Job Description

Director of Business Excellence – Lean performance management

Reporting Line

Reports to: Vice President Operations

Role Purpose

The Director, of Business Excellence (driving the Spectris Business System), is accountable for delivering measurable and sustained improvements in SQDIP (Safety, Quality, Delivery, Inventory, Productivity) across Malvern Panalytical. The role owns SBS as the company’s operating system and is accountable for using lean principles and tools as the primary means to achieve business outcomes and to create a culture of continuous improvement. The SBS Director ensures that continuous improvement is embedded into daily management, leadership behaviours, and decision‑making, and that lean is applied rigorously to solve real business problems across the end‑to‑end value chain.

Core Accountability

• Deliver sustained SQDIP performance improvement aligned to Operations and business priorities
• Apply lean principles and tools to drive results, not as standalone initiatives
• Build organisational capability so that lean principles are truly embedded within the organization and that improvements are repeatable, scalable, and sustainable
• Builds a lean culture that becomes a true core competence in the business.

Lean Principles as the Foundation of SBS

The Director is accountable for applying the core lean principles and ensuring they are systematically translated into operational results:

• Value – Ensure improvement activity is anchored in what creates value for customers and the business, with clear linkage to SQDIP priorities.
• Value Stream – Lead value stream thinking across operations, identifying end‑to‑end flow from order to delivery, exposing constraints, hand‑offs, and waste.
• Flow – Drive stable, predictable flow of material and information by reducing variability, batching, queues, and interruptions across manufacturing and transactional processes.
• Pull – Enable demand‑driven execution through pull systems, level loading, and disciplined planning, reducing excess inventory and improving responsiveness.
• Built‑in Quality – Ensure quality is designed and built into processes from the start through standards, error proofing, and rapid problem containment at the source.
• Continuous Improvement – Establish continuous improvement as a daily expectation, reinforced through structured problem solving and leadership routines.

The Director is accountable for making them visible in day‑to‑day operations and act on it. It should reflect measurable improvement in SQDIP performance.

The Director ensures that lean principles are executed through four integrated pillars—People, Plan, Process, and Performance—to deliver sustained results.

• People: Build problem‑solving capability and ownership at every level. Develop leaders who coach, go to the Gemba, and lead through questions rather than answers. Establish Leader Standard Work as a non‑negotiable foundation. Build a culture where problems are surfaced early and addressed systematically
• Plan: connect strategy to daily execution. Translate strategic priorities into clear SQDIP targets and improvement themes. Deploy objectives through aligned annual, quarterly, and daily management rhythms. Ensure improvement resources are focused on the highest‑impact business problems
• Process: create stable, standardised processes that enable flow and built‑in quality. Establish and sustain standard work as the baseline for improvement. Apply lean tools to eliminate waste, improve flow, and reduce variability. Ensure quality is built into processes through prevention, not inspection
• Performance: make performance visible and act on it.Implement robust daily management systems with visual SQDIP metrics. Ensure deviations from target trigger structured problem solving, not escalation without root cause. Reinforce disciplined follow‑up and closure of countermeasures

Key Responsibilities

• Own the SQDIP improvement agenda with clear targets, cadence, and accountability
• Ensure lean tools are applied to deliver measurable performance improvement

• Embed tiered accountability, visual management, and structured problem solving across sites
• Reinforce the expectation that every problem is solved at the source

• Coach Operations Directors and site leaders in leading through SBS
• Build internal capability so results do not depend on central lean experts

• Lead and deploy SBS / Lean resources against the most critical business priorities
• Govern SBS maturity progression, ensuring maturity directly correlates to performance gains

Scope & Interfaces

• Global responsibility across all Malvern Panalytical operations
• Works closely with Operations Directors, Global Quality, Supply Chain, Procurement, and Order Management
• Joined metrics ownership, and direct accountability for executing on capability build, flow realization, operational performance outcomes via SQDIP

Success Measures

Success is defined by:

• Sustained improvement in SQDIP performance metrics
• Reduced ad-hoc management through stronger process stability, improved problem solving capability ,and daily management
• Leaders consistently applying lean thinking as the default way of working

Qualifications & Experience

• Candidate has 7-10 years senior leadership experience in Operations, Manufacturing, or Supply Chain within a complex, multi‑site environment
• Master’s or bachelor’s in Engineering, Black-belt preferential.
• Proven track record of delivering measurable improvements in SQDIP‑type outcomes through lean or operating‑system‑based approaches
• Deep practical knowledge of lean principles and tools (e.g. flow, pull, built‑in quality, standard work, daily management, problem solving)
• Demonstrated ability to lead cultural and behavioural change through coaching, not command‑and‑control
• Strong systems thinking, with the ability to connect strategy, processes, and performance

• Experience deploying a formal operating system (e.g. SBS, DBS, PPI, Win Strategy, similar)
• Worked in a global operations and cross‑cultural leadership environment

About us - Malvern Panalytical, Micromeritics and SciAps.
Together we are a powerful and highly complementary combination of market leading technologies.

We are the toolmakers for the world's most innovative companies, academic institutions, and government laboratories. We are their partners in discovery.

Malvern Panalytical instruments analyze the chemical, physical and structural nature of materials, from proteins to polymers and semiconductors to minerals. Our leading technologies measure particle size, shape, concentration and zeta potential, biomolecular interactions and stability, elemental concentrations and crystallographic structure.

Micromeritics manufactures systems for the characterization of particles, powders, and porous materials for a wide- range of end markets including catalysts, chemicals, building materials, clean-tech and battery. Our leading technologies measure surface area, porosity, density, adsorption and particle activity.

SciAps specializes in portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF), laser-based (LIBS) and near-infrared (NIR) analyzers to measure any element in any environment. SciAps is the Center of Excellence for our handheld instruments.
We have a global footprint with R&D and manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and Asia.

We are more than 2,500 employees in a customer-focused organization with sales and service offices in 20 countries, all committed to delivering expert and responsive customer support.

We are part of Spectris. Spectris combines precision with purpose, delivering progress for a more sustainable world. Precision is at the heart of what we do – our leading, high-tech instruments and software equip our customers to solve some of their greatest challenges to make the world cleaner, healthier and more productive.

Malvern Panalytical, Micromeritics & SciAps
Your Partners in Discovery

Malvern Panalytical, Micromeritics and SciAps, part of the Spectris Group, are committed to a diverse and inclusive culture where everyone can thrive and achieve a fulfilling career. Changing the world isn’t something you can do on your own, or with a single way of thinking; it takes a wide collection of experiences, stories, knowledge, and expertise. We encourage applications from underrepresented individuals and people with diverse backgrounds. Although we always select the most qualified applicant for each role and make all decisions without regard to race, sex, age, or any other protected class, we are an inclusive, equal opportunity organization that prizes diversity. Your unique perspective is important to us.