Operational Excellence Lean Manager Jobs in Rhode Island

At Encore Fire Protection, we are proud to be the East Coast's largest full-service fire protection company, serving over 90,000 customers from Maine to Louisiana. Our team of more than 2,400 dedicated employees provides customized fire protection solutions that protect lives and property every day. 

Our goal is to deliver a unique experience to those who depend on us to make their lives safer and easier. We are passionate about growing with purpose, driving real innovation, and creating a winning culture built on teamwork, success, and an unwavering commitment to safety. 

Our mission? To be the best fire protection company the industry has ever seen.

The Lean Practitioner is Encore Excellence's catalyst for building a lean, continuous-improvement culture across the organization. This is a leadership role, not a technical support role: you will train, coach, and challenge leaders at every level - from the executive team to frontline supervisors - to think and act differently about how work gets done, how goals are set, and how problems get solved.

This role combines teaching and embedding core lean disciplines; personally leading Kaizen events and rapid-improvement sprints that deliver visible results; and training and facilitating Hoshin Kanri so Encore's strategic priorities into aligned, measurable goals across locations and functions.

You will be expected to have a point of view, challenge leaders constructively, and drive execution on the improvement priorities that matter most to our people, customers, and business. You will work in partnership with accountable functional and location owners, using data, coaching, and facilitation rather than positional authority to move work forward

On any given day, you are building the capability, discipline, and culture that allows Encore to operate a genuine continuous-improvement system as the business scales. You will connect strategy to frontline execution while helping leaders build the skills to sustain improvement without relying on this role. That shows up in how you:

• Act as Encore's primary catalyst for lean culture change, coaching and challenging executive, location, and frontline leaders to adopt lean thinking and behaviors
• Design and deliver training in lean fundamentals, Hoshin Kanri, and structured problem-solving for leaders and high-potential talent
• Develop a bench of internal lean and Kaizen facilitators so improvement capability spreads beyond this one role
• Design, train, and run Encore's Hoshin Kanri process, translating strategic priorities into cascading, measurable goals and facilitating catchball between levels
• Establish and lead monthly and quarterly review cadences that keep strategic goals visible, on track, and owned by responsible leaders
• Personally plan and lead Kaizen events and rapid-improvement sprints targeting Encore's highest priority opportunities for people, customers, and value creation
• Drive measurable, sustained results from each event, including disciplined follow through after the event closes - not just recommendations
• Conduct current-state process mapping across field operations and cross-functional processes by engaging the people who actually perform the work
• Trace processes end-to-end to identify true boundaries, implicated functions, root causes, and practical future-state opportunities
• Document findings in clear, standardized formats, including process maps, value-stream maps, standard work, and visual management tools
• Serve as a driving force behind execution of Encore's key improvement priorities, partnering with and constructively pushing functional and location leaders
• Escalate constructively when leaders are not engaging with lean tools, Hoshin Kanri goals, or Kaizen commitments
• Maintain clear partnership boundaries: drive, coach, and challenge while leaving accountability for P&L, people, and performance with the functional or location owner
• Partner with Transformation/PMO and executive sponsors on major cross-functional initiatives while leading the lean and Kaizen workstream
• Build and maintain standardized process documentation and visual management tools in partnership with the Standards/Process function

What Success Looks Like

• Leaders from the executive team to frontline supervisors actively use lean thinking, Hoshin Kanri, and structured problem-solving as part of how they lead
• Encore's strategic priorities are visibly cascaded into aligned goals at every level through a review cadence leaders actively use
• Kaizen events and improvement initiatives produce sustained, measurable results in safety, quality, customer experience, productivity, cost, and growth enablement
• A growing bench of location and functional leaders can independently use lean tools and lead improvement events
• Leaders trust this role's process maps and finding as an accurate, unbiased record of how work actually happens

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience driving lean or continuous improvement culture change in an operational environment
• Demonstrated experience training and facilitating Hoshin Kanri or strategic policy deployment at the enterprise or multi-site level
• A proven track record personally planning and leading Kaizen events that discovered measurable business results
• Strong executive presence and facilitation skills, with the ability to coach, challenge, and influence senior leaders and location owners who do not report to you
• Working mastery of core lean tools, including process mapping, root cause analysis, standard work, visual management, value-stream mapping, and A3 problem solving
• Experience building internal training curriculum and developing lean capability in others
• Experience applying lean principles in field service, distribution, construction, building services, or another decentralized operational environment

What Makes You Stand Out

• You have Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or Master Black Belt certification
• You have built or materially expanded an enterprise or multi-site lean operating system
• You have successfully adapted traditional manufacturing-based lean methods to field service or cross-functional business processes
• You have developed internal facilitators or leaders who continued driving improvement independently after your direct involvement ended

At Encore, we're all about creating a culture where success is celebrated. We recognize that our work makes people's lives safer, and we reward those who contribute to our growth. Here's what you can expect:

• Competitive Salary: Compensation commensurate with your experience, with the opportunity to earn performance-based bonuses tied to your personal effectiveness and contributions to the team.

• Purpose-Driven Work Environment: We believe in working smarter, not harder. You'll be part of a culture that values results, and we empower our team to focus on impactful work.
• Flexible Dress Code: Upon joining, you'll receive branded Encore swag, and we believe in dressing for the objective, not the occasion. Most days, you can enjoy a casual work environment, but we'll dress up when the situation calls for it.
• People-Focused Culture: We know our greatest strength is our people. That's why we've built a culture that encourages experimentation, learning, and improving together. You'll have the space to share your ideas and help shape a company that is constantly growing.
• Tools for Success: Access to leading-edge web-based productivity tools.
• Health and Wellness: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage through Blue Cross to keep you and your family healthy.
• Retirement Planning: Participation in our Fidelity 401(k) plan with a company match, helping you save for your future.
• Life Insurance: Company-paid life insurance policy of $50,000 to give you peace of mind.

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Encore Fire Protection is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Encore Fire Protection is an E-Verify Employer.

As an EEO/AA employer, Encore Fire Protection considers applicants for employment without regard to, and does not discriminate based on gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, race, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.