Head of Business Excellence

Your team determines why performance is diverging from the expected norm, what it is worth to act, and how the workflow must change so that process and AI improvements deliver operational outcomes at scale. The role is the bridge between signals and operational execution.

Business Excellence does not collect customer feedback and does not execute solutions. It diagnoses root causes, designs the future-state workflow, builds the value case, mobilizes the accountable function, and closes each engagement with a validated benefit and a clear operational owner.

Key Responsibilities

Monitor Operational Performance

• Build and run analytics that track operational, service-delivery, workforce, and financial performance, using leading indicators to spot emerging risks early.
• Identify service commitments at risk and gaps in ownership across the service process.
• Define performance standards and early-warning indicators for critical operational areas.
• Review core service workflows for automation and AI opportunities.
• Combine operational data with customer insights to tell isolated issues apart from systemic trends.

Diagnose Root Causes

• Frame each engagement with a clear problem statement, baseline, scope, and the decision required.
• Use structured, hypothesis-driven problem solving to separate symptoms from validated root causes.
• Work out whether issues come from execution, process design, or technology and data.
• Deliver focused, time-bound engagements with clear outcomes.

Redesign Service Workflows

• Design future-state workflows that combine Lean methods, AI, and automation.
• Work with operational leaders and HR to define how roles, skills, and capacity need to change.
• Partner with Quality and Regulatory teams so designs meet safety, cybersecurity, and regulatory requirements.

Build Business Cases and Recommend Decisions

• Quantify the customer, operational, financial, and risk impact of acting and of not acting.
• Define baselines, target outcomes, effort, dependencies, risks, and benefit ownership.
• Set and maintain business-case standards across the organization.
• Give senior leadership clear, evidence-based recommendations.

Drive Execution with Operational Leaders

• Bring recommendations to the right business owners for implementation.
• Develop corrective actions with regional and functional leaders, with clear owners, timelines, and expected results.
• Support implementation with analysis, facilitation, and hands-on problem solving until performance recovers.
• Act as a trusted advisor during execution and escalate barriers when needed.

Track Value and Results

• Confirm that results are delivered and owned by the business.
• Work with Finance and business owners to verify realized benefits against plan.
• Share outcomes and successes with leadership and recognize contributing teams.

Lead and Develop a High-Potential Team

• Lead a small, high-performing team of high-potential talent with diverse skills.
• Set clear goals and quality standards and hold the team accountable.
• Coach the team in analytics, root-cause analysis, process redesign, and value engineering.
• Grow talent through stretch assignments and exposure to senior leaders.
• Give regular feedback and run performance and talent reviews.
• Prepare team members for future leadership roles.
• Build a culture of curiosity, ownership, and inclusion, focused on outcomes.

Qualifications and Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Engineering, Operations Management, Economics, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in management or internal consulting, operational excellence, business transformation, or service operations.
• Proven experience leading and developing high-potential talent, including coaching, performance management, and preparing team members for broader roles.
• Track record of building systems that detect operational issues early, diagnosing root causes, and driving corrective action with line leaders.
• Strong analytical and trend-analysis skills.
• Ability to diagnose complex cross-functional performance issues and convert them into decision-ready business cases.
• Experience redesigning end-to-end service processes by combining Lean, AI and automation.
• Understanding of the business value and cost of AI and automation.
• Strong understanding of Customer Service or field-service operations, including service delivery, dispatch, workforce and capacity, and process performance.
• Strong structured problem-solving skills; Lean Six Sigma or comparable certification is advantageous.
• Executive communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority in a matrixed organization.
• Working knowledge of Power BI, advanced Excel, process mapping, and process mining; experience with Snowflake, ServiceNow, or SAP is advantageous.
• Healthcare, field service, or multinational enterprise experience is advantageous; experience in a regulated quality environment (QMS, FDA) is a plus.
• Willingness to travel up to 10%.