Sr. Manager, Avantor Business System

The Opportunity:
At Avantor, people are the most important part of our success because they drive our global performance. That's why our Operations, Lab Services, Sales, and many other Avantor teams rely on our talent acquisition initiatives to attract, engage and hire the right talent. Avantor's Business Process Management vertical is a crucial part of this mix, enabling all our internal teams worldwide to grow beyond their limits.
The Sr. Manager Avantor Business Systems Office in conjunction with various cross-functional teams will be responsible for providing strategic direction and tactical implementation of ABS to deliver business results. The Sr. Manager, ABS will also be responsible for the continued evolution and promotion of ABS Culture across the organization and be instrumental in growing the organization's ABS capability at all levels. This will require significant change management to effectively embed ABS throughout the organization. This role will support the corporate functions and reports to the VP, ABS. This role will be instrumental in driving ABS thinking within QARA, Finance, HR, IT, Legal, ABCs and other shared and centralized corporate functions. Corporate functions account for more than xx associates globally.
The goal is to positively impact results and culture by establishing standards, institutionalizing daily management processes, and adopting consistent problem-solving methods. Working with key leaders within the organization, this leader will build an action plan to identify opportunities and implement tools and processes such as; the strategy deployment process, tiered daily management process and A3 management and problem-solving processes which will ultimately define the lean culture and activities. This will require significant change management to effectively embed throughout the growing organization.
Setting science in motion to create a better world is what we do - the Avantor Business System (ABS) comprises the leadership capability, lean processes and tools that enable us to do it. Built on the foundation of our core values and a common vision, we use ABS to rigorously execute our strategies using unified practices and standard processes. A relentless focus on eliminating waste to increase value for our stakeholders is the core of our continuous improvement approach. From associate led daily improvements to transformational strategic breakthrough improvements, our kaizen philosophy is all about making tomorrow better than today. We align ourselves to a core set of key performance indicators at each level of the organization to enable performance management and continual personal development. Simply put, ABS is part of our culture. It is all about people, processes and leadership to drive profitable growth and operational excellence. ABS is how we think, and it underpins everything we do at Avantor.
What We're looking for:

• Education: BS or BA Degree Required; Master's Degree preferred
• Experience: 10+ years in a lean/operational/TPS leadership role.
  • Technical Expertise - Possess the technical skills necessary to be credible; must have significant experience as a lean practitioner in a variety of tools including but not limited to: Strategy/Policy Deployment, Kaizen, A3 Problem Solving, VSM, Standard Work, Pull Systems & Kanban, SIOP/IBP, Lean Daily Management, 5S/Visual Management, 3P, SMED, TPM, Transactional Process Improvement, Variation Reduction Kaizen & Six Sigma, etc., and "growth tools" such as VOC, NPI, Value Pricing, Value Selling, 80/20 Business Simplification, Visual Project Management etc.

Who you are:

• Business Partnership: Effective senior leadership presence; can challenge, coach, train the leadership team.
• Influence - Drive commitment over compliance, must be able to inform, convince, and persuade others to act on initiatives with urgency.
• Challenge - Ability to look at facts and data to drive tough conversations while demonstrating core values. Tough minded with low ego and high confidence and not afraid to raise the bar.
• Change management - Ability to engage the hearts and minds of people.
• Execution - Delivers and measures and enables sustainment of results.
• Communication - Must be able to effectively communicate in both written and verbal forms, and courageously speak to all levels of the organization
• Demonstrated experience as a lean practitioner.
• Strategic mindset with hands-on approach.
• Strong focus on customer and end user experience.
• Gains traction quickly, demonstrates ambition and high energy
• Manages conflict
• Independent worker, capable of operating in a fast-moving, ever-changing environment and able to effectively deal with difficult situations
• Extensive training and implementation experience in industry leading lean tools and practices.
• Ability to accurately assess key business metrics and situations from a general manager's perspective.
• Familiarity with various manufacturing process technologies.
• Excellent time and project management.
• Be able to travel 50-75%

How you will thrive and create an impact:

• Strategy Deployment: Work with Annual Improvement Priority owners by using ABS processes and tools to enable achievement of established targets
• Daily Management Process: Responsible for establishing a structured tiered daily management process that fosters identification of metrics that matter and drives sustainable improvements through structured problem solving. Leverage Daily Management Process and structure to challenge the organization in identification of next level improvements.
• Problem Solving: Leverage ABS A3 Management process and team based basic problem solving processes to institutionalize data based problem solving.
• Kaizen Culture: Responsible for developing a kaizen culture by engaging associates at all levels in the improvement process. Maintain kaizen funnel and align kaizen events to impact key metrics important to the business. Facilitate kaizen events and train other capable individuals to become kaizen facilitators. Must be proficient in a variety of proven lean tools, processes and systems like VSM etc.
• Capability Building: Develop capability across the spectrum from the tactical (deployment and application of principles, concepts and methods) to the strategic (a transformation that deeply impacts a key value stream). Lead ABS and associated tools training content in collaboration with other experts within the organization using "learn by doing, teach by showing" as the fundamental pillar. Lead the deployment of training by creating a "train the trainer" model. Manage and coach the extended ABS community to include ABS Champions and other resources involved in improvement efforts.
• Results and Sustainability: Responsible for sustaining the results (Growth, Safety, Quality, Delivery, Productivity, Cost, Inventory, Profitability, etc.) achieved through follow-up operations reviews in conjunction with the executive leadership team.
• Maturity Assessment: Responsible for assessing ABS maturity using the ABS Maturity Assessment roadmap process, identify gaps and develop plans to close the gap to ensure improvement.

Disclaimer:
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of employees assigned to this position. Avantor is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
Why Avantor?
Dare to go further in your career. Join our global team of 14,000+ associates whose passion for discovery and determination to overcome challenges relentlessly advances life-changing science.
The work we do changes people's lives for the better. It brings new patient treatments and therapies to market, giving a cancer survivor the chance to walk his daughter down the aisle. It enables medical devices that help a little boy hear his mom's voice for the first time. Outcomes such as these create unlimited opportunities for you to contribute your talents, learn new skills and grow your career at Avantor.
We are committed to helping you on this journey through our diverse, equitable and inclusive culture which includes learning experiences to support your career growth and success. At Avantor, dare to go further and see how the impact of your contributions set science in motion to create a better world. Apply today!
Pay Transparency:
The expected pre-tax pay for this position is
$121,700.00 - $202,800.00 Actual pay may differ depending on relevant factors such as prior experience and geographic location.
EEO Statement:
We are an Equal Employment/Affirmative Action employer and VEVRAA Federal Contractor. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state/province, or local law.
If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Requests for accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.
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