Value Stream Director (19)

Value Stream Leader

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.

We are seeking an experienced and driven Value Stream Leader to lead the end-to-end supply chain in support of growth, margin expansion, and cash flow creation for the Spine and Hardware/Biologics portfolio within Cranial and Spinal Technologies.Reporting to the Vice President, OU Operations – Cranial and Spinal Technologies, this role leads and empowers the team to deliver strong operational performance across the value stream.

The successful candidate provides thought and technical leadership, manages major developing programs for critical functions across one or more regions, and is accountable for overall program unit success.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end supply chain and take accountability for the entire value stream from raw material through customer delivery in support of revenue growth, gross margin expansion, and cash flow, including inventory and capital expenditures.
• Focus on outcomes including quality, delivery, cost, and customer satisfaction rather than siloed functional metrics.
• Align operations to what delivers value for the customer and prioritize speed, quality, and reliability from the customer perspective.
• Provide thought and technical leadership across the business area.
• Manage one or more major, developing programs for critical functions across one or more regions that require development and coordination of new program plans or delivery methods with little precedent.
• Lead the development of strategy for the department or business area and ensure alignment to company aims and objectives.
• Make large business and select strategic decisions that impact financial performance, employees, or the public image of the operational unit and/or company.
• Typically hold budget or P&L accountability for a department, broad functional area, or geography.
• Drive innovation across the business area and encourage best practice and knowledge sharing.
• Significantly improve, change, or adapt business area processes, systems, products, or services.
• Solve complex, difficult, and undefined problems through detailed information gathering, analysis, and investigation.
• Develop long-term strategic relationships and alliances with key internal and external stakeholders.
• Communicate and conduct briefings with senior or executive leadership regarding ongoing operations and strategic initiatives.
• Influence across functions and businesses to negotiate and gain cooperation on operational issues and divergent internal objectives.
• Lead a matrixed small unit that typically includes multiple teams led by program managers and/or vendors.
• Approve tasks and schedules necessary for successful program execution.
• Understand how manufacturing, supply chain, quality, research and development, and other functions interconnect, and eliminate bottlenecks across the system.
• Use key performance indicators, flow metrics, and root cause analysis to drive improvements and continuously monitor and adjust performance.
• Champion continuous improvement methodologies such as Lean and Six Sigma to reduce waste, simplify processes, and drive standardization.
• Partner closely with marketing and commercial teams to align stakeholders around shared goals and priorities.
• Connect day-to-day operations with broader business strategy, including growth, innovation, and cost optimization.
• Design processes for smooth, uninterrupted flow by minimizing delays, handoffs, and variation while optimizing capacity, resource allocation, and cycle time.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor degree in a related field with a minimum of 10 years recent relevant experience
• Advanced degree with a minimum of 8 years of recent relevant experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Broad management knowledge and experience leading project teams across multiple job areas.
• Mastery-level knowledge and skills within a specific technical or professional discipline, with broad understanding of related functional areas.
• Strong financial, operational, and program management capabilities, including management of financial and material resources.
• Demonstrated critical thinking, effective communication, and the ability to lead through influence in a matrixed environment.
• Experience with manufacturing technologies, data analysis, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and quality management.
• Proven ability to build strategic relationships and communicate effectively with senior and executive leadership.