Senior Manager, Operational Excellence

About This OpportunityAt Meridian our aspiration is to integrate our purpose into everything we do for people, the planet, and communities. We believe that our greatest opportunity is to create opportunity and meet people where they are.
About This OpportunityAt Meridian our aspiration is to integrate our purpose into everything we do for people, the planet, and communities. We believe that our greatest opportunity is to create opportunity and meet people where they are.
Reporting to the Director, Operational Excellence & Controls, the Senior Manager, Operational Excellence leads the operational transformation and continuous improvement agenda across Operations. The role is accountable for identifying, prioritizing and delivering measurable improvements in efficiency, productivity, capacity, quality and employee experience through process redesign, Lean and Six Sigma practices, intelligent automation, artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), workflow optimization and performance analytics.
The Senior Manager translates enterprise and Operations priorities into a practical improvement roadmap, supported by disciplined opportunity intake, business cases, delivery governance, change adoption and benefits realization. Working across Retail Operations, Specialized Operations, Member Services & Support and control functions, the role simplifies end-to-end processes, reduces manual effort and builds scalable operating capability.
The role partners closely with Operations leaders, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Transformation, Data and external providers to implement sustainable solutions within Meridian standards and risk appetite. Through a specialized team and cross-functional delivery partners, the Senior Manager strengthens continuous improvement capability and enables responsible adoption of emerging technologies across Operations.
Key ResponsibilitiesOperational Excellence Strategy and Improvement Portfolio
Develop and execute the operational excellence strategy and multi-year improvement roadmap for Operations, aligned with enterprise and divisional priorities.
Establish a consistent approach to opportunity intake, assessment, prioritization, sequencing and governance across process improvement, automation and productivity initiatives.
Lead end-to-end process reviews, value stream mapping, root-cause analysis and future-state design to remove waste, duplication, rework, bottlenecks and unnecessary complexity.
Apply Lean, Six Sigma and other continuous improvement disciplines to improve process capability, quality, speed, consistency and control effectiveness.
Maintain a transparent portfolio of initiatives, dependencies, risks, decisions, resource requirements and expected business outcomes.
Research emerging practices and technologies and assess their relevance to Operations priorities and future operating models.
AI, Automation, RPA and Workflow Enablement
Own the Operations pipeline for AI, intelligent automation, RPA, workflow and process-mining opportunities, from ideation through implementation and optimization.
Partner with Technology, Data, Risk, Compliance and business teams to translate operational needs into scalable, secure and sustainable solutions.
Develop business cases and requirements that clearly define the problem, target process, expected benefits, control impacts, implementation needs and ongoing ownership.
Promote responsible use of AI and automation, including appropriate human oversight, testing, documentation, monitoring, escalation and adherence to enterprise standards.
Lead implementation and operational readiness activities for automation and workflow solutions, including process changes, training, communications and adoption.
Monitor solution performance and work with partners to resolve defects, manage exceptions and continuously improve realized value.
Productivity, Capacity and Benefits Realization
Develop productivity and capacity-improvement frameworks that enable consistent measurement of workload, effort, throughput, turnaround time, quality and resource utilization.
Use operational data and process insights to identify performance gaps, demand patterns, root causes and opportunities to release or redirect capacity.
Establish baselines, targets and benefits-realization plans for improvement initiatives, including financial, capacity, service, quality, risk and employee-experience outcomes.
Validate and report realized benefits, distinguish one-time from sustainable improvements and ensure benefits are embedded in operating plans and performance routines.
Support Operations leaders with workload balancing, workforce planning, service-level trade-offs and prioritization decisions.
Develop concise executive reporting on the improvement portfolio, delivery status, realized outcomes, risks and decisions required.
Change Delivery and Enterprise Partnership
Lead cross-functional initiatives involving process redesign, technology implementation, operating-model change and service transformation.
Facilitate workshops and working sessions to define problems, align stakeholders, design solutions and accelerate decisions.
