Director, Operational Excellence & Lean Transformation

Job description

Join Triumph! At Triumph, our vision is a world where freight transactions are accurate and seamless on the most modern and secure freight transaction network. That’s why we’re looking for passionate, innovative, solutions-oriented people to join our team. We thrive on providing exceptional customer service and we look for team members with an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion to build successful partnerships with our clients. Because at the end of the day our goal is to help our partners businesses run better. The Director, Operational Excellence & Lean Transformation is responsible for leading the deployment, adoption, and sustainment of Lean and continuous improvement practices across Triumph Financial. Reporting to the SVP Transformation Office, this role serves as the enterprise leader for Lean methodology, operational excellence, and organizational capability development. The Director partners with executive leadership, business leaders, Operations, Technology, PMO/SPMO, and transformation teams to translate transformation priorities into measurable business results. This leader acts as a trusted advisor, coach, and facilitator, helping teams apply Continuous Improvement / Lean principles to improve efficiency, quality, customer experience, employee engagement, and business performance. The Director is accountable for establishing Lean standards, driving adoption, building organizational capabilities, measuring improvement outcomes, and ensuring continuous improvement efforts are aligned with enterprise transformation objectives. Essential Duties & Responsibilities Develop and execute the enterprise Lean roadmap in alignment with transformation priorities established by the Transformation Office. Facilitate CI initiatives that improve efficiency, reduce waste, enhance customer outcomes, and strengthen operational performance. Partner with business leaders to identify improvement opportunities and design practical solutions to operational challenges. Establish and maintain Lean standards, methodologies, governance practices, tools, and best practices that support sustainable process improvement. Lead and facilitate Kaizen events, value stream mapping initiatives, process improvement workshops, and structured problem-solving activities. Apply advanced Lean and quality methodologies, including A3 problem solving, Daily management, visual management, standard work, value stream mapping and structured experimentation techniques as appropriate. Identify and remove systemic barriers that impede flow, collaboration, and performance across cross-functional value streams. Serve as a trusted advisor to the SVP Transformation Office and executive leadership on Lean transformation, operational excellence, and organizational effectiveness opportunities. Lead organizational readiness and change enablement efforts that support successful implementation and sustainment of transformation initiatives. Build strong cross-functional partnerships that foster collaboration, accountability, and shared ownership of business outcomes. Partner with PMO/SPMO teams to integrate Lean principles into project, program, and transformation delivery efforts. Have the ability to project manage projects within the transformation office also. Develop and monitor performance indicators related to operational excellence, including quality, throughput, cycle time, productivity, efficiency, customer outcomes, and process effectiveness. Establish CI adoption, organizational capability, and continuous improvement maturity metrics across the enterprise. Partner with Finance and business leaders to validate and communicate realized benefits, including productivity improvements, cost reductions, capacity creation, and return on investment. Develop executive-level reporting that communicates transformation progress, business impact, lessons learned, and future opportunities. Establish sustainment mechanisms including standard work, leader standard work, visual management systems, operating routines, and performance reviews to ensure improvements are maintained over time. Deliver CI / Lean education, coaching, and training programs for leaders and employees at all organizational levels. Develop and sustain a network of CI / Lean champions, practitioners, and improvement leaders throughout the organization. Establish train-the-trainer programs that scale continuous improvement capabilities across the enterprise. Assess organizational Lean maturity and develop targeted capability-building plans that strengthen continuous improvement competencies. Foster a culture of problem solving, accountability, continuous learning, customer focus, and operational excellence. Mentor leaders and improvement practitioners in Lean leadership principles and continuous improvement behaviors. Support the engagement, management, and evaluation of external consultants and improvement partners to ensure alignment with organizational priorities and transformation objectives. Experience & Education Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred. Lean certification, Six Sigma certification, or equivalent continuous improvement credentials preferred. 7+ years of experience in Lean, operational excellence, continuous improvement, transformation, process improvement, or related disciplines. Demonstrated success leading enterprise-wide Lean initiatives and cross-functional improvement programs. Demonstrated experience facilitating Kaizen events, value stream mapping, and structured problem-solving initiatives. Experience coaching senior leaders and influencing stakeholders without direct reporting authority. Experience working within complex, matrixed organizations and managing multiple concurrent priorities. Financial services, technology, operations, consulting, or related industry experience preferred. Skills & Abilities Required Strong knowledge of Lean principles, operational excellence methodologies, and process optimization techniques. Expertise in facilitation, coaching, stakeholder engagement, and change leadership. Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with a data-driven approach to decision making. Demonstrated ability to build organizational capability and drive Lean adoption at scale. Strong business and financial acumen with the ability to connect improvement efforts to measurable business outcomes. Ability to influence executive leaders and build relationships across all organizational levels. Excellent verbal, written, presentation, and communication skills. Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution. Demonstrated resilience, adaptability, accountability, and results orientation. Familiarity with Hoshin Kanri, strategy deployment, or similar strategy execution frameworks preferred. We offer Medical, Dental, Vision, Paid Time Off, 401k and much more. Go on. Do it. Apply Today!