Manager Of Lean Transformation, Retail Operations

About the company

Albertsons Companies is at the forefront of the revolution in retail. With a fixation on innovation and building culture, our team is rallying our company around a unique vision: forging a retail winner that is admired for national strength, deep roots in the communities we serve, and a team that has passion for food and delivering great service.

Albertsons is one of the largest retail employers, providing approximately 300,000 jobs across 2,200 stores, 22 distribution centers, 20 food and beverage plants and various support offices. We operate in 34 states and the District of Columbia under the Albertsons banner, as well as Safeway, Tom Thumb, Jewel Osco, Shaw’s, and many more recognizable names.

Albertsons Companies recently rolled out our Presence with a Purpose work model. Placing a premium on adaptability, safety and family well-being, Presence with a Purpose will help us build a hybrid work environment between remote work and office time. A one-size-fits-all approach does not apply to everyone, and teams are allowed to make decisions that are best for them.

What you will be doing

Manager of Lean Transformation is responsible for coordinating end-to-end ‘Lean Transformation Team’ (LPT) processes including: building and managing Lean idea pipeline and performance management, assisting in reporting and performance management, and overseeing LPT analysts.

Albertsons Companies’ Retail Operations team is on a journey to transform using Lean methodologies with primary focus on:

1) Putting people first by driving better team member experience

2) Being customer driven with focus on higher guest satisfaction

3) Raising the bar with better efficiency and performance

This is an amazing opportunity for someone to come at the initial stages of our Lean journey and shape it from end to end. This role will give you visibility at all levels within the organization and make a significant, transformational impact on our operations strategy, culture and day-to-day processes.

Business travel required: 10-30%

The position will be based in Phoenix, Arizona.

This role reports to Director of Lean Transformation within the Corporate Retail Operations department

Main responsibilities

Drive Lean initiative identification and delivery

• Act as conduit between initiative owners (LPT analysts, Field team members and Retail Operations team members) and implementation team to develop roll-out sequencing (in partnership with Store Initiative Portfolio Management (SIPM) team and functional leaders) and build cadence of in-store follow-ups to ensure initiatives are taking hold
• Liaise with Learning & Development team to ensure trainings are finalized, updated, published and completed by relevant Front-line and Field leadership teams
• Liaise with Finance team to ensure review of initiative impact is completed at right cadence (e.g., as initiatives progress from pilot to implementation) and impact is consistently updated
• Support LPT analysts and relevant stakeholders (e.g., Retail Operations team) in building and finalizing business cases and training materials for each Lean initiative
• Spend time in stores to conduct department reviews and identify opportunities to drive continuous improvement and build testing and implementation plans accordingly; this includes deploying the Lean diagnostic toolkit to identify opportunities in store and engaging directly with Front-line teams to gather input and feedback
• Collaborate with Retail Operations team, Field team, and Front-line teams in stores to drive continuous improvement (often based on principles of ‘Lean’) in store operations; this includes identification, design, testing, stakeholder engagement, implementation, and measurement of initiatives
• Consistently monitor initiative progress including prioritized list of potential issues and barriers to execution/impact and communicates updates to Director of LPT
• Serve as first point of contact for LPT participants on day-to-day operation

Manage the day-to-day of LPT team

• Support creation of executive-level updates
• Support build-out and validation of performance management reporting for program and initiatives
• Ultimately responsible for the work output of LPT analysts
• Provide coaching and administer capability building to LPT analysts as necessary

Coordinate weekly LPT cadence

• Coordinate all elements of the rigorous weekly LPT cadence (e.g., meetings with Field teams, Front-line engagement in stores, implementation coordination and execution)
• Produce relevant documents for internal communication and disseminates program updates to relevant parties (including Field leadership)
• Responsible for the functioning of weekly LPT meetings, ensuring the right participants attend, actions are tracked, and Lean idea pipeline is managed
• Track initiative milestones and actions from LPT meetings and coordinate with relevant parties to ensure execution

What we are searching for

A talented operations manager who has:

• 6+ years of experience as high performing business or technical manager in Operations management teams in retail setting. Prior working in retail stores a plus.
• High energy and passionate individual who inspires teammates to reach their maximum potential
• Undergraduate degree required in Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Operations Research, Statistics; MBA preferred
• Comfortable working with quick turnaround times and deadlines
• Ability and passion to spend time in stores learning about the operations, people, culture to identify and solve for opportunities
• Adept at quick financial analysis and experienced in Microsoft Office applications (i.e., Excel, PowerPoint)
• Ability to work effectively in a team setting including synthesizing abstract ideas into concrete design implications and collaborating with Corporate, Field leadership, and Front-line teams in grocery stores
• Academic background and/or hands-on experience involving retail and/or cross-functional projects; knowledge of ‘Lean’ and/or in-store experience is a positive
• Strong, executive-level communication skills and ability to lead ideation sessions and workshops
• Positive and proactive process management with an eye for detail and a strong ownership mentality

What it is like at Albertsons?

Albertsons Culture Principles

Compassion: We always treat each other with kindness and respect

Team: We always support and recognize each other

Inclusive: We always value everyone’s perspective

Learning: We always strive to grow and develop ourselves and others

Competitive: We always act with integrity to win over the customer

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