Associate Director, Operational Excellence & Transformation

Baxter International Inc.; Kentucky; On-site; USD 152,000 - 209,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental and Vision coverage

401K match

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Paid Time Off

Paid Holidays

Tuition Reimbursement

Paid Parental Leave

Job summary

Baxter International Inc. is seeking an Associate Director of Operational Excellence to lead site-level Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement initiatives. You will guide manufacturing, supply chain, and related functions to reduce waste, boost productivity, and improve quality across production cells.

The role emphasizes strategic leadership, governance, and strong collaboration with Site Leadership. A Lean/CI background and prior people leadership are essential for driving sustainable

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in engineering or science.
• 10+ years of relevant experience in manufacturing environments such as Manufacturing, Engineering, Maintenance, Supply Chain, Project Management, Operational Excellence or Quality.
• Minimum 5 years in a lean/continuous improvement role.
• Minimum 5 years in a people leadership role.
• Black Belt or Master Black Belt certification is desirable.
• Strong leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Advanced computer skills: MS Access, PowerPoint, Word and Excel.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the site’s Operational Excellence strategy aligned with global business priorities.
• Translate corporate strategy into operational initiatives that drive measurable business performance.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the Site Leadership Team on productivity, transformation and operational effectiveness.
• Establish governance mechanisms to monitor strategic initiatives, portfolio execution and value realization.
• Lead enterprise-wide Lean, Six Sigma and Continuous Improvement initiatives across manufacturing, supply chain and support functions.
• Build a sustainable Continuous Improvement culture through coaching, capability development and leadership engagement.
• Drive digital transformation initiatives that simplify processes, improve data visibility and increase operational efficiency.
• Identify operational risks, performance gaps and improvement opportunities using data analytics and structured problem-solving methodologies.
• Sponsor cross-functional transformation projects with measurable impact on productivity, quality and financial performance.
• Ensure Operational Excellence standards are deployed across production operations.
• Champion Lean Manufacturing principles including Standard Work, Visual Management, Daily Management Systems, TPM, Value Stream Mapping, 5S and Kaizen.
• Partner with Manufacturing and Engineering leaders to optimize capacity, productivity, process reliability and equipment effectiveness.
• Drive productivity improvements through process redesign, waste elimination and workflow optimization.
• Establish KPIs, dashboards and governance routines to monitor operational performance.
• Lead business performance reviews with senior leadership.
• Monitor project portfolio execution, savings realization and operational maturity.
• Ensure continuous alignment between operational objectives and financial targets.
• Ensure OpEx initiatives comply with GMP, regulatory requirements and QMS.
• Promote proactive risk management culture using structured methodologies.
• Lead identification, prioritization and delivery of productivity and cost optimization initiatives.
• Own OpEx investment portfolio and financial business cases.
• Monitor project financial performance and ROI.
• Support annual strategic planning and budgeting.
• Build, develop and mentor high-performing OpEx teams.
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative culture and leadership development.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Problem solving

Communication

Interpersonal skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or science

Master Black Belt desirable

Tools

MS Access

PowerPoint

Word

Excel

Job description

Baxter International Inc. is seeking an Associate Director of Operational Excellence to lead site-level Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement initiatives. You will guide manufacturing, supply chain, and related functions to reduce waste, boost productivity, and improve quality across production cells.

The role emphasizes strategic leadership, governance, and strong collaboration with Site Leadership. A Lean/CI background and prior people leadership are essential for driving sustainable