Senior Operational Excellence practitioner responsible for driving the maturity and consistency of the Maersk Way of Working (TMW) while leading complex cross-functional business optimization and transformation initiatives across the Area. The role applies advanced Operational Excellence expertise to diagnose business challenges, shape practical improvement approaches, and deliver high-value outcomes in line with direction set by Area OpEx leadership.
Acts as a senior partner to business leaders and a lead practitioner within Operational Excellence, taking on more complex, higher-impact initiatives than the specialist role while ensuring solutions are scalable, standardized, sustainable, and aligned to enterprise expectations. The role combines hands-on improvement leadership with strong facilitation, coaching, and cross-functional coordination to move initiatives from problem definition through implementation and value realization.
Role Scope and Impact- Leads complex Operational Excellence and business optimization initiatives aligned to Area priorities and improvement opportunities.
- Provides senior expertise on TMW deployment, process transformation, operating model redesign, and cross-functional problem solving.
- Acts as an escalation point and lead practitioner for higher-complexity initiatives beyond the typical scope of the specialist role.
- Builds alignment across stakeholders to support effective diagnosis, solution design, adoption, and delivery of sustainable outcomes.
- Guides Operational Excellence resources and supports delivery of digital-enabled and cross-functional transformation priorities.
Key Responsibilities / Critical Tasks1. The Maersk Way- Support Area-wide deployment and maturity of TMW, ensuring alignment to standards, methodologies, and behaviours.
- Provide senior guidance on structured problem solving, diagnostics, and process improvement approaches including Lean, Kaizen, the TMW A3 problem-solving approach, and root cause analysis.
- Act as a train-the-trainer resource for TMW tools and methodologies, building practitioner capability and consistency of application across the Area.
- Apply these methods on more complex or ambiguous issues that require deeper analysis, facilitation, and stakeholder alignment.
- Act as a trusted advisor on complex operational and transformation issues while supporting sustainment of Operational Excellence practices.
2. Business Optimization & Implementation- Lead complex business optimization initiatives aligned to Area priorities and measurable improvement opportunities.
- Take ownership for business framing, design guidance, implementation leadership, and value realization on higher-complexity cross-functional transformation efforts.
- Drive end-to-end process and operating model optimization, including simplification, role clarity, control effectiveness, and scalability.
- Provide senior problem-solving support, challenge, and direction on initiatives requiring deeper expertise, judgement, and stakeholder management.
- Work closely with initiative owners and business stakeholders to translate problems into practical solutions and implementation actions.
- Partner with project and program management support to enable effective implementation, governance, and benefit realization.
3. Capability Building, Guidance & Change Leadership- Build Operational Excellence capability across the Area by setting expectations for methods, quality, and practical application.
- Coach practitioners, initiative leads, and business partners in problem solving, facilitation, initiative design, and change execution.
- Serve as a train-the-trainer for TMW tools and methodologies, including the TMW A3 problem-solving approach, to strengthen capability and consistency across teams.
- Facilitate senior workshops and alignment forums to strengthen sponsorship, ownership, and adoption of major transformation efforts.
4. Digitalization, Innovation & Analytics (Enablement via Partnership)- Define and prioritize digitalization, automation, and analytics opportunities linked to business problems and transformation goals.
- Translate business needs into clear requirements and partner with Digitalization, Automation, and Data teams on roadmap and implementation decisions.
- Ensure digital-enabled improvements are scalable, standardized, and embedded into day-to-day operations.
Stakeholder Interfaces- Area leadership and senior stakeholders across Operations, CX, SCM, Finance, Product, and Technology.
- Operational Excellence specialists, project and program management support, and business initiative owners involved in transformation delivery.
- Digitalization, Automation, and Data teams responsible for solution realization and capability support.
- Cross-functional governance bodies, transformation forums, and decision-making groups used to align direction and implementation choices.
Qualifications & Experience- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, Logistics, or related discipline; advanced qualifications are advantageous.
- Significant experience in operational excellence, continuous improvement, business transformation, or related operational environments.
- Strong track record in leading complex cross-functional initiatives, building capability, and delivering measurable business impact.
- Deep practical knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, the TMW A3 problem-solving approach, Kaizen, DMAIC, root cause analysis, and value stream mapping, with experience influencing senior stakeholders in matrix environments.
Capabilities / Core Competencies- Advanced expertise in TMW, Operational Excellence methods, end-to-end process optimization, and delivery of complex transformation initiatives.
- Strong stakeholder influencing, facilitation, coaching, and train-the-trainer capability in complex cross-functional environments.
- Ability to translate direction into practical execution and sustainable business outcomes.
- Strong coaching capability with focus on standardization, consistency, and uplift of Operational Excellence practice.
Performance Measures- Maturity and consistency of TMW deployment across the Area.
- Delivery of business optimization and transformation outcomes with measurable impact on efficiency, quality, and customer results.
- Scalability and sustainability of solutions delivered across teams and functions.
- Effectiveness of stakeholder alignment, initiative execution, and capability uplift across the Area.
