Operational excellence specialist

Welcome to Haleon. We’re a purpose-driven, world-class consumer company putting everyday health in the hands of millions. In just three years since our launch, we’ve grown, evolved and are now entering an exciting new chapter – one filled with bold ambitions and enormous opportunity.

Our trusted portfolio of brands – including Sensodyne®, Panadol®, Advil®, Voltaren®, Theraflu®, Otrivin®, and Centrum® – lead in resilient and growing categories. What sets us apart is our unique blend of deep human understanding and trusted science.

Now it’s time to fully realise the full potential of our business and our people. We do this through our Win as One strategy. It puts our purpose – to deliver better everyday health with humanity – at the heart of everything we do. It unites us, inspires us, and challenges us to be better every day, driven by our agile, performance-focused culture.

Operational Excellence Specialist

Are you passionate about continuous improvement, operational excellence, and driving meaningful change within a manufacturing environment? Do you enjoy working closely with teams to improve performance, eliminate waste, and deliver sustainable business results? If so, we'd love to hear from you.

We are seeking an Operational Excellence Specialist to join our site Operational Excellence team. Reporting to the Site Operational Excellence Manager, you will play a key role in delivering site-wide continuous improvement initiatives, supporting business growth objectives, and embedding a culture of operational excellence across the organization.

In this role, you will drive the implementation of the Haleon Performance System (HAPS), leveraging data-driven insights and Lean methodologies to improve Safety, Quality, Service, Cost, and Productivity. You will work cross-functionally to identify improvement opportunities, build capability across teams, and lead projects that deliver measurable business impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Coach, mentor, and support leaders and teams in embedding Lean principles, continuous improvement practices, and HAPS methodologies into daily operations.
• Drive performance excellence through the development and implementation of meaningful KPIs that provide actionable insights and support site objectives.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on reducing waste, minimizing process variation, and improving efficiency, quality, service, and cost performance.
• Partner with operational teams to design and sustain effective visual management systems that improve transparency and support data-driven decision-making.
• Facilitate Lean improvement activities, including Kaizen events, SMED, 5S, Autonomous Maintenance, Centerlining, and other Operational Excellence tools.
• Build capability across the workforce through training, coaching, and mentoring on Lean tools, standard work practices, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Support and lead the implementation of Digital Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 initiatives aligned with the Haleon Performance System.
• Coordinate and facilitate cross-functional performance reviews focused on efficiency, waste reduction, and productivity improvement.
• Conduct regular Gemba walks to identify opportunities to improve safety, quality, efficiency, and operational performance.
• Lead and support cross-functional improvement projects to achieve site productivity and operational goals.

What We're Looking For

Essential Qualifications & Experience

• Degree in Engineering or a related discipline, and/or a minimum of 3 years' experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Knowledge of manufacturing compliance requirements, ideally within highly regulated industries.
• Strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence and communicate effectively at all levels of the organization.
• Experience using data and digital tools to drive performance improvements, including Power BI and production performance systems.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and projects simultaneously.

Preferred Qualifications & Experience

• 5+ years' experience in a manufacturing, operations, or operational excellence environment.
• Project management experience with a proven track record of delivering results.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification or equivalent continuous improvement qualification.
• Experience working within FMCG, pharmaceutical, consumer healthcare, or similarly fast-paced manufacturing environments.
• Strong understanding of Operational Excellence frameworks such as TPM, Lean Manufacturing, World Class Manufacturing (WCM), or Six Sigma.
• Supply Chain or Operations background with experience driving business improvement initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders, challenge established ways of working, and drive positive organizational change.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively across all levels of an organization, from shop-floor teams to senior leadership.

Job Posting End Date

2026-10-08

Equal Opportunities

Haleon are committed to mobilising our purpose in a way that represents the diverse consumers and communities who rely on our brands every day. It guides us in creating an inclusive culture, where different backgrounds and views are valued and respected – all in support of understanding and best serving the needs of our consumers and unleashing the full potential of our people. It’s important to us that Haleon is a place where all our employees feel they truly belong.

During the application process, we may ask you to share some personal information, which is entirely voluntary. This information ensures we meet certain regulatory and reporting obligations and supports the development, refinement, and execution of our inclusion and belonging programmes that are open to all Haleon employees.

The personal information you provide will be kept confidential, used only for legitimate business purposes, and will never be used in making any employment decisions, including hiring decisions.

Adjustment or Accommodations Request

If you require a reasonable adjustment or accommodation or other assistance to apply for a job at Haleon at any stage of the application process, please let your recruiter know by providing them with a description of specific adjustments you are requesting. We’ll provide all reasonable adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment process and treat all information you provide us in confidence.

Note to candidates

The Haleon recruitment team will contact you using a Haleon email account (@haleon.com). If you are not sure whether the email you received is from Haleon, please get in touch.