Leonardo DRS

Sr. Business Excellence Manager

Leonardo DRS$100K — $130K *
Business Services
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Business, Organizational Development, Industrial Engineering, Psychology, or related field (or equivalent experience)
  • 10+ years of experience leading culture change, business transformation, process improvement, or change management initiatives
  • Demonstrated ability to influence without authority and work effectively with executives through frontline teams
  • Strong facilitation skills with experience leading workshops and cross-functional working sessions
  • Proven experience delivering measurable outcomes (adoption, cycle time reduction, quality improvements, cost savings, engagement, etc.)

Responsibilities

  • Lead cross-functional change initiatives that improve how work gets done
  • Serve as a trusted advisor to leaders and teams on change strategy and organizational readiness
  • Translate business strategy into practical change roadmaps with clear outcomes
  • Assess current culture and identify gaps between current state and desired behaviors
  • Design and facilitate interventions that reinforce desired culture
  • Partner with functional leaders to map, simplify, and standardize business processes
  • Create and execute change communications that are clear and audience-specific

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision coverage
  • Company contribution to a health savings account
  • Life and disability insurance
  • Legal insurance
  • 401(k) savings plan
  • Wellness programs focusing on physical, emotional, and financial well-being
  • Flexible work schedules with a 9/80 program
  • Paid parental leave and community service hours
Full Job Description
Job ID: 114355
Location: Hybrid/Remote with travel to Fl, TX, CA and other sites as business needs dictate
Schedule: 9/80


Job Summary

Lead cross-functional business excellence initiatives by partnering with functional leadership across the organization to evaluate, streamline, and redefine core standard processes, including Risk and Opportunities Management, Program Management, and Design and Development Management. Drive measurable reductions in cycle time and cost while improving the quality, consistency, and effectiveness of organizational deliverables.

Job Responsibilities

Enterprise Change Leadership
• Lead cross-functional change initiatives that improve how work gets done (processes, behaviors, decision-making, drive more analytical fact based decisions modeling, and ways of working)
• Serve as a trusted advisor to leaders and teams on change strategy, adoption risk, champion root causes and corrective actions of key business process, and organizational readiness
• Translate business strategy into practical change roadmaps with clear outcomes, milestones, and success measures

Culture and Ways of Working
• Assess current culture and working norms; identify gaps between current state and desired behaviors
• Design and facilitate interventions that reinforce desired culture (e.g., operating rhythms, team norms, feedback loops, leadership behaviors)
• Coach leaders and teams on building psychological safety, accountability, continuous improvement, and collaboration

Process Improvement and Standardization
• Partner with functional leaders/owners to map, simplify, standardize, and improve business processes
• Identify root causes of inefficiency and variation; implement sustainable improvements using Lean, Agile, Kaizen, or similar methods
• Develop SOPs, playbooks, and governance models that enable repeatable execution and continuous improvement

Stakeholder Engagement and Facilitation
• Build alignment across diverse stakeholder groups, including senior leaders, middle management, and frontline employees
• Facilitate workshops (e.g., discovery, root cause, value stream mapping, retrospectives, lessons learned) to drive shared ownership
• Manage resistance productively by understanding incentives, concerns, and organizational dynamics

Communication, Training, and Adoption
• Create and execute change communications that are clear, audience-specific, and behavior-focused
• Develop training and reinforcement plans to ensure adoption and sustained results
• Establish mechanisms to measure adoption and performance (KPIs, pulse surveys, leading indicators) and adjust approach as needed

Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Organizational Development, Industrial Engineering, Psychology, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 10+ years of experience leading culture change, business transformation, process improvement, or change management initiatives
• Demonstrated ability to influence without authority and work effectively with executives through frontline teams
• Strong facilitation skills with experience leading workshops and cross-functional working sessions
• Proven experience delivering measurable outcomes (adoption, cycle time reduction, quality improvements, cost savings, engagement, etc.)

Core Competencies (Success Profile)
Executive presence and credibility with senior leaders
Systems thinking and ability to connect culture, process, structure, and incentives
Data-driven mindset paired with strong people skills
Pragmatism and bias for action-can move from analysis to execution quickly
Coaching orientation-develops capability in others rather than "doing change to them"
Conflict navigation and ability to manage ambiguity, tension, and competing priorities

Working Conditions / Travel (Adjustable)
• Hybrid/onsite as business needs dictate
• Up to 35% travel depending on site footprint and stakeholder needs

Preferred Qualifications
• MBA with a focus in finance
• Change management certification (e.g., Prosci, ACMP/CCMP)
• Lean/Six Sigma certification (Yellow/Green/Black Belt) or equivalent continuous improvement experience
• Experience in regulated environments (e.g., aerospace/defense, manufacturing, healthcare, finance)
• Experience implementing new operating models, shared services, ERP/business systems, or enterprise workflow standardization

U.S. Citizenship required. This position requires an active DOD security clearance or the ability to obtain such clearance within a reasonable time after commencement of employment.

Taking care of our people is a top priority at Leonardo DRS. We are proud to offer competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, a company contribution to a health savings account, telemedicine, life and disability insurance, legal insurance, and a 401(k) savings plan. We champion wellness programs that focus on physical, emotional, and financial well-being. We develop our talent by offering programs and activities to support career-growth, professional development, and skill enhancement. And we understand there is more to life than work, and the importance of offering flexible work schedules with our 9/80 program, competitive vacation, health/emergency leave, paid parental leave, and community service hours.
*Some employees are eligible for limited benefits only

U.S. Citizenship required. This position requires an active DOD security clearance or the ability to obtain such clearance within a reasonable time after commencement of employment.

About Leonardo DRS

Leonardo DRS is a leading supplier of integrated products, services and support to military forces, intelligence agencies and prime contractors worldwide. Focused on defense technology, we develop, manufacture and support a broad range of systems for mission critical and military sustainment requirements, as well as homeland security. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, the Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leonardo S.p.A. which employs more than 45,000 people worldwide. We offer a competitive compensation package and a business culture that rewards performance. For additional information on Leonardo DRS, please visit our website at www.leonardodrs.com.
Learn more about Leonardo DRS
Size
11,000 employees
Market Cap
$3.1 billion
Industry
Founded
1968
5 Year Trend
+55.7%
NASDAQ

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