The Process Excellence Lead at Smith+Nephew is responsible for driving continuous improvement initiatives, leading Lean Six Sigma projects, and optimizing business processes across GBS functions. You will collaborate with teams to implement automation, standard methodologies, and improve operational excellence while facilitating training on Lean methodologies.

To be successful as a Process Excellence Lead at Smith+Nephew, candidates should have a Bachelor’s or Master's degree in Business Administration, Computer Science, or a related field. A Six Sigma Black Belt certification and 5 to 10 years of relevant experience in process excellence, transformation, and change management are preferred.

As a Process Excellence Lead, your role involves acting as a change agent to foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation at Smith+Nephew. You will engage cross-functional teams to identify transformation opportunities and develop proposals that enhance operational processes.

A Process Excellence Lead at Smith+Nephew will use Lean Six Sigma methodologies, process automation tools, and ERP systems. Expertise in Kaizen and Agile practices will also be beneficial to enhance process efficiency and effectiveness in a multinational organization.

Success for a Process Excellence Lead at Smith+Nephew involves driving measurable improvements in operational metrics, fostering a culture of continual enhancement among teams, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards while proposing impactful solutions to senior leadership.

In your response, highlight specific Lean Six Sigma projects you've led, detailing the challenges faced, the methodologies applied, and the results achieved. Emphasize your ability to use data analysis to guide decision-making.

Discuss your approach to assessing the potential impact and feasibility of projects, including how you involve stakeholders and use performance metrics to guide prioritization. Your answer should reflect your strategic thinking and collaboration skills.

Describe a specific instance where you identified a business process for optimization. Share the steps you took, tools you used, and the outcomes, emphasizing the tangible benefits such as reduced costs or improved efficiency.

Explain your strategy for addressing resistance, including communication, education, and engaging stakeholders in the change process. Illustrate with examples demonstrating your conflict resolution and leadership abilities.

Discuss relevant KPIs you’ve previously used in similar roles, such as efficiency rates, error reduction, or customer satisfaction scores. Explain how these metrics help assess the effectiveness of improvement initiatives.

Share your understanding of navigating diverse cultural environments and adapting process excellence initiatives to fit various regional needs. Highlight any collaborative projects or cross-border teams you've worked with.

Mention specific automation tools and software you've utilized in past roles, detailing how you integrated them into existing processes and the impact this had on efficiency and quality.

Talk about your approach to integrating quality compliance into improvement initiatives, including your experience with regulatory frameworks, quality audits, and training team members on standards.

Provide details on the training you conducted, the materials you used, and how you measured the success of your training. Focus on your ability to impart knowledge and drive a culture of continuous improvement.

Share your philosophy on mentoring, providing examples of how you've supported colleagues in their learning journeys and how you've encouraged them to implement best practices in process improvement.