Build trusted relationships across Operations, Technology, Transformation, Data, Risk, Compliance, Finance, Human Resources and Member Experience.
Apply structured change-management practices to ensure affected teams understand, adopt and sustain new processes, tools and ways of working.
Anticipate delivery and adoption risks, elevate issues appropriately and ensure clear accountability for decisions and follow-through.
Coordinate external vendors or professional-service partners where required and monitor delivery against agreed outcomes.
People Leadership and Continuous Improvement Capability
Build a high-performing, engaged and inclusive team focused on operational excellence, innovation, measurable outcomes and practical execution.
Provide leadership, coaching, performance management, succession planning and professional development for direct reports.
Develop process-improvement, automation, AI, analytical, change and benefits-realization capabilities across the team and broader Operations portfolio.
Create standards, toolkits, training and communities of practice that enable leaders and employees to identify and implement improvements.
Promote curiosity, disciplined experimentation, open communication, accountability and sharing of leading practices.
Communicate priorities, progress, outcomes, risks and recommendations clearly to senior leaders, partners and delivery teams.
Key Accountabilities And Measures Of Success
Demonstrable gains in productivity, capacity, cost effectiveness, cycle time, throughput, quality and error reduction.
Reduction in manual effort, rework, hand-offs and process complexity through redesign, workflow and automation.
A prioritized, transparent and well-governed Operations improvement and automation portfolio.
Successful implementation and sustained adoption of AI, RPA, workflow and continuous improvement initiatives.
Validated realization of financial, capacity, service, quality, risk and employee-experience benefits.
Improved Member and stakeholder experience through faster, simpler, more accurate and consistent service.
Effective partnership with Technology, Risk, Compliance and Operations leaders, with timely escalation and resolution of delivery issues.
Improved operational excellence capability and a stronger culture of continuous improvement across Operations.
Knowledge, Skills And Abilities
Advanced knowledge of operational excellence, Lean, Six Sigma, process engineering, value stream mapping, root-cause analysis and continuous improvement methodologies.
Demonstrated ability to lead complex process transformation, intelligent automation, AI, RPA, workflow or digital enablement initiatives.
Strong understanding of process mining, automation lifecycle management, operational analytics, governance and responsible technology adoption.
Advanced analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to convert structured and unstructured data into clear recommendations and action.
Demonstrated capability in portfolio management, business-case development, prioritization, benefits realization and executive reporting.
Strong project, program and change-management skills, with a focus on implementation, adoption and sustainability.
Knowledge of operational risk, internal controls, privacy, compliance and audit considerations within a regulated environment.
Highly developed facilitation, communication, presentation, negotiation and strategic influencing skills.
Ability to lead across organizational boundaries and mobilize cross-functional partners without direct authority.
Strong business and financial acumen, Member orientation and judgment in complex or ambiguous situations.
Ability to develop talent, build inclusive teams and encourage curiosity, learning, innovation and accountability.
Proactive, practical and self-directed, with the agility to move between strategic priorities and detailed delivery challenges.
Education, Experience And Professional Qualifications
Undergraduate degree in business, engineering, operations management, technology, finance or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Seven or more years of progressive experience in operational excellence, process improvement, transformation, automation, operating-model design or operational strategy, including people or program leadership experience, ideally in financial services.
Demonstrated experience delivering measurable productivity, capacity, service, quality or cost improvements in a complex operating environment.
Experience implementing AI, RPA, workflow, process-mining or other automation solutions is strongly preferred.
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or comparable advanced process-improvement certification is strongly preferred.
Project management, Agile, change-management or automation-related certification is an asset.
Experience in financial services or another highly regulated industry is preferred.
Experience with workflow platforms, automation tools, data visualization and Microsoft productivity tools is required;
familiarity with Meridian platforms is an asset.
Comfort learning and adopting new digital tools, with an openness to using AI‑enabled technology to enhance productivity
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