Job Title:  Lean Partner

As a Lean Partner within the Strategy Execution Office, you will help increase customer satisfaction and business value through Lean improvement activities across Sales, Business Development, and Business Support. In this role, you will support leadership teams and process owners in strategy deployment, Kaizen execution, structured problem solving, and the sustainment of improvements that strengthen competitiveness and operational performance.

Key Responsibilities:

Improvement Leadership & Kaizen Execution (90%)

• Drive, support, and facilitate Lean improvement initiatives across key value streams and processes.
• Strengthen strategically important VP Kaizens and improvement projects.
• Support the creation and maintenance of the corporate VP Kaizen funnel process, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities.
• Partner with VPs, directors, process owners, and local Lean Agents to identify improvement opportunities and challenge the status quo through data analysis and structured problem solving.
• Translate strategic ambitions into prioritized initiatives, clear objectives, and executable Kaizen projects using Strategy Deployment Planning and top-down analytical thinking.
• Lead VP Kaizen projects from scoping and potential assessment through implementation and sustainment.
• Coordinate, support, and facilitate the validation, prioritization, execution, and sustainment of improvement initiatives that support the company’s strategic direction.
• Act as an execution champion and Kaizen project manager, helping leaders identify and realize improvement potential across the organization.
• Ensure delivery against scope, time, cost, and quality targets while tracking adoption and business impact.
• Lead complex structured problem-solving activities with process owners to identify true root causes when TTIs or KPIs are off track.
• Design and execute change management plans, communications, and training activities.

Strategy & Business Partnership

• Provide sparring and support to leadership teams and process owners on improvement identification and execution.
• Assist top management and process owners with Strategy Deployment initiatives.
• Drive execution of Kaizens across:
  • Sales (50%)
  • Business Development (25%)
  • Business Support (25%)
• Maintain a cross-functional, collaborative, end-to-end mindset when driving improvements across business areas.

Lean Culture & Capability Development (10%)

• Support leadership in fostering a Lean culture of continuous improvement.
• Train and coach the organization in the facilitation and use of Kaizen events, structured problem solving, and standard Lean methods and frameworks.
• Share responsibility with the Executive Lean Partner and the Lean Partner in Global Operations for maintaining and improving Lean standards and the Lean toolbox.
• Promote best-practice sharing and capability development among managers, employees, and local Lean Agents.
• Help ensure Lean principles and strategic top-down thinking become an integral part of how the organization approaches business optimization and continuous improvement.

.

Requirements:

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or higher, or equivalent educational background.
• More than 10 years of experience in a similar role with a proven track record of implementing Lean and/or Operational Excellence in a technical and commercially focused organization.
• Experience with Lean and process optimization in administrative and commercial functions is required.
• Proven experience applying Lean principles, Kaizen methodologies, top-down thinking, and structured problem-solving frameworks (certification preferred).
• Experience managing medium to complex cross-functional projects and initiatives (project management certification preferred).
• Experience with Danaher Business System and Policy/Strategy Deployment is preferred.

Technical & Professional Skills

• Expert knowledge of Lean methodologies, Operational Excellence, and structured problem-solving frameworks.
• Strong project management capabilities.
• Ability to translate conceptual frameworks into practical, sustainable business improvements.
• Strong analytical and business skills with a fact-based approach to decision making.
• Expert user of PowerPoint and Excel.
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to use AI tools to improve productivity, decision making, work quality, and cost efficiency.

Communication & Leadership Skills

• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to convert complex topics into clear executive-level materials.
• Skilled facilitator capable of driving alignment, decision making, and sustainable outcomes.
• Strong and empathetic communicator who can engage effectively at all organizational levels.
• Ability to drive cross-functional change and process improvement initiatives.
• Proven ability to work with global teams, build followership, and achieve results through others.
• High level of coaching and mentoring capability.
• Hands-on, pragmatic, and effective in a dynamic and evolving environment.
• Well-organized, structured, and systematic in approach.
• Fluent written and verbal communication skills in both Danish and English.

Success Measures:

• Support company growth and EBIT expansion by helping Sales, Business Support, and Business Development leadership teams maintain a portfolio of strategically aligned improvement initiatives.
• Prepare and execute Kaizen initiatives that improve customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and global cost effectiveness.
• Deliver efficiency improvements with an accumulated value of at least $1.2 million annually.
• Ensure ongoing capability development and best-practice sharing among managers, employees, and local Lean Agents.

Working Environment:

• Based at the Head Office in Ballerup, Denmark.
• Willingness to travel to key sites across Europe, the United States, and Asia is required.
• Works closely with leadership teams, process owners, and local Lean Agents across multiple functions and regions.

About the Business Unit:

Struers is an AMETEK business unit and a global leader in materialographic and metallographic solutions, providing equipment, consumables, software, and services for material testing, sample preparation, and hardness testing. Its technologies help manufacturers, research institutions, and laboratories analyze materials and ensure the highest standards of quality, reliability, and performance across industries such as aerospace, automotive, electronics, energy, and advanced manufacturing.  

Founded in 1875 in Denmark and headquartered in Ballerup, Denmark, Struers has more than 150 years of expertise in material science and a global presence with offices and support teams worldwide. Known for its strong application knowledge, innovation, and customer-focused approach, Struers helps organizations achieve accurate and reproducible material analysis results that support product development, quality control, and scientific advancement. 

For more information, visit www.ametek.com/ and www.struers.com/en 

About the Materials Analysis Division:

The Materials Analysis Division is a leader in advanced laboratory and analytical instruments used by academia, government and industry to conduct elemental analysis, nanotechnology and materials research and to perform onsite quality assurance, analysis and inspection. It also is a leader in ultrahigh-speed digital cameras used in defense, automotive, engineering, research and development, broadcasting and entertainment. Headquartered in Wayne, NJ, Materials Analysis is comprised of six business units and employs about 2,500 colleagues around the world and operates major facilities in France, Germany, Denmark, the United States and the United Kingdom.