Process Improvement Manager
Business Affairs, Redwood City, California, United States
Improvement, Analytics, and Innovation Services

We are a recently formed department within Stanford tasked with providing management consulting services to a highly complex university administration with hundreds of business processes and dozens of major systems. Our team of internal consultants strives to create, instill, and sustain a business improvement discipline that delivers transformed and efficient processes through a structured, data supported approach. 

The Process Improvement team is instrumental in helping our various clients understand, document, and ultimately improve their business processes. This team is composed of process improvement professionals with expertise in Stanford business processes, process improvement best practices, and project selection/project management. We are in search of a team member who can provide meaningful assistance in executing process improvement projects, measurably improving business processes and providing high quality deliverables. In addition to a “can-do” attitude and strong work ethic, we also value your strong business judgement, professionalism, and exceptional problem-solving skills.

Additional perks of working in our team:

• Exciting and diverse set of projects with varied processes and clients that are not limited by and specific to any industry
• Many opportunities to have a huge impact with this small team that supports many groups campus-wide at Stanford
• Become part of an organization that leverages domain expertise in process improvement, service design, business analytics, and project management when working on projects

Your responsibilities include:

• Lead multiple complex, high-visibility process innovation projects that span multiple central departments and disparate department and academic units. 
• Assess processes to determine how to reduce rework, improve quality, improve efficiency, increase revenue and/or improve the ability to deliver desired services or outputs.
• Provide insights to improvement methodology and tools.
• Structure and implement our project approach and process improvement tools to maximize net improvement in targeted business processes.
• Advise in the analysis of operational intelligence metrics by identifying, collecting, and synthesizing key measures and performance targets.
• Provide hands-on team facilitation, training, and process improvement subject matter expertise to business partners.
• Develop and execute change management strategy relative to project and stakeholders. 
• Challenge current working practices; identify process improvement opportunities and facilitate goal setting using customer feedback, analysis, and other systems.
• Work closely with affected departments and academic units to assess fit/gap of currently implemented enterprise applications to support process innovation solutions, present data to management to influence implementation decisions and  facilitate discussions and negotiations that drive consensus on implementing recommendations within a highly complex and cross-functional environments.
• Other duties may also be assigned.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities you bring:

• Sound working knowledge and experience using and applying process improvement best practices/techniques, lean six sigma and project management skills in a structured project environment.
• Ability to work with little or no direction in environments resistant to change or unable to change quickly.
• Ability to handle ambiguity in a fast-paced environment with multiple concurrent tasks and changing priorities.
• Exceptional communication skills and the ability to communicate and present appropriately at all levels of the organization through written and verbal methods.
• Excellent influence management skills. 
• Ability to work across multiple, distributed, siloed, functional groups. 
• Strong enterprise-wide vision, seeing the big picture, recognizing critical details and dealing with ambiguity.
• Aptitude for understanding organization operations and culture and the related functional capabilities of implemented enterprise applications (custom and off-the-shelf).
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office, G suite, and software applications involving dynamic models and process flows.
• Proven ability to effectively facilitate a training session, one on one, or with a group.
• Strong collaboration and teamwork skills.  

Required Education and Experience: 

• Bachelor's degree in Science, Engineering, Accounting, Finance, Business, or other related field and two or more years of progressively responsible, relevant experience.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification with significant related work experience. Black belt certification preferred.
• Experience in the higher education industry and/or previous consulting experience is a plus. 

Certifications and Licenses:

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification with significant related work experience. Black belt certification preferred.

Physical Requirements*:

• Constantly perform desk-based computer tasks. 
• Occasionally stand, walk, use a telephone, lift, carry, push and pull objects that weigh up to 20 lbs., write by hand. 
• Rarely reach or work above shoulders, kneel/crawl, climb, twist, bend, stoop and squat, grasp forcefully, sort and file paperwork, operate foot and or hand controls, lift, carry, push and pull objects that weigh up to 21 to 40 lbs.  

Working Conditions:

• Telecommuting at least through December 2020.
• Once on-site work resumes, travel locally, around campus. 
• Occasionally work evenings/weekends.

Work Standards:

• Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrates the ability to work well with Stanford colleagues and clients and with external organizations.
• Promote Culture of Safety: Demonstrates commitment to personal responsibility and value for safety; communicates safety concerns; uses and promotes safe behaviors based on training and lessons learned.
• Subject to and expected to comply with all applicable University policies and procedures, including but not limited to the personnel policies and other policies found in the University’s Administrative Guide, http://adminguide.stanford.edu. 

Working at Stanford:
Imagine a world without search engines or social platforms. Consider lives saved through first-ever organ transplants and research to cure illnesses. Stanford University has revolutionized the way we live and enrich the world. Supporting this mission is our diverse and dedicated 17,000 staff. We seek talent driven to impact the future of our legacy. Our culture and unique perks empower you with:

• Freedom to grow. We offer career development programs, tuition reimbursement, audit a course. Join a TedTalk, film screening, or listen to a renowned author or global leader speak.
• A caring culture. We provide superb retirement plans, generous time-off, and family care resources.
• A healthier you. Climb our rock wall or choose from hundreds of health or fitness classes at our world-class exercise facilities. We also provide excellent health care benefits.
• Discovery and fun. Stroll through historic sculptures, trails, and museums.
• Enviable resources. Enjoy free commuter programs, ridesharing incentives, discounts, and more! 

The job duties listed are typical examples of work performed by positions in this job classification and are not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Specific duties and responsibilities may vary depending on department or program needs without changing the general nature and scope of the job or level of responsibility. Employees may also perform other duties as assigned.

Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of his or her job.

Stanford is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.