Manager Process Improvement

Position Title:

Department:

Job Description:

The manager of Process Improvement provides operational and strategic leadership for the Process Improvement team.  This role ensures alignment of enterprise improvement efforts with institutional priorities for quality, safety, patient experience, and operational excellence. The Manager ensures consistent application of structured improvement methodologies, oversees deployment of Lean management systems, and builds institutional capability in operational excellence across clinical and non-clinical domains.
This leader serves as a strategic partner to physician, nursing, operational, and executive leaders to embed sustainable performance improvement into daily operations.

Essential Responsibilities:

Responsibilities listed in this section are core to the position.  Inability to perform these responsibilities, with or without an accommodation, may result in disqualification from the position. 

• Partner with the Direction of Quality Improvement to translate organizational strategy into a prioritized Process Improvement portfolio.
• Oversee intake progress, scoping, resourcing and governance of initiatives.
• Align project selection to institutional KPIs, regulatory priorities, and operation performance gaps .
• Ensure measurable impact and return on investment across initiatives .
• Develop consultant capability in advanced improvement methodologies and management systems.
• Foster accountability, psychological safety, and high-performance team culture.
• Ensure consistent application of structured improvement methodologies across initiatives .
• Lead implementation and sustainment of Lean management systems including: tiered daily huddles, visual management, leader standard work, strategy deployment alignment.
• Establish standards for project documentation, measurement rigor, and sustainment planning,
• monitors project progress, outcomes, and sustainability using defined KPIs and dashboards.
• Collaborate with physician leaders, operational executives, nursing leadership and analytics teams
• Lead change management efforts to embed improvements into daily management systems
• Remove barriers to initiative success and escalates risk appropriately
• champion a culture of continuous improvement phycological safety, and data driven decision making.
• Ensure post-implementation integration into daily operations
• Serve as a trusted advisor in workflow optimization, capacity modeling, and performance acceleration.
• Present portfolio performance, risks, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership.
• Promote system thinking and cross-functional collaboration across the organization.
• Provide direct supervision, coaching, and performance management for Process Improvement Consultants.
• Build succession planning and career development pathways within the Process Improvement team.

General Responsibilities:

• Perform other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications:

Education; Bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration, nursing, business, industrial engineering, or related field required.

Experience: 5+ years of progressive healthcare process improvement experience required. 3 years of progressive leadership experience overseeing improvement initiatives and/or teams required.

Certification/License Requirements: Lean Six Sigma Black Belt required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Advanced knowledge of healthcare operations, quality improvement, and patient safety .
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary improvement teams .
• strong coaching, facilitation , and stakeholder management skills
• Expertise in Lean daily management systems and performance management structures.
• high emotional intelligence and ability to influence across professional hierarchies
• Advanced systems-thinking and strategic prioritization capability.
• Financial and operational acumen, including ROI analysis.
• Executive-level communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to lead change in complex, matrixed healthcare environments.

Current OU Health Employees - Please click HERE to login.

OU Health is an equal opportunity employer. We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including PTO, 401(k), medical and dental plans, and many more. We know that a total benefits and compensation package, designed to meet your specific needs both inside and outside of the work environment, create peace of mind for you and your family.