Design Continuous Improvement Leader

The Design Continuous Improvement Leader will lead the Design Continuous Improvement function for Performance Coatings Group (PCG), integrating Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), continuous improvement, business process design, data analytics, and strategic customer problem solving. The Design Continuous Improvement Leader will build a scalable, business-unit-focused operating model that applies customer-critical requirements, disciplined experimentation, statistical methods, digital tools, and structured governance to improve product-development speed, robustness, quality performance, and profitable growth.

This requires partnering across R&D, Quality, Operations, Sales, Technical Service, Procurement, Legal, regional teams, and customers to convert business needs into measurable improvement priorities and sustainable standard work. Job duties include contact with other employees and access to confidential and proprietary information and/or other items of value, and such access may be supervised or unsupervised. The Company therefore has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and is necessary to protect the safety of the Company’s staff, employees, and business relationships.

This role is not remote/hybrid. This role will report to Sherwin-Williams Morikis Global Technology Center located at 6745 Miller Road, Brecksville, OH 44141.

• Develop and execute the PCG Design Continuous Improvement strategy, roadmap, governance cadence, portfolio priorities, and measures aligned with business and customer needs.
• Lead the global DFSS program, including Champion training, Yellow/Green/Black Belt curricula, candidate mentoring, certification governance, refresher content, and regional capability expansion.
• Institutionalize design quality practices in product development, including voice of customer, critical-to-quality translation, House of Quality, measurement-system analysis, design of experiments, FMEA, statistical modeling, and robust design.
• Partner with business units to identify high-value opportunities and allocate resources to initiatives with the strongest customer, quality, growth, risk, speed, or financial impact.
• Lead strategic customer and product-quality improvement efforts using DMAIC, accelerated root cause, Lean, Kaizen, value-stream mapping, advanced analytics, and structured experimentation.
• Advance data and analytics solutions using approved citizen-data-science and workflow tools such as Dataiku, Power Automate, SharePoint, Business Objects, and related platforms.
• Drive measurable improvement in complaint resolution and complaint-rate processes, design-program adoption, FMAP maturity, toller governance, and applicable quality standards.
• Provide oversight and partnership for GBMS, ISO 9001 activities, management review, calibration governance, and related R&D quality-system programs, as assigned.
• Establish transparent dashboards and operating reviews for project count, validated savings, opportunity cost, schedule, adoption, compliance, customer outcomes, capability development, and key risks.
• Build an engaged, high-performing team through talent planning, objective setting, quarterly development conversations, recognition, job shadowing, coaching, succession planning, and cross-functional exposure.
• Communicate effectively with senior leaders, business partners, regional teams, and customers; elevate material risks early and recommend practical corrective actions.
• Promote a strong safety culture and comply with all applicable Company policies, quality requirements, and ethical standards.

• Must be legally authorized to work in the country for which you…