Director of Operational Excellence

Duravant; Wood Dale (IL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

nVenia is seeking a Director of Business Transformation to lead the enterprise improvement agenda. You will establish the Transformation Office, align priorities with executive leadership, and drive sustained financial and operating improvements.

You will coach teams in lean methods, surface risks, and remove barriers, coordinating across Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Finance, HR, and IT to realize value.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Business, or related field; an advanced degree is a plus.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in continuous improvement, transformation, or operations.
• Demonstrated success leading complex cross-functional initiatives with measurable improvements.
• Lean or Six Sigma certification preferred; results matter more than certification.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain one integrated transformation roadmap with clear outcomes, owners, milestones, dependencies, resources, risks, and expected value timing.
• Establish the Transformation Office operating model, governance routines, decision rights, evidence expectations, and escalation paths.
• Maintain an enterprise scorecard connecting actions to revenue, margin, cost, cash, customer, and operating outcomes.
• Partner with Finance and initiative owners to establish baselines, validate business cases, confirm realized benefits, and prevent leakage.
• Lead regular reviews focused on progress, blockers, dependencies, and recovery plans.
• Coordinate work across functions to optimize for nVenia overall and sustain improvements.
• Coach leaders and teams to identify root causes and embed successful practices into daily management.

Skills

Enterprise leadership

Strategy execution

Financial acumen

Continuous improvement

Program management

Executive communication

Change leadership

Governance & accountability

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering/ops/business

Job description

The Director, Business Transformation leads nVenia’s enterprise transformation and continuous improvement agenda, turning strategic priorities into measurable, sustained improvements in financial performance, customer outcomes, and operational execution.

Reporting to the President, this leader establishes and runs the Transformation Office, maintains an integrated view of priorities and results, and works with the executive team, Finance, and initiative owners to connect dependencies, surface risks, accelerate decisions, and remove barriers. Functional leaders remain accountable for execution and business outcomes.

Essential Responsiblities

• Build and maintain one integrated transformation roadmap with clear outcomes, owners, milestones, dependencies, resources, risks, and expected value timing.
• Establish the Transformation Office operating model, including governance routines, decision rights, evidence expectations, and escalation paths; recommend additional analytical or project support as scope and workload require.
• Maintain an enterprise scorecard connecting transformation actions to revenue, margin, cost, cash, customer, and operating outcomes.
• Partner with Finance and initiative owners to establish credible baselines, validate business cases, confirm realized benefits, and prevent double counting or savings leakage.
• Lead regular initiative and executive reviews focused on progress, decisions, blockers, at-risk workstreams, dependencies, and recovery plans.
• Hold initiative owners accountable for milestones, risks, key measures, and results without taking over their functional responsibilities.
• Coordinate work across Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Commercial, Lifecycle Services, Finance, HR, and IT so decisions optimize for nVenia overall.
• Apply Lean principles, structured problem solving, standard work, visual management, and focused kaizen to high-value manufacturing and transactional challenges.
• Coach leaders and teams to identify root causes, implement countermeasures, strengthen daily management, and sustain improvements.
• Partner with leadership and HR to communicate priorities and progress, manage the pace of change, and embed successful practices into the company’s operating rhythms.

Qualifications

POSITION SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES:

• Enterprise leadership and influence without relying on formal authority
• Ability to translate strategy into clear, executable work
• Strong business and financial acumen
• Continuous improvement leadership and hands-on problem solving
• Program management across multiple concurrent priorities
• Constructive challenge, sound judgment, and executive-level communication
• Change leadership, coaching, and capability building
• High follow-through, transparency, urgency, and willingness to surface problems early

Position Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Business, Finance, or a related field; an advanced degree is a plus.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in continuous improvement, operational excellence, transformation, program leadership, operations, or a comparable industrial environment.
• Demonstrated success leading complex cross-functional initiatives and delivering measurable financial, customer, and operating improvements.
• Deep practical experience with Lean methods, structured problem solving, and continuous improvement systems. Lean or Six Sigma certification is preferred, but demonstrated results are more important than certification alone.
• Strong business and financial acumen, with the ability to connect process and operating improvements to revenue, margin, cost, cash, and customer outcomes.
• Ability to build effective governance and performance routines and communicate with executive leaders, functional teams, and frontline employees.
• Industrial or manufacturing experience is strongly preferred. Experience in engineer-to-order or configure-to-order environments is a plus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The position is an office-based position with frequent visits to the manufacturing area. In the manufacturing area, employee may be exposed to moving mechanical parts and may occasionally be exposed to fumes and/or airborne particles. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate but at times loud.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential function.