Thorn Lighting
Business Excellence Manager
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Business Excellence Manager
Spennymoor, UK
Spotlight of the job
The Zumtobel Group is an international lighting group and a leading supplier of innovative lighting solutions, lighting components and associated services. With its core brands, Zumtobel, Thorn and Tridonic, the Group offers its customers around the world a comprehensive portfolio of products and services.
As Business Excellence Manager at Thorn Lighting, you will drive operational excellence across the organisation by leading continuous improvement, cost reduction and strategic business improvement programmes. You will champion Lean thinking, innovation and data-driven decision making, while playing a key role in digital transformation, Industry 4.0 and the responsible adoption of AI.
Working cross-functionally with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, Sales and IT, you will improve productivity, profitability, customer satisfaction and overall business performance. You will also support sustainable growth through value engineering and new business development activities.
Responsibilities
- Develop and implement the company continuous improvement roadmap and support Hoshin deployment across the business.
- Lead strategic improvement projects from concept through to implementation, delivering measurable operational and financial benefits.
- Facilitate Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen and 6S activities, while coaching managers and teams in structured improvement methodologies.
- Identify opportunities to automate manual processes and support the implementation of Hydra, digital dashboards and connected factory solutions.
- Improve data visibility through real-time reporting and analytics, and support predictive maintenance and smart manufacturing initiatives.
- Identify practical AI applications across manufacturing, engineering, quality and business processes, promoting responsible adoption, governance, security and compliance.
- Develop sustainable 6S standards, conduct audits and maturity assessments, and strengthen visual management across manufacturing and support functions.
- Lead value analysis and value engineering activities to reduce product and process costs while maintaining quality and customer requirements.
- Partner with Engineering, Procurement and Production to optimise designs, manufacturing methods and Design for Manufacture and Assembly initiatives.
- Build internal Business Excellence capability through coaching, mentoring and structured training, while encouraging employee engagement, innovation and knowledge sharing.
- Identify opportunities to develop new business and support cross-functional strategic projects, business cases and budget management.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Skills & Experience
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
- Degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management or a related discipline.
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt or equivalent qualification.
- Significant experience in a manufacturing environment, with proven leadership of Lean transformation programmes.
- Experience leading Six Sigma, cost reduction and value engineering projects with measurable financial benefits.
- Working knowledge of AI-enabled business improvement, digital factory or Industry 4.0 initiatives.
- Formal project management experience, including leadership of cross-functional strategic projects.
- Experience of new product introduction, business development, business case development and budget management.
- Strong leadership, coaching, stakeholder management, analytical and problem-solving capability.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London