Associate Director, Operational Excellence

Illumina•Hayward, CA

19h

About The Position

What if the work you did every day could impact the lives of people you know? Or all of humanity? At Illumina, we are expanding access to genomic technology to realize health equity for billions of people around the world. Our efforts enable life-changing discoveries that are transforming human health through the early detection and diagnosis of diseases and new treatment options for patients. Working at Illumina means being part of something bigger than yourself. Every person, in every role, has the opportunity to make a difference. Surrounded by extraordinary people, inspiring leaders, and world changing projects, you will do more and become more than you ever thought possible. The Associate Director, Operational Excellence is a pivotal leader and true partner across every function at Illumina. In this role, you’ll collaborate directly with the leadership team to drive high‑impact transformations that fuel our company strategy, deploy our Operational Excellence business systems, and build strong, self‑sustaining capabilities across the organization. This is an opportunity to be at the center of Illumina’s innovation engine — shaping how we operate, elevating our performance, and influencing the way teams across the company work and grow. You’ll thrive here if you love solving complex challenges, navigating across diverse disciplines, and empowering, inspiring, and mentoring teams to create smarter, simpler, more effective ways of working. At Illumina, your contributions directly support life‑changing science, and this role places you right where impact meets purpose.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in a technical/quantitative field (PhD/MBA/MS preferred).
15 years of experience.
>7 years in business process transformation/Operational Excellence deployment and >7 years of Operational Excellence program management experience.
Strong project management skills and adaptability to a fast-paced environment
Demonstrated experience in driving continuous improvement culture and operating system across an enterprise and ability to navigate and influence across all levels of an organization, translating strategic vision into tangible outcomes
Consistent track record of collaboration, including the ability to work with cross-functional teams, and across complex ecosystems
Exceptional written and verbal communications skills (including articulating vision, inspiring teams, and presenting to senior executives).
Strong sector and enterprise mindset, and strong business/financial acumen
Strong negotiation and interpersonal skills
Excellent stakeholder management and networking skills required

Nice To Haves

Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt or Master Blackbelt certification
experience in a regulated healthcare environment.
AI and RPA automation experience or process mining experience

Responsibilities

Partner with Sr Leaders and their leadership teams in Lean/Operational Excellence system deployment and maturity
Supports and leads complex improvement and optimization projects/initiatives in the areas of Safety, Quality, Productivity and Cost savings
Conducts training in continuous improvement methodologies and mentor others in the application of these methods
Facilitates/assists business process management and the teams supporting continuous improvement.
Contributes to/Drives business process management and helps to ensure sites have installed and are effectively practicing business processes
Coordinate stakeholders to develop area specific roadmap as part of site/functional strategy.
Lead functions to development, implementation and monitoring of goals and KPI’s through strategy deployment
Oversees functional Operational Excellence Project Portfolio and chairs the Operational Excellence Steering committee
Promote site level communication and sharing through network.