Director of Business Process Excellence

NSF; Ann Arbor (MI); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

NSF seeks a Director, Business Process Excellence to lead the continuous improvement strategy across the Global Water Division and serve as the organization’s senior subject matter expert in enterprise process improvement. You will partner with business leaders to identify constraints, eliminate inefficiencies, and drive measurable improvements in performance, quality, and speed.

The role demands a data-driven approach, governance, and frameworks that scale organizational improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in a relevant field.
• 8+ years leading process improvement, operational excellence, or continuous improvement initiatives.
• Experience leading cross-functional transformation within global organizations.
• Expertise in Lean, Six Sigma, Value Stream Mapping, Process Mapping, Root Cause Analysis, and change management.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the Global Water Division's process excellence strategy, aligning improvement priorities with business objectives.
• Build and manage a portfolio of high-impact continuous improvement initiatives focused on efficiency, quality, scalability, and turnaround time reduction.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to leadership on process effectiveness, optimization opportunities, and operational risk mitigation.
• Lead cross-functional process reviews to identify bottlenecks, process failures, redundancies, and opportunities for standardization.
• Apply Lean Six Sigma methodologies to redesign processes, eliminate waste, reduce variation, and drive measurable business results.
• Establish process governance, ownership, performance metrics, and accountability frameworks across the organization.
• Develop KPI dashboards and leverage data analytics to monitor process performance, identify trends, and measure improvement outcomes.
• Partner with business leaders to implement sustainable solutions, manage change, and ensure successful adoption of improved processes.
• Monitor post-implementation performance to validate benefits realization and ensure long-term process sustainability.
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement by coaching leaders, developing improvement capabilities, and promoting best practices across the division.

Skills

Lean Six Sigma

Process Improvement

Change Management

Stakeholder Management

Data Analytics

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Science, Operations Management, or related technical discipline

Master's degree in Business, Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related field

Tools

MS Excel

Visio

Power BI

Job description

The Director, Business Process Excellence is responsible for leading the continuous improvement strategy and process transformation initiatives across the Global Water Division. This role serves as the organization's senior subject matter expert in enterprise process improvement.

Working through influence rather than operational ownership, the Director partners with business leaders to identify process constraints, eliminate inefficiencies, reduce variation, and improve organizational effectiveness. The role drives a disciplined, data-driven approach to problem-solving and establishes the frameworks, governance, and methodologies necessary to create sustainable operational improvements across the division.

The position is accountable for building a robust pipeline of improvement initiatives, facilitating cross-functional transformation efforts, and ensuring measurable business impact through improved process performance, scalability, quality, and speed.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the Global Water Division's process excellence strategy, aligning improvement priorities with business objectives.

Build and manage a portfolio of high-impact continuous improvement initiatives focused on efficiency, quality, scalability, and turnaround time reduction.

Serve as a strategic advisor to leadership on process effectiveness, optimization opportunities, and operational risk mitigation.

Lead cross-functional process reviews to identify bottlenecks, process failures, redundancies, and opportunities for standardization.

Apply Lean Six Sigma methodologies to redesign processes, eliminate waste, reduce variation, and drive measurable business results.

Establish process governance, ownership, performance metrics, and accountability frameworks across the organization.

Develop KPI dashboards and leverage data analytics to monitor process performance, identify trends, and measure improvement outcomes.

Partner with business leaders to implement sustainable solutions, manage change, and ensure successful adoption of improved processes.

Monitor post-implementation performance to validate benefits realization and ensure long-term process sustainability.

Champion a culture of continuous improvement by coaching leaders, developing improvement capabilities, and promoting best practices across the division.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Science, Operations Management, or related technical discipline.
• Minimum 8 years of progressive experience leading process improvement, operational excellence, or continuous improvement initiatives.
• Demonstrated success leading complex, cross-functional transformation efforts within global organizations.
• Advanced expertise in Lean, Six Sigma, Value Stream Mapping, Process Mapping, Root Cause Analysis, and change management methodologies.
• Strong facilitation, influencing, and stakeholder management skills with the ability to drive change across organizational boundaries.
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving capabilities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Business, Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related field.

About Us

With a legacy spanning more than 80 years, NSF leverages science and innovation to improve human and planet health. We provide science-driven, independent testing, inspection, certification, and advisory services and develop the very standards that drive the food, water, and life sciences industries worldwide. We empower our clients to navigate shifting regulations to improve consumer health, safety, and quality of life.

One of our core values is We Are One NSF. This means that while we’re one team, we embrace the cultural, ethnic, language, and demographic diversity that reflects the societies in which we live and work.

Come join a team that makes a difference in the world. More information about NSF can be found at nsf.org.

NSF is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, among other things, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, status as a protected veteran, or disability.

Notice to Agency and Search Firm Representatives: Please note that NSF is not accepting unsolicited resumes from agencies/search firms for this role. Resumes submitted to an NSF employee by a third-party agency without a valid written & signed search agreement between NSF and said third-party agency will become the sole property of NSF. No fee will be paid if a candidate is hired as a result of an unsolicited agency or search firm referral. Thank you.

About the Team

NSF sets the global standard for quality, performance and safety of water products and systems with an extensive range of testing, certification and consulting serves. We continually strive to address emerging needs, empowering manufacturers to meet stringent regulatory requirements with confidence. With our expanding local presence in key regions, we ensure more efficient pathways for our clients to reach global markets while continuing to anticipate and respond to the evolving challenges of water safety.

Job Info

• Job Identification 4351
• Job Category Business Development