About the role
Continuous Improvement Manager
Permanent
Up to £70,000 + Pension + BUPA + ShareSave + 6.6 weeks holiday + Hybrid Working
Southampton, Store Support Office
We believe anyone can improve their home to make life better. From our Southampton Store Support office (SSO) we equip our stores, our people, and our whole business with everything it takes to help our millions of customers create a home they’ll love. Join us as a Continuous Improvement Manager and you’ll be a big part of this.
Key responsibilities
To identify opportunities to be more efficient and create clearer hand offs across our process and system landscape, as well as influence the shape of our organisational design to support recommendations. You will achieve this by working within a ‘pipeline’ framework that you will help develop, improve, and establish as our way of working, drawing on Continuous Improvement methodologies and tools, leading individual project teams through the various phases from definition to implementation and PIR.
You will work alongside the Head of Continuous Improvement and a Continuous Improvement Manager already in role.
Key Accountabilities / Responsibilities:
- Support the HoF CI in setting up the ways of working and CI methodologies that the team will use
- Support the creation of a centre of excellence for continuous improvement methodology
- Build and maintain a strong connection to the industry and cultivate an external network to ensure that we are always aware of industry developments & best practice which could bring improvements to B&Q
- Project manage the implementation of change from identification of opportunity to conclusion, embedding the change in teams to promote BAU ownership. Championing the use of appropriate tools and systems to manage workflows and tasks efficiently
Define
- Work with the Hof CI to identify and prioritise initiatives based on business needs and team capacity
- Lead /Facilitate end to end workshops / discovery sessions with process owners & SMEs to drive collaborative accountability and engagement for change and improvement. Establish the customer and business requirements and identify the project scope
- Document and store process maps to agreed standard and capture methodology
Measure
- Define, develop, and Implement performance metrics to establish current process success
- Collaborate with multiple stakeholders to ensure that process measurement is understood (what and why) and implemented to a high standard
Analyse
- Analyse/evaluate business process to identify the root causes and illustrate the target
- Identify efficiency opportunities & potential solutions using appropriate tools. Communicate findings appropriately
Improve
- Working with business owners & SME’s, evaluate / develop solutions to make processes more efficient
- Conduct appropriate trials and evaluate findings before gaining approval for change
Control
- Focus stakeholders on benefits and success criteria ensuring that the change is embedded as per the plan
- Ensure a clear plan to measure benefits against the success criteria ahead of appropriately timed PIR
Required skills & experience
- Broad BA skillset is required to excel given the nature of the work: All departments within B&Q Head office (SSO Store Support Office) and all types (Process (Predominantly), Systems & People)
- Demonstrable understanding of a variety of tools, techniques and frameworks used in CI (Structured problem solving)
- Understand which tools and techniques to use at the different stages of the CI ‘funnel’ dependent on the methodology adopted e.g. 6Sigma (Define Measure Analyse Improve Control), Lean or Design Thinking (Discover Define Design Deliver)
- Teaching tools and techniques to colleagues in the business allowing them to self-help on smaller initiatives
- Ability to galvanise and manage a project team to achieve the required goal
- Advanced skill in facilitation of workshops
- Build stakeholder relationships across B&Q and Kingfisher
- Works on multiple large and complex projects simultaneously
- Good at building professional relationships in a non-hierarchical organisation
- Use appropriate questioning tools & techniques to get to the root cause of an issue
- Encourage an open exchange of ideas ensuring that all viewpoints are taken into consideration
- Be clear, concise, and accurate in your communication
- Be able to articulate complicated and complex subject matter through excellent storytelling, tailored to varying audiences to ensure understanding (good presentation skills, preparation of materials and in delivery)
- Strong communication and negotiation skills to engage colleagues to understand and support the initiatives
- Good diplomacy and tact drawing on a sound EQ foundation
- Can challenge senior stakeholders in a supportive and valued manner
- Confidentiality e.g. understand and works in a confidential manner where required
Specific:
- Microsoft Power Platform working knowledge is desirable
- Advanced user of O365 suite including SharePoint, Power Apps, Power Automate.
Career progression
What's in it for me?
As part of a great team, you’ll be valued for who you are.We’re committed to making B&Q more diverse and representative of the communities we serve, where everyone can feel they belong and have equal opportunities. You will have access to a range of networks that represent our colleagues and allies and help us to continue to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business.
We also recognise that wellness means different things to different people, and we want to help colleagues be at their best and feel well by offering a range of benefits to help you. As well as a competitive salary, our benefits package includes an award-winning pension scheme, bonus, ShareSave options, 6.6 weeks holiday, payroll giving, an Employee Assistance Programme, shopping discounts, colleague wellbeing benefits and lots more!
So we can support you during the application or interview process, please contact recruitment@b-and-q.co.uk for any recruitment adjustments.
We want to ensure that all employees, future employees and applicants to all Kingfisher companies are treated equally regardless of age, gender, marital or civil partnership status, colour, ethnic or national origin, culture, religious belief, philosophical belief, political opinion, disability, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.
If you require any additional support or adjustments to help you make an application, please contact us at recruitment@b-and-q.co.uk.
