At ACT, Your Work Makes a Difference

Education has power – a power that changes lives forever. It creates opportunities that lift up individuals, their families, and sparks societal change that echoes through generations to come. From our grassroots we have fought the good fight for equity in education, and we remain devoted to helping anyone who struggles to access that power. This is what matters to us and we must do better -- we’ve never been more sure of our purpose.

ACT team members are part of an organization dedicated to a mission that has never been more important: Helping people achieve education and workplace success. Advancing that mission within our organization, by helping our team members achieve education and workplace success of their own, is core to our values. ACT values a diverse workplace and is committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable environment in which every team member has an opportunity to grow.

We want our team members to have the well-being and confidence they need to do their best work, in an environment where both they and ACT thrive. To support this, our total rewards include company paid life insurance, medical, dental, vision, flexible health and dependent spending accounts, 401(k) retirement savings with company match, paid holidays, paid time off, and so much more. You can find a comprehensive list of our benefits here.

We are seeking a Director, Operational Excellence to help us fulfill that mission.

The Director, Operational Excellence is responsible for driving the end-to-end execution of strategic project initiatives and leading business process improvement efforts that require operational delivery across Operations. This role ensures product and process initiatives move from approved roadmap through delivery by managing integrated plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, and execution workflows, while also identifying and eliminating waste, inefficiency, and quality gaps to strengthen the organization's overall operating model.

The finalist will be hired at the salary and level commensurate with their qualifications. For this position, we anticipate offering an annual salary in the range of $100,000 to $125,000. ACT manages salaries within the range based on relevant factors including, skills, experience, and internal equity. This position is incentive eligible.

Location: This is a remote position, based in the United States.

Visa: Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for visa sponsorship.

What you will be working on:

• Project & Program Delivery:
  • Own delivery execution for assigned product and process initiatives impacting Operations, from intake through launch and transition to business-as-usual (BAU).
  • Translate product roadmaps and strategic initiatives into integrated project plans with clear milestones, deliverables, and success criteria.
  • Ensure operational requirements, dependencies, and constraints are identified early and incorporated into delivery plans.
  • Actively manage cross-team dependencies, sequencing work to reduce delivery risk and bottlenecks.
  • Proactively identify, track, and escalate delivery risks and issues related to scope, timing, capacity, or operational readiness.
  • Partner with functional leads to define mitigation plans and drive timely resolution.
  • Maintain clear visibility of risks, impacts, and decisions for leadership stakeholders.
  • Establish and maintain project management governance, templates, and reporting cadence (e.g., a lightweight PMO framework) to support consistent delivery across the portfolio.
• Business Process Excellence:
  • Develop and lead operational excellence initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, or similar continuous improvement methodologies.
  • Map current-state processes, identify root causes of inefficiency, waste, and quality gaps, and design future-state processes.
  • Establish and monitor KPIs and metrics to track process performance and quantify the impact of improvement initiatives.
  • Build and mature a Continuous Improvement (CI) program, including training and coaching for staff at all levels.
  • Drive standardization of best practices and process documentation across business units.
  • Conduct cost-benefit analyses and build business cases to justify improvement investments.

This could be the job for you if you have (minimum requirements):

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible project management experience in complex, cross-functional environments and with technology projects.
• Experience leading business process improvement or operational excellence initiatives (Lean, Six Sigma, or equivalent methodology).
• Experience leading initiatives during organizational change or transformation.
• Experience working across cross-functional teams.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects simultaneously.
• Proven track record of delivering projects on time and within scope, with measurable operational improvements (e.g., cost savings, cycle time reduction, quality gains).
• Strong facilitation and stakeholder management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to balance structure with flexibility while guiding teams through shifting priorities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience with project management tools such as Jira, and process mapping tools such as Visio or Lucidchart.
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
  • Execution excellence
  • Process improvement and root-cause analysis
  • Change leadership skills
  • Thrives in dynamic environments
  • Cross-functional influence and coordination
  • Strategic alignment, problem solving and critical thinking
  • Influence without authority
  • Risk management
  • Data-driven decision making
  • Adaptability and resilience
  • Clear and proactive communication
  • Strong organizational and prioritization skills
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Project Management, Operations, Technology, or related field (or equivalent combination of education and experience).

It’s a plus if you have:

• Experience with digital transformation or system implementations.
• Project management certification (e.g., PMP, PMI-ACP).
• Lean Six Sigma certification (Green Belt, Black Belt, or Master Black Belt).
• Experience building or leading a PMO or Continuous Improvement office.

About ACT

When ACT was founded in 1959, it disrupted the assessment industry with a new approach to helping students better understand their readiness so they could take steps to improve it. By leveraging our expertise and authority in assessment and research, we will again disrupt the industry—helping more people learn, better measure their progress, and improve their navigation through life’s transitions.

More than ever before, ACT is fulfilling its mission of helping people achieve education and workplace success. We’re doing it by pushing the boundaries of learning innovation through the work of our people, who we call team members because we’re all in this together.

We know transformation does not come without challenge. That’s why ACT invests in a variety of experiences for team members to strengthen their connections, explore ideas, learn from customers, and celebrate success.

Learn more about working at ACT at act.org!

ACT is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. ACT participates in E-verify. ACT's online position announcements are intended only to provide general descriptions of employment opportunities; none of the information provided for any position should be interpreted as a commitment by ACT to specific terms and conditions for employment.

Completion of the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate is recommended. Find a testing site near you to register for the WorkKeys assessments. Finalists for this position will be subject to a criminal background check as a condition of employment.

**If you have received an ACT employment-related communication from an email address that is not affiliated with @act.org and/or that requests personal or financial information, please do not reply. Instead, reach out to us at careers@act.org with the details. ACT's recruitment team appreciates your interest in working with us to transform college and career readiness pathways for all learners and wishes you the best of luck in your career journey.**