Operational Excellence Manager

Work Location Type: Hybrid 

Imperial Supplies, a Grainger Company, is a national distributor of quality maintenance products. Serving the fleet maintenance industry since 1958, Imperial has formed lasting relationships with customers by tailoring our services to meet their changing needs.

Our welcoming workplace enables you to learn, grow and make a difference by keeping businesses running and their people safe. As a Great Place to Work-Certified™ company, we’re looking for passionate people to join our team as we continue leading the industry.

Are you passionate about driving change and making a lasting impact? We are seeking an Operational Excellence Manager to lead and embed a culture of continuous improvement across our organization. In this role, you will champion operational excellence through structured methodologies, cross-functional collaboration, and a commitment to delivering measurable results.

Reporting to the Director of Continuous Improvement, you will lead the deployment of our Continuous Improvement Program, coach and learn from team members at all levels, and identify strategic opportunities that improve performance, reduce waste, and strengthen our operational capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Program Deployment: Drive the execution and sustainment of the Continuous Improvement Program, ensuring alignment with company goals and strategic priorities.
• Opportunity Pipeline: Partner with functional leaders to build and maintain a portfolio of high-impact, quantified improvement opportunities.
• Project Leadership: Facilitate and lead department- and network-level continuous improvement projects and kaizen events to achieve savings and process efficiency.
• Coach & Empower: Develop others by teaching continuous improvement principles and enabling them to become problem-solvers and change agents.
• Program Development: Contribute to the evolution of the Continuous Improvement Program by promoting a culture of empowerment, customer focus, learning, and results.
• Performance Monitoring: Define and manage KPIs to track the success of initiatives and the overall health of the program. Report progress, savings, and cultural improvements regularly.
• Strategic Support: Assist with enterprise-level initiatives and multifunctional strategic projects as needed.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 3+ years of experience in operations leadership.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification (or equivalent).
• 4+ years in a distribution center leadership role OR 2+ years leading Lean projects and applying Lean principles.

Key Competencies:

• Strong self-discipline, accountability, and self-awareness.
• Excellent analytical and decision-making skills.
• Proven ability to lead in ambiguous, complex environments.
• Skilled in coaching and influencing individuals at all levels of the organization.
• Passionate about process improvement, problem-solving, and delivering measurable outcomes.

Why Join Us?

At Imperial Supplies, we’re committed to operational excellence and fostering a culture where continuous improvement is not just a program, but a way of working. This is your opportunity to help shape the future of our organization—one initiative at a time.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

We are committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible work environment that includes both providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities during the application and hiring process as well as throughout the course of one’s employment, should you need a reasonable accommodation during the application and selection process, including, but not limited to use of our website, any part of the application, interview or hiring process, please advise us so that we can provide appropriate assistance.