Director, Global CI

Department : Operations

Reports To : COO

Job Summary:

The Global Director, Continuous Improvement is responsible for developing and executing Quasar Medical’s global Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence strategy across manufacturing, planning, engineering, and business support functions. This role drives enterprise-wide transformation through Lean, Six Sigma, digitalisation (e.g. MES), automation, and data-driven decision-making to improve profitability, quality, delivery performance, customer satisfaction, and organisational capability.

As a key member of the Operations Leadership Team, the role partners with executive leadership, regional leaders, and site leadership teams to align improvement roadmaps with corporate and financial objectives, build a strong pipeline of CI talent, and foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and problem-solving across the organisation.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute a global CI strategy and 3-5 years roadmap aligned with corporate business objectives and cost reductions goals
• Accountable for delivering CI savings of ~1.3% of annual revenue through productivity, quality, automation, procurement, digitalisation, and operational excellence initiatives.
• Build, mentor, and inspire a high-performing global CI team, including Regional CI Leads, Black Belts, and Green Belts.
• Review, establish, and maintain standard KPIs, performance benchmarks, and maturity levels to measure, track, and drive continuous improvement across all manufacturing sites
• Establish and standardize CI methodologies, tools, and governance frameworks (Lean, Six Sigma, TPM, Value Stream Mapping, SQDC visual management etc.) across all sites to drive consistency and best-practice sharing.
• Build CI cultures. Foster a "Zero Waste" and "Problem-Solving" mindset throughout the organization, moving beyond tools to embed CI into the company's DNA.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen quality culture, reduce process variation, improve manufacturing capability, deliver cost and productivity improvements, and support compliance within regulated medical device environments.
• Conduct regular CI maturity assessments (Gemba walks, process audits) at each site, identifying improvement opportunities and ensuring sustainable implementation.
• Identify, evaluate, and implement emerging technologies, automation solutions, and digital tools including MES and Ai, to accelerate performance improvements.
• Manage the global CI budget, allocating resources efficiently to maximize ROI across the portfolio of improvement projects
• Continuously perform functional, site-level and product-level CI workshops for new CI initiations with timely follow up mechanisms to get existing and new projects moving.
• Prepare and present comprehensive monthly, quarterly, and annual reports to the Executive Leadership Team. These reports will detail overall progress against targets, financial impact, and key milestone achievements.
• Ensure all improvement initiatives comply with ISO 13485, FDA 21 CFR Part 820, other applicable regulatory requirements, and the Company's Quality Management System (QMS).
• Accelerate roll-out of MES deployment in partnership with IT team.
• Partner closely with Finance to validate cost savings, productivity gains, and value creation initiatives, ensuring measurable contribution to business performance and profitability
• Any other duty as assigned by leadership.

Key Requirements:

• Master and Bachelor degree or above in Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive experience, including at least 5 years in a senior leadership role focused on Continuous Improvement, Operational Excellence, or Lean Transformation.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in medical device industry – manufacturing businesses. Extra points for CDMO experience.
• Expert knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, and other Continuous Improvement methodologies (e.g., Agile, Theory of Constraints).
• Six Sigma Black Belt certification is required; Master Black Belt or equivalent advanced certification is highly desirable.
• Hands-on proficiency with Continuous Improvement tools, including Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Kaizen, DMAIC, Poka-Yoke, Standard Work, Red-X?, TPM, and SMED.
• Strong financial acumen, with the ability to identify improvement opportunities, develop business cases, and deliver measurable P&L impact.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively across Operations, Supply Chain, Product Development, Quality, Finance, HR, IT, and Commercial functions to drive enterprise-wide improvement initiatives.
• Experience with MES (Manufacturing Execution System) implementations.
• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to lead change in a decentralised global organisation without direct line authority.
• Demonstrated success in mentoring, coaching, and developing Continuous Improvement talent, building a sustainable pipeline of internal practitioners and future leaders.
• Experience within a regulated manufacturing environment; medical device industry experience and knowledge of ISO 13485 and FDA quality system requirements are highly desirable.

Work Environment:

This position is based in China (Shenzhen / Dongguan, Guangdong Province) and requires regular travel to other Quasar sites (Thailand, Mexico, Singapore) globally to support the execution of Continuous Improvement initiatives and fulfil the responsibilities of the role.

Must have: English speaking fluency

Nice to have: mandaring speaking ability