priorities with stakeholder inputs and data.

Skills

Lean Six Sigma

DMAIC/Kaizen

Process mapping

Root cause analysis

Data visualization

Power BI

Automation

RPA

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Tools

Power BI

Excel

Process mining tools

Workflow tools

AI productivity tools

Job description

Job title: Head Operational Excellence, GBS India

Reporting to: Head - Strategic Initiatives and Transitions, GBS India

Location: Goregaon East, NESCO

Purpose of the job:

• Reporting to the Head – Strategic Initiatives, this role acts as an internal consultant and opex partner for Global Business Services, helping business and operations leaders diagnose complex service delivery challenges and convert them into practical, measurable improvement programs.
• The role is responsible for assessing end-to-end processes, identifying improvement opportunities, developing business cases, shaping solution options, and enabling sustainable adoption across shared services operations.
• Working closely with business operations leaders, process owners, functional stakeholders, technology teams, and support functions, the Ops Excellence lead helps strengthen productivity, quality, cost, controls, customer experience, and service performance.
• The role combines consulting-led problem solving, Lean Six Sigma / Operational Excellence practices, stakeholder facilitation, change adoption, benefits tracking, and executive-ready communication to embed a culture of continuous improvement and value realization.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

Consultative Diagnostics, Transformation Advisory & Business Case Development:

• Conduct structured diagnostic assessments of end-to-end service delivery operations across customer/stakeholder experience, vendors, people, process, technology, controls, data, and governance.
• Frame clear problem statements, hypotheses, opportunity themes, and transformation priorities based on facts, stakeholder inputs, process evidence, and operational data.
• Develop executive-ready business cases and project proposals covering the case for change, recommended interventions, benefit sizing, success metrics, risks, dependencies, investment needs, and implementation options.
• Translate diagnostic findings into practical solution options covering process simplification, standardization, automation, operating model improvements, controls, governance, and change adoption.
• Constructively challenge assumptions and influence stakeholders using structured problem solving, benchmarks, analytical evidence, and strong consulting judgement.

Operational Excellence, CI Delivery & Benefits Realization:

• Lead Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement initiatives across service delivery operations, with focus on productivity, quality, TAT, SLA performance, controls, customer experience, and cost improvement.
• Apply Lean Six Sigma, DMAIC, DMADV, Kaizen, value stream mapping, process mapping, root cause analysis, FMEA, control plans, and other CI tools to identify, analyze, improve, and sustain performance.
• Analyze capacity, productivity, utilization, demand patterns, defects, rework, cycle time, service performance, and backlog trends to identify measurable efficiency and effectiveness opportunities.
• Develop project charters, improvement roadmaps, implementation plans, benefits cases, control plans, dashboards, and governance updates for Opex and CI initiatives.
• Drive benefits realization through validated baselines, agreed calculation logic, benefit owners, tracking cadence, control mechanisms, and post-implementation reviews.

Stakeholder Engagement, Change Adoption & Capability Building:

• Facilitate leadership conversations, workshops, Kaizen events, value stream reviews, process walkthroughs, and problem-solving sessions to align priorities and co-create practical solutions.
• Partner with operations leaders, process owners, functional teams, technology teams, and support functions to secure ownership, address resistance, and sustain implemented improvements.
• Develop dashboards, management reporting, performance scorecards, visual management, and benefit realization mechanisms to track financial, operational, customer, risk, and capability outcomes.
• Build and sustain a consulting-led Operational Excellence and CI framework, including playbooks, templates, governance routines, training, coaching, lessons learned, and capability-building interventions.
• Prepare concise, executive-ready updates, decision documents, steering committee materials, and stakeholder communications that translate complexity into clear recommendations and next steps.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Engineering, Statistics, Finance, Computer Science, Project Management, or related field.
• Certifications in Agile, Systems Thinking, Design Thinking, PMP, Lean, or equivalent transformation methodologies considered an asset.

Functional Experience:

• Minimum 12 years’ work experience in management consulting, internal consulting, business transformation, Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement, Lean Six Sigma, shared services transformation, or process excellence.
• 15+ years’ experience preferred, with exposure to GBS/shared services environments, enterprise improvement programs, and senior stakeholder engagement.
• Proven experience diagnosing complex business problems, developing business cases, leading transformation initiatives, and delivering measurable productivity, quality, cost, control, and service performance outcomes

Leadership, Supervisory, and/or Managerial Experience:

• Experience leading opex initiatives and influencing stakeholders in matrix organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate decision-making, mentor teams, coach process owners, and engage confidently with senior leadership.
• Strong leadership through influence is essential.

Technical skills

• Strong structured problem-solving, diagnostic, process mapping, data analysis, business case development, and benefits tracking skills.
• Strong knowledge of Lean Six Sigma, DMAIC, Kaizen, value stream mapping, root cause analysis, FMEA, control plans, and CI governance.
• Experience with Power BI, Excel, data visualization, workflow tools, process mining, RPA, automation, AI-enabled productivity tools, and digital enablement concepts.