Operations Manager

PGS Process Excellence Expert

About Principal: understand who we are

With more than 19,000 employees worldwide, Principal helps people and companies in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America build and protect their financial well-being. We've been doing this for 143 years. A FORTUNE 500 company, we're known for our innovative ideas and real-life solutions that help customers make financial progress, no matter their income or portfolio size.

Principal Global Services (PGS) is the global business services (GBS) for Principal Financial Group with offices present in India and Philippines and 3000+ employees.

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Job Purpose: this section helps you understand the business and provides high level summary of the role

As Principal increases its adoption of continuous improvement and business process re-engineering practices at scale, the role of a Process Excellence Expert is critical to drive adoption and deliver related services in a scalable model. This role is a part of the PGS Process Excellence Function, which serves as the Hub, to drive CI/BPR adoption across PGS Business Units, i.e. the spokes. Accordingly, the role will be responsible for helping assess the adoption of centrally defined frameworks / methodologies, update related artefacts, run training sessions on the subject matter, etc. Additionally, Process Excellence Function also provides CI as a service to PFG entities, leveraging third party supplier model. This role will be responsible for associated service and delivery management. The role combines process improvement expertise with structured project execution and service governance responsibilities. The individual will anchor high-impact Six Sigma engagements, oversee end-to-end vendor lifecycle activities—from RFP to billing—and ensure service commitments are met through effective governance. PGS Process Excellence Expert reports into Head of PGS Process Excellence and will be part of the overall PGS Transformation function.

Essential Deliverables: the section helps understand the job ownership and accountability

Lean Six Sigma Subject Matter Expertise

·       Lead and mentor Lean Six Sigma projects using DMAIC, Value Stream Mapping, Root Cause Analysis, and Control Planning.

·       Demonstrate deep expertise and hands-on knowledge of Lean Six Sigma, Kaizen, and PDCA problem solving methodologies.

·       Act as the organization's Six Sigma knowledge owner—developing toolkits, templates, and governance standards.

·       Conduct problem diagnostics, opportunity assessments, and benefit quantification to prioritize high-impact improvement initiatives.

·       Coach Green Belts and business teams; deliver CI training programs and capability-building sessions.

·      Work closely with data and reporting teams to integrate analytical rigor into improvement workstreams.

·      Contribute to building practices and capabilities within the 'Hub' of a Hub & Spoke operating model

Service Management

·       Support the end-to-end vendor lifecycle: drive RFP creation, facilitate vendor evaluations, and support selection based on service, commercial, and capability fit.

·       Collaborate with legal, procurement, and business stakeholders to finalize contracts, including service levels, deliverables, pricing, and governance models.

·       Lead vendor onboarding, including knowledge transition, access provisioning, tool familiarization, and SLA setup.

·       Oversee ongoing engagement delivery, ensuring vendors meet performance commitments, adhere to timelines, and resolve escalations effectively.

·       Manage governance routines such as performance reviews, monthly reporting, KPI tracking, and continuous improvement discussions.

·       Coordinate billing and commercial tracking, ensuring invoice validation, milestone tracking, and alignment with contractual terms.

Project Management

·       Lead end-to-end project delivery for cross-functional initiatives, ensuring scope, timeline, and cost adherence.

·       Develop project charters, detailed plans, stakeholder communications, and RAID logs.

·       Work with business units, IT, and vendors to deliver seamless process or service transformations.

·       Report project status to senior stakeholders and ensure benefit realization post-implementation.

·       Apply both Agile and traditional project management practices as appropriate to the nature of each initiative.

Leadership at Principal

As a leader at Principal, you're responsible for activating our strategy, meeting evolving customer needs, and creating an inclusive culture. Our Leadership Expectations are our guide to the standards expected from all our leaders. Our leaders need to be positive brand ambassadors of our core values and purpose. They need to understand our code of conduct and know the responsibility to comply. They stay respectful of diversity and differences and work towards building inclusive teams and partnerships.

Technical & Functional Skills

• Deep expertise in Lean, Six Sigma, DMAIC, and process improvement tools such as Minitab, MS Visio, etc.
• Strong understanding of service delivery frameworks, SLAs, vendor governance, and engagement lifecycle management.
• Skilled in project planning tools (MS Project, Jira, Smartsheet) and dashboard/reporting tools (Power BI, Excel).
• Familiarity with shared services, procurement processes, and vendor contracting models.

Behavioral Competencies

• Execution Focus: Drives tasks to closure with a disciplined, results-oriented mindset.
• Business Acumen: Understands service and process drivers and their impact on cost, compliance, and experience.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Comfortable working with senior stakeholders, SMEs, and vendor partners.
• Problem Solving: Structured, analytical thinker with the ability to work through complexity.
• Collaboration: Strong cross-functional teaming and communication abilities.
• Change Orientation: Advocates for structured change and continuous improvement.
• Adaptability: Balances multiple priorities in a dynamic service delivery environment.

Reporting Relationships

This job reports to: PGS Head of Process Excellence

Direct Reports: N/A

Flexibility Option and Base Location

Principal offers modern hybrid working arrangements that allow all employees to adapt to changing work preferences.

Flexibility Option for the role: Hybrid, 3 days in office 

Base Location: Pune, India

Principal is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion or belief, sex, age, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, military/veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. Principal is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion, respect and integrity, customer focus, and innovation.

Principal reserves the right to change this job description any time, and this job description is not intended to detail every requirement of the job. Other job requirements may be found, for example, in an individual's goals as determined by their leader.

Education & Experience

·       Bachelor's degree in business / computer science / engineering / a related field; Master's degree is a plus.

·       Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification (mandatory).

·       PMP, PRINCE2, or Agile Project Management certification (preferred).

·       ITIL certification or formal service management training (desirable).

·       Overall 10+ years of work experience

o   5+ years of experience leading Lean Six Sigma Projects

o   2+ years of experience handling service management roles