Business Analyst

Citizens Bank; Southfield (MI); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage

Retirement benefits

Flexible work arrangements

Education reimbursement

Wellness programs

Job summary

A leading financial institution is seeking an Operational Excellence & Consulting Principal in Southfield, Michigan. This role involves leading cross-functional teams in improving business processes using advanced methodologies like Lean and Six Sigma. The ideal candidate must have 7-10 years of experience in operational improvement, strong leadership qualities, and the ability to communicate effectively with executive stakeholders. The position offers a competitive salary in the range of $140,000 to $160,000 per year, along with comprehensive benefits and a hybrid working model.

Qualifications

• 7-10 years of experience in operational improvement, particularly in banking or consulting.
• Proven track record of leading complex cross-functional initiatives.
• Strong leadership and change management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead continuous improvement projects using Lean and Six Sigma methodologies.
• Serve as an advisor to senior leaders to enhance operational excellence.
• Manage project governance to ensure timely and budget-compliant execution.

Skills

Lean methodologies

Six Sigma

Problem solving

Strategic thinking

Communication

Education

BS/BA in science/engineering

Master’s degree or equivalent experience

Job description

Overview

As the Operational Excellence & Consulting Principal, you will work alongside cross-functional teams to significantly improve business models and end-to-end processes that start and end with the customer. During an engagement, you will successfully lead activities that diagnose issues, design solutions, help the business implement the solutions and support measuring the business outcomes. In addition to leading a variety of reengineering activities, you will also act as a change agent to ensure solutions are implemented and expected business results are achieved. This individual must have strong leadership, problem solving and communication skills.

Primary responsibilities

Continuous Improvement & Process Reengineering Execution

• Successfully lead teams through all phases of complex, cross-functional improvement initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma, Reengineering or similar business transformation methodologies.


• Lead high impact diagnostic engagements to evaluate current-state processes, performance gaps, and improvement opportunities.


• Champion a structured approach to problem solving, root cause analysis, and process redesign.


• Establish, monitor, and report measurable KPIs, ensuring improvement initiatives deliver sustainable outcomes.

Strategic Leadership & Executive Partnership

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, assessing business challenges and identifying opportunities for operational excellence.


• Demonstrate the ability to develop, scope and oversee complex engagements that deliver meaningful results and realized business value.


• Present findings, recommendations, and business cases to executive stakeholders with clarity and influence.

Program Management & Governance

• Oversee project pipelines, prioritization processes, and execution governance to align with enterprise strategy.


• Identify and mitigate risks, remove barriers, and ensure initiatives remain on time, on budget, and on scope.


• Develop and deliver executive ready reporting, insights, and updates

Operational Excellence Framework Development

• Advance the organization’s maturity in continuous improvement by developing standards, toolkits, and best practices.


• Drive adoption of operational excellence principles across business units through coaching, training, and structured change management.


• Stay abreast of the latest trends and best practices within the operational excellence practice and across other companies and industries

Qualifications, Education, Certifications and/or Other Professional Credentials

• Required Qualifications
  
  
  
  • Education: A BS/BA is required (science/engineering preferred); Master’s degree or equivalent experience is required in operations or process reengineering.
  
  
  • Experience: 7-10 years of experience in operational improvement, financial services, banking and/or consulting with a record of leading cross-business, cross-function initiatives that resulted in significant value-add.
  
  
  
  


• Preferred Qualifications
  
  
  
  • Process Transformation: Demonstrates knowledge in operational improvement frameworks, methodologies, and toolkits; experience with Lean, Six Sigma, Hammer Process Reengineering, Change Management and Organizational Design.
  
  
  • Strategic Thinking: Ability to link strategy to execution and experience taking risks and learning from failures.
  
  
  • Leadership: Self-starter who can challenge the status quo, take risks, envision the future, enable, empower, and motivate others.
  
  
  • Problem Solving: Comfortable with ambiguity; can identify, analyze, synthesize, and resolve critical business issues; provide creative insights that result in practical solutions and significant value-add.
  
  
  • Communication: Strong communicator comfortable presenting to senior leadership using a variety of tools and media that foster transparency, collaboration and trust.
  
  
  • Change Management: Ability to independently influence others using a variety of tactics; develop and maintain relationships and empower others to turn ideas into business results using standard programs and project management tools.
  
  
  • Facilitation: Able to lead process improvement sessions that document current and future state processes and identify issues and pain points.
  
  
  
  

Hours & Work Schedule

• Hours per Week: 40 hours


• Work Schedule: Hybrid model (4 days in office/1 day remote)

The salary range for this position is $140,000- $160,000 per year, plus an opportunity to earn an annual discretionary bonus. Actual pay is based on various factors including but not limited to the work location, and relevant skills and experience.

We offer competitive pay, comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, maternity/paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs and more. Note, Citizens’ paid time off policy exceeds the mandatory, paid sick or paid time-away policy of every local and state jurisdiction in the United States. For an overview of our benefits, visit https://jobs.citizensbank.com/benefits.

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Equal Employment Opportunity

Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.