Continuous Improvement Operations Lead

Job Description

Fresenius Medical Care core values:

Fresenius Medical Care is a people business. Our success depends on having the best and brightest employees, and helping them attain their personal and professional goals while delivering excellence in patient care and business results. Our employees embody our culture which is based on six core values supporting our promise to improve the quality of life of every patient every day. These core values are: Patients and Partners First, Honesty and Integrity, Quality and Compliance, Collaboration, No-Limits Mindset and Results Oriented.

About the Role: The Continuous Improvement Operations Lead (CI Ops Lead) plays a critical role in advancing operational excellence across the Global Business Services (GBS) organization. This role drives the Continuous Improvement (CI) agenda across Finance, FP&A, HR Operations, and IT Services, enabling higher efficiency, quality, standardization, and value delivery in a regulated medical devices environment.

Working closely with the GBS Continuous Improvement Global Leader and site leadership, this role is accountable for embedding CI into day-to-day operations, building sustainable capabilities, and delivering measurable business outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

Drive Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence

• Identify, prioritize, and execute improvement opportunities across Finance (P2P, O2C, AP, AR, R2R), FP&A, HR Operations, and IT Services.
• Lead and deliver Lean Six Sigma and other CI initiatives focused on cycle time reduction, cost efficiency, improving cash flow, quality, and service performance.
• Design and facilitate Kaizen and process improvement workshops; ensure disciplined execution and benefits realization.
• Establish project governance, performance metrics, and review rhythms to ensure sustained outcomes.
• Partner with operations and functional leaders to standardize and simplify processes in alignment with global standards and compliance requirements.

Build CI Capability & Culture

• Embed a strong CI culture across GBS through coaching, mentoring, and hands-on project support.
• Deliver Lean Six Sigma training up to Green Belt level and coach project teams to successful completion.
• Develop CI toolkits, playbooks, and standards to ensure scalability and sustainability.
• Act as a trusted CI advisor to operations leaders, enabling data-driven decision-making.

Digital Enablement & Automation

• Identify opportunities to leverage low-cost automation, RPA, process mining, and digital solutions in support of CI objectives.
• Collaborate with IT and digital teams to integrate automation into end-to-end process improvements.

Innovation & Ideation

• Drive ideation and continuous improvement programs, encouraging employee participation and ownership.
• Translate ideas into actionable improvement plans, track execution and benefits realization.
• Regularly report progress, insights, and impact to the GBS Continuous Improvement Leader and site leadership.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Partner effectively with site leadership, functional heads, and peer CI leaders across the global GBS network.
• Influence across functions and levels without formal authority to drive alignment and execution.

Qualifications:

Education & Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, finance, or related field. Master/ advanced degree a plus.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (required).
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (preferred).

Experience

• 8+ years of experience in a Shared Services or GBS environment, with at least 2–4 years in process improvement or operational excellence roles.
• Strong exposure to Finance Shared Services; experience across HR and IT services is highly desirable.
• Proven track record of delivering Lean Six Sigma projects and coaching teams through Green Belt-level initiatives.
• Experience working in regulated environments (Medical Devices, Pharma, or Life Sciences preferred).

Skills & Competencies

• Strong facilitation, coaching, and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with a data-driven mindset.
• Solid understanding of Lean Six Sigma, CI methodologies, and change management.
• Experience with automation and analytics tools (e.g., RPA, Power Automate, Process Mining, Tableau, Power BI).
• Working knowledge of project management methodologies (Agile, Scrum, PMP preferred).
• Ability to influence without authority in complex, matrixed organizations.
• Strong business acumen with clear, concise verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficiency in MS Office; experience with Minitab, Visio, and analytics tools.

Key Attributes

• Passion for driving change and delivering measurable business impact.
• Results-oriented with a continuous improvement and “no-limits” mindset.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, global, and regulated environment.
• High resilience, ownership mindset, and ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution.