Operational Excellence Director – Plymouth Nathan Lane

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 11 Oct 2025

At Medtronic you can begin a life-long career of exploration and innovation, while helping champion healthcare access and equity for all. You’ll lead with purpose, breaking down barriers to innovation in a more connected, compassionate world.

A Day In The Life

At Medtronic’s Plymouth Nathan Lane facility, we are redefining what’s possible in healthcare technology, transforming bold ideas into life-changing solutions for patients around the world. As OpEx Director, you will ignite a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, empowering teams to challenge conventions and deliver breakthrough results. Together, we will build and enable high-performing teams that not only exceed KPIs but set new industry standards, driving Medtronic’s mission forward with energy, purpose, and unwavering commitment to excellence.

At Medtronic, we must work with a sense of purpose and ownership, knowing there is a human life on the other side of every decision.

At Medtronic, we bring bold ideas forward with speed and decisiveness to put patients first in everything we do. In-person exchanges are invaluable to our work. We’re working 5 days a week onsite as part of our commitment to fostering a culture of professional growth and cross-functional collaboration as we work together to engineer the extraordinary.

As the Operational Excellence Director, Plymouth Nathan Lane, you will be the Tier 4 Leader, representing Operational Excellence and responsible for planning and executing process improvement strategies and objectives across our manufacturing site.   These objectives include specific operational performance targets, leading a program management office, as well as the development and training of employees to create a sustainable culture of continuous improvement.

You will report to the Site Leader and work closely with site leadership, the Peripheral Vascular Operating Unit, as well as other Global Operations and Supply Chain functional stakeholders to align, set, and achieve strategic objectives.

You will partner closely with cross-functional leaders internal and external to the site to drive strategic and sustaining improvement efforts. By developing the skills and competencies of our teams to deliver life-saving products, you will be at the forefront of Medtronic's mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life.

As the Operational Excellence Director, Plymouth Nathan Lane, you will:

• Guide, deploy, and execute the Medtronic Performance System (MPS), our “one best way” methodology and tools that support our holistic operational excellence program
• Establish and maintain a site-wide culture of continuous improvement and Operations excellence including policy deployment, tier management, visual management, leader standard work, Lean Sigma development, and related operating mechanisms.
• Lead site-wide programmatic savings activities targeted at reducing operational costs
• Attract, coach, motivate, and foster professional development of direct reports, and change agents across site.       
• Collaborate, develop, and implement the site roadmap to deploy and evolve MPS, reflecting organizational needs and external best practices to accelerate continuous improvement and common operating system adoption.
• Set strategy and govern site Program Management Office (PMO) projects.
• Set site training strategy, collaborating with cross-functional partners and guiding the team through key milestones.
• Serve as Tier 4 Chief of Staff, partnering with the site leadership team to manage long-term vision and short-term activities and execution plans.
• Contribute to the overall Global Manufacturing and Central Region goals by identifying organizational needs required to achieve strategic plans. Develop and execute plans that deliver annual improvements in performance, process excellence, and programmatic savings
• Facilitate strategic kaizen events
• Partner, develop, govern, and deliver transformational programs

Must Have: Minimum Requirements:

To be considered for this role, please ensure the minimum requirements are evident on your resume.

• Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in manufacturing, Business Operations, and/or operational excellence structures (TPM, DBS, etc.) and 7+ years of managerial experience OR an advanced degree with a minimum of 8 years relevant experience in manufacturing, Business Operations, and/or operational excellence structures (TPM, DBS, etc.) and 7+ years of managerial experience.
• This position is based on-site, 5 days/week at Plymouth – Nathan Lane.

Nice To Have:

• Proficient and experienced in coaching and leading quantitative and qualitative assessments of OpEx effectiveness at sites and across functions.
• Strong change management, coaching, and mentoring competency.
• Strategic minded while having the ability to focus on the critical actions and daily management systems.
• Experience in training management and execution.
• Strong portfolio project management and people management experience and skillset.
• Ability to influence change without direct authority.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, including leading training courses in-person or virtually, with the ability to convey and communicate complex concepts clearly.
• Practical experience in applying operational excellence methods in manufacturing environments with proven process improvement and cost savings success.
• Project management skills with good time management, client relationship management, conflict resolution, training facilitation, and administrative skills.
• Solid understanding of Engineering, Project Management, and financial acumen with proven knowledge and experience integrating continuous improvement.
• Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Physical Job Requirements

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this position, but they are not an exhaustive list of all the required responsibilities and skills of this position. 

The physical demands described within the Responsibilities section of this job description are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. For Office Roles: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to be independently mobile. The employee is also required to interact with a computer, and communicate with peers and co-workers. Contact your manager or local HR to understand the Work Conditions and Physical requirements that may be specific to each role.

Benefits & Compensation

Medtronic offers a competitive Salary and flexible Benefits Package
A commitment to our employees lives at the core of our values. We recognize their contributions. They share in the success they help to create.  We offer a wide range of benefits, resources, and competitive compensation plans designed to support you at every career and life stage.
 

Salary ranges for U.S (excl. PR) locations (USD):$172,000.00 - $258,000.00The base salary range is applicable across the United States, excluding Puerto Rico and specific locations in California. The offered rate complies with federal and local regulations and may vary based on factors such as experience, certification/education, market conditions, and location. Compensation and benefits information pertains solely to candidates hired within the United States (local market compensation and benefits will apply for others).

The following benefits and additional compensation are available to those regular employees who work 20+ hours per week: Health, Dental and vision insurance, Health Savings Account, Healthcare Flexible Spending Account, Life insurance, Long-term disability leave, Dependent daycare spending account, Tuition assistance/reimbursement, and Simple Steps (global well-being program).

The following benefits and additional compensation are available to all regular employees: Incentive plans, 401(k) plan plus employer contribution and match, Short-term disability, Paid time off, Paid holidays, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Employee Assistance Program, Non-qualified Retirement Plan Supplement (subject to IRS earning minimums), and Capital Accumulation Plan (available to Vice Presidents and above, or subject to IRS earning minimums).

Regular employees are those who are not temporary, such as interns.  Temporary employees are eligible for paid sick time, as required under applicable state law, and the Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Please note some of the above benefits may not apply to workers in Puerto Rico.

Further details are available at the link below:

Medtronic benefits and compensation plans

About Medtronic

We lead global healthcare technology and boldly attack the most challenging health problems facing humanity by searching out and finding solutions.
Our Mission — to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life — unites a global team of 95,000+ passionate people. 
We are engineers at heart— putting ambitious ideas to work to generate real solutions for real people. From the R&D lab, to the factory floor, to the conference room, every one of us experiments, creates, builds, improves and solves. We have the talent, diverse perspectives, and guts to engineer the extraordinary.

Learn more about our business, mission, and our commitment to diversity here.

It is the policy of Medtronic to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, Medtronic will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

If you are applying to perform work for Medtronic, Inc. (“Medtronic”) in any position which will involve performing at least two (2) hours of work on average each week within the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, you can find here a list of all material job duties of the specific job position which Medtronic reasonably believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment. Medtronic will consider for employment qualified job applicants with arrest or conviction records in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.