Senior Operational Excellence Engineer - Lean Six Sigma

Senior Operational Excellence Engineer

As a Senior Operational Excellence Engineer, you will play a key role in driving continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives that enhance quality, efficiency, and business performance across manufacturing and functional operations. Partnering with Manufacturing, Quality, R&D, Strategic Sourcing, Packaging, and other cross-functional teams, you will lead the identification, analysis, and optimization of complex processes, helping to improve productivity, reduce waste, and deliver sustainable business results in a highly regulated environment.

Leveraging expertise in Lean, Six Sigma, and structured problem-solving methodologies, you will lead high-impact improvement projects, facilitate cross-functional workshops, and influence change across the organization. Through the application of tools such as Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen, DMAIC, and PDCA, you will drive process standardization, strengthen process capability, support validation activities, and foster a culture of data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement.

This role is ideal for a collaborative, hands-on leader who thrives on solving complex challenges and translating operational strategy into measurable results.

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.

Responsibilities may include the following and other duties may be assigned:

• Lead Operational Excellence initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement methodologies to improve quality, delivery, cost, and operational performance.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Operations teams to identify, prioritize, and implement process improvement opportunities.
• Facilitate value stream mapping, Kaizen events, root cause investigations, and structured problem-solving activities to reduce waste and improve process capability.
• Analyze performance metrics and operational data to identify trends, measure results, and drive data-driven decision making.
• Develop and implement standardized work, visual management systems, and process controls to improve consistency and efficiency.
• Lead cross-functional improvement projects from opportunity identification through implementation and sustainment.
• Coach and train teams on Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement tools to build organizational capability.
• Ensure process improvements comply with quality system, regulatory, and business requirements.

Required Experience

• Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 4 years of relevant experience
• OR Master's degree with a minimum of 2 years relevant experience
• OR PhD with 0 years relevant experience.

• Advanced proficiency in statistical analysis and data modeling using Excel, Minitab, Power BI, or similar analytical tools.
• Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or Green Belt, with demonstrated experience leading continuous improvement projects.
• Proven ability to identify process inefficiencies and implement data-driven solutions that deliver measurable performance improvements.
• Strong facilitation and leadership skills to plan, lead, and coach cross-functional teams in Kaizen, root cause analysis, and other improvement events.
• Experience developing and delivering training on Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to drive a culture of operational excellence.
• Solid understanding of process mapping, value stream analysis, and performance measurement systems.
• Strong project management and change management capabilities, ensuring sustainable adoption of improvement initiatives.

For Baccalaureate degrees earned outside of the United States, a degree that satisfies the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) is required.

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.

U.S. Work Authorization & Sponsorship

At Medtronic, we are committed to…