Senior Operational Excellence Engineer

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 11 Aug 2026

Careers that change lives start here. Medtronic is a global leader in healthcare technology with a Mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. Our 95,000 employees work across more than 150 countries to put patients first - developing innovative medical technologies that improve the lives of 72+ million patients each year.

Your unique talents will help shape the future of healthcare while building a career grounded in purpose, growth, and impact.

A Day in the Life At Medtronic, we bring bold ideas forward with speed and decisiveness to put patients first in everything we do. In-person exchanges are invaluable to our work. We're working onsite 5 days a week as part of our commitment to fostering a culture of professional growth and cross-functional collaboration as we work together to engineer the extraordinary.

This role is based at our Boulder, Colorado facility, however, there is expectation to travel locally to our Louisville, Colorado facility 1-2x a month and our Parker, Colorado facility 1x a quarter.

As a Senior Operational Excellence Engineer, you will use Lean Six Sigma and problem-solving to drive lasting improvements and cut waste in manufacturing. You lead cross-functional teams, run value stream mapping and Kaizen events, and keep improvement projects on track.

You collaborate across production, engineering, quality, and supply chain to build integrated processes and boost operational excellence. You analyze data, identify root causes, track performance, and align improvements with business goals.

You will deploy the Medtronic Performance System (MPS), deliver process excellence plans, and advise on best practices. You will coach teams, facilitate workshops, and keep leaders informed. You will manage cost-saving programs and ensure all efforts support business objectives.

Your work helps Medtronic alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life for millions.

Responsibilities may include the following and other duties may be assigned.

- Apply Lean Six Sigma and structured problem-solving methodologies to diagnose root causes, implement sustainable improvements, and quantify business value within manufacturing processes.

- Facilitate cross-functional value stream mapping, process improvement workshops, and Kaizen events to identify inefficiencies, eliminate waste, and develop integrated, future-state processes.

- Organize, lead, and facilitate cross-functional project teams, managing the Kaizen roadmap and ensuring timely execution of improvement projects.

- Collaborate with production, engineering, quality, supply chain, and other departments to drive operational excellence and integrated process solutions.

- Develop, monitor, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to track progress and identify future improvement opportunities.

- Collect and analyze operational data, perform cost-benefit analyses, and present actionable insights and proposals to leadership.

- Guide the deployment of the Medtronic Performance System (MPS), developing and executing plans for continuous improvement and programmatic savings.

- Deliver training and coaching in Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, building problem-solving skills and a value stream mindset across the organization.

- Provide consultation, analyze best practices, and ensure alignment of improvement initiatives with business objectives.

- Communicate team progress, maintain engagement with leaders, and ensure improvement activities are strategically aligned with organizational goals.

- Requires a Bachelor's degree plus a minimum of 4 years relevant hands-on experience or advanced degree plus a minimum of 2 years relevant experience.

- Advanced lean six sigma knowledge (Green/black belt certified).

- Strategy planning experience with aligning improvement activities to business goals.

- Strong change management, coaching, and mentoring competency.

- Ability to influence change without direct authority.

- Excellent communication and presentation skills, including leading training courses with the ability to convey and communicate complex concepts clearly.

- Project management skills with good time management, conflict resolution, training facilitation, and administrative skills.

- Preferred background in manufacturing, operations, or other process-intensive environments.

For Baccalaureate degrees earned outside of the United States, a degree that satisfies the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) is required.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this position, but they are not an exhaustive list of all the required responsibilities and skills of this position.

The physical demands described within the Responsibilities section of this job description are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

For Office Roles: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to be independently mobile. The employee is also required to interact with a computer, and communicate with peers and co-workers. Contact your manager or local HR to understand the Work Conditions and Physical requirements that may be specific to each role.

At Medtronic, we are committed to fostering an environment where employees can thrive and make a meaningful impact. In alignment with our enterprise-wide workforce planning approach, U.S. work authorization sponsorship (H-1B, TN, J, etc.) is offered exclusively for Principal-level roles and above, where specialized expertise aligns with long-term business needs.

Roles below the Principal level require candidates to possess unrestricted U.S. work authorization at the time of hire and for the duration of employment.