Rolls-Royce

Lean Leader

Derby Full time

Job Description

Operational Excellence Leader / Lean Leader

Derby – site based 5 days a week

Full time

 We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Operational Excellence / Lean Leader to join our Team in Rolls-Royce Derby.

As an Operational Excellence / Lean Leader, you will play a pivotal role in driving internal performance improvements to meet our exciting growth challenges.

Why join Rolls-Royce?

Rolls-Royce is one of the most enduring and iconic brands in the world and has been at the forefront of innovation for over a century. We design, build and service systems that provide critical power to customers where safety and reliability are paramount.

We are proud to be a force for progress, powering, protecting, and connecting people everywhere.

We want to ensure that the excellence and ingenuity that has shaped our history continues into our future, and we need people like you to come and join us on this journey.

We’ll provide an environment of caring and belonging where you can be yourself. An inclusive, innovative culture that invests in you, gives you access to an incredible breadth and depth of opportunities where you can grow your career and make a difference.

By joining Rolls-Royce, you'll have the opportunity to work on world-class solutions, supported by a culture that believes individuality is our greatest strength, and all perspectives, experiences and backgrounds help us innovate and enable our high-performance culture.

What you’ll be doing

Are you ready to make a real impact and shape the future of manufacturing excellence at Rolls-Royce?

As a Lean Leader, you’ll be at the forefront of driving Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement, and a vibrant Lean Culture across our manufacturing plants using the Rolls-Royce Production System.

In this dynamic role, you will use your leadership, influencing and change management skills to set an ambitious vision for enhanced Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery and People performance. You will champion the Hoshin Kanri strategic deployment and the creation of the associated plans to achieve the defined goals.

Your expertise in lean tools and techniques will develop our lean capability across all levels, as you coach and mentor cross-functional teams to deliver high-impact improvement projects. You’ll take ownership of the most significant lean initiatives, using your business acumen and analytical skills to identify opportunities and drive transformative change

As a role model for lean leadership, you’ll engage and energise everyone around you, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.

The role is part of our wider Lean Leader team, who support the Derby region of manufacturing plants.
Your initial plant deployment will be based on performance priorities and where you can deliver the most value.

Join us & be a catalyst for change - help us set new benchmarks in lean & manufacturing excellence at
Rolls-Royce.

Key Accountabilities

  • Provide lean coaching to the business leaders to set an ambitious vision and deploy Hoshin Kanri and the associated plan to achieve it
  • Identify lean improvement opportunities through appropriate analytical tools and champion the most appropriate opportunities
  • Coach the cross functional teams to deliver lean improvement projects in support of the plan
  • Lead significant lean lighthouse projects that will deliver the required performance improvements using the most appropriate lean tools and techniques
  • Develop lean capability across all levels through the delivery of lean training and coaching
  • Drive the maturity of the Rolls-Royce Production System with cross functional  teams to drive improvements in Safety, Quality, Cost, Deliver and People performance metrics
  • Coach the  business leaders in lean leadership  behaviours to engage all employees in lean and  create a culture of continuous improvement

Key Skills and Experience

  • Proven track record in delivery of tangible improvements through the application of lean tools and techniques
  • Leadership experience preferably in a manufacturing environment
  • Proven experience in influencing without direct authority, leading teams and driving change
  • Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to build rapport across all levels
  • Able to operate in a multinational and multicultural environment.
  • Lean Expert or equivalent certification.

Our vision is to ensure that the excellence and ingenuity that shaped our history continues into our future. Our multi-year transformation programme aims to turn Rolls-Royce into a high-performing, competitive, resilient and growing company. Join us, and it can be your future vision too.

Rolls-Royce are committed to being a respectful, inclusive, and non-discriminatory workplace where individuality is valued, diverse perspectives fuel innovation, and everyone can thrive.

Job Category

Business Improvement

Posting Date

11 Nov 2025; 00:11

Posting End Date

27 Nov 2025