Senior Manager, Operational Excellence

Senior Manager, OperationAL Excellence

Purpose of the Role

The Senior Manager, Operational Excellence is a pivotal enterprise-wide role within Evotec’s Global Operations OE function. Reporting directly to the EVP Global Head of Operational Excellence, this role is the primary engine of CI methodology deployment and cultural adoption across DPD. The incumbent must combine rigorous technical mastery of Lean, Six Sigma, and value stream disciplines with the leadership credibility to engage EVP and SVP-level stakeholders, build and sustain CI communities across globally distributed sites, and translate operational improvement directly into financial value. Operating at a period of significant transformation under Project Horizon, the role is central to embedding a continuous improvement operating culture that is systematic, data-driven, and commercially connected, ensuring Evotec can deliver above-market performance through operational excellence as a core competitive capability.

Key Accountabilities

1. CI Methodology & Solution Ownership

• Own and steward Evotec’s CI methodology framework, including Lean, Six Sigma, DMAIC, Kaizen, and Value Stream Mapping, ensuring a consistent, fit-for-purpose toolkit is available, maintained, and applied across all operational segments and site types (manufacturing, laboratory, and R&D environments).
• Define and continuously improve the standard approaches, tools, and templates used for Loss & Waste Analysis, Value Stream Mapping, and process opportunity identification, ensuring they are adapted for GMP manufacturing, scientific lab, and broader R&D settings.
• Act as the internal technical authority on CI methodology: advising EVPs, SVPs, and site leaders on the most effective approaches for specific operational challenges and leading by example in their application.
• Horizon-scan external best practice and digital innovation in operational excellence, recommending and piloting new methodologies where they offer measurable advantage for Evotec.

2. Opportunity Identification & Project Portfolio

• Lead structured Loss & Waste Analysis and Value Stream Mapping across Operations, working with segment and site leaders to identify, prioritise, and define improvement opportunities that deliver the highest financial and operational impact.
• Define the OE project portfolio in partnership with the EVP Global Head of OE and Operations Segment Heads, developing robust project plans, resourcing models, and milestone frameworks for each initiative.
• Ensure improvement opportunities are scoped with a clear business case connected to Evotec’s financial targets and Horizon transformation objectives, bridging the gap between strategic intent and implementation reality.
• Working in partnership with GCPMO, maintain a live, rigorous view of the project pipeline: tracking progress, dependencies, and risks, and escalating where projects require senior intervention or course correction.

3. CI Community Development & Coordination

• Rebuild and coordinate the DPD global network of CI Communities, establishing active practitioner communities within each segment/function and at site level, with clear governance, roles, and development pathways.
• Identify, develop, and support CI Champions and local OE leads across sites in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and the USA, ensuring communities are empowered, resourced, and connected to the broader OE function.
• Facilitate regular CI Community forums, knowledge-sharing events, and cross-site learning exchanges, creating a vibrant, self-sustaining improvement culture that does not depend on central OE to drive every initiative.

4. Training, Adoption & Sustainment

• Design and drive comprehensive CI training programmes across all levels, from site teams through to business leaders, tailoring content, format, and depth to the needs of different audiences and operational contexts.
• Ensure adoption of CI tools and methodologies goes beyond initial training to sustained behaviour change: developing sustainment frameworks, refresher cycles, and performance measures that track real-world adoption.
• Coach and develop CI Champions, Site Heads, segment and other business leaders in the practical application of OE methodologies, enabling them to lead improvement independently and multiply the impact of the central OE team.
• Build a recognition and development framework for CI capability that motivates participation and creates visible career pathways for OE practitioners across Evotec.

5. Benefits Tracking & Financial Impact

• Own the consistent measurement and tracking of financial and operational benefits delivered through OE initiatives, ensuring a rigorous, standardised methodology for benefit quantification is applied across