Associate Director, Productivity (Finance)

Associate Director, Productivity Are you a strategic leader passionate about driving continuous improvement, operational excellence, and bottom- line results? Linde is seeking an Associate Director, Productivity to lead a team of productivity specialists nationally and within our HyCO business unit. In this pivotal role, you'll work closely with senior leadership, regional management, and subject matter experts to implement productivity initiatives that deliver measurable financial results while fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. About the Role: As the Associate Director, Productivity, you will manage and mentor a team of productivity specialists while spearheading Lean Six Sigma initiatives and driving operational excellence. You will play a critical role in identifying and prioritizing productivity projects across central functions, Air Separation (bulk atmospheric gases), and HyCO production value streams. Your expertise in process improvement, digitalization strategy, and change management will allow you to guide your team in achieving annual productivity goals and solving complex problems affecting operational and financial performance. Why Join Us? At Linde, we are committed to building a culture of excellence that values collaboration, innovation, and leadership. As the Associate Director, you'll partner with senior leadership and a variety of stakeholders to align productivity efforts with business goals. With a focus on driving impactful results, fostering team development, and implementing digital tools to enhance productivity methodologies, you'll have the opportunity to deliver real value to both the organization and your team. Reporting Relationships: This position reports to the Executive Director, Operations and will have approximately four (4) direct reports (productivity specialists). This position will assist blackbelts with training and coaching junior level productivity professionals and part time productivity resources on large/complex projects. Key Responsibilities: As a leader of productivity initiatives, you will focus on: - Collaborating with senior management to establish annual productivity targets aligned with business objectives. - Generate required reporting and lead efforts to communicate productivity issues and accomplishments to senior management. Lead productivity related training initiatives: process owner training, yellow belt, green belt, productivity refreshers. Drive digitalization efforts: Development of tools, replication of ideas from other business units, and digitalization strategy for the productivity organization. - Managing a team of productivity specialists, providing coaching and mentorship to maximize performance. - Developing and implementing Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodologies, leading value stream mapping sessions, and identifying waste to streamline processes. - Facilitating idea generation through brainstorming, lean events, and stakeholder collaboration to drive creative solutions and systemic improvements. - Driving measurable financial results by prioritizing projects with profit improvement outcomes and ensuring sustainability and replication of success. - Monitoring production KPIs, identifying causes of variance, and ensuring timely reporting on progress and accomplishments to senior management. - Leading training initiatives, including process owner training, yellow belt and green belt certifications, and refresher courses to upskill the organization. - Supporting digitalization efforts by developing tools, replicating ideas from other business units, and implementing a digitalization strategy for productivity processes. - Performing site visits to assist with Lean Six Sigma events, project follow-up, and training sessions. - Collaborating with the Cost Reduction team and Center of Excellence (COE) to maximize synergies between teams and meet region productivity goals. About You: We're looking for a strategic leader and problem-solver with a deep understanding of productivity disciplines, continuous improvement, and process optimization. You will bring: - A Bachelor's degree in engineering, business management, or a related field. - Knowledge of Linde's business model, operations, and financial performance drivers to align productivity efforts with organizational priorities. - Strong leadership skills with a demonstrated ability to mentor, coach, and inspire diverse teams to achieve measurable results. - Self-motivation, a results-oriented mindset, and proven ability to deliver operational improvements. - Exceptional analytical skills, with the ability to gather and interpret data to make informed decisions. - Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization. - Strong communication and presentation skills to effectively convey productivity initiatives and outcomes to leadership teams. - Experience applying Lean Six Sigma methodologies, with Green Belt or Black Belt certification preferred. - Desired experience in statistical analysis and digital tools implementation to advance productivity methodologies. - Willingness to travel (approximately 25%) to support onsite initiatives and collaborate with teams across the organization. What We Value: At Linde, our core values drive every aspect of our business and leadership. As an Associate Director, you'll embody and promote: - Safety: Ensuring the wellbeing of employees, contractors, and communities while maintaining compliance and operational discipline. - Integrity: Acting ethically and transparently, holding yourself and your team accountable to the highest standards. - Community: Building strong, collaborative partnerships across teams and fostering trust at every level of the organization. - Inclusion: Encouraging diverse perspectives, experiences, and ideas to unlock innovation and collectively achieve success. - Accountability: Taking ownership of results by leading with purpose and empowering your team to accomplish ambitious goals. What We Offer: - Competitive salary and benefits. - A high-impact leadership role focused on driving measurable improvement across central functions and value streams. - Opportunities to work with and influence senior leadership while implementing cutting-edge productivity strategies and digitalization tools. - A collaborative and innovative culture that values continuous improvement and leadership excellence. Make an impact in an environment where your leadership inspires results, innovation, and continuous improvement across the organization. Ready to lead boldly and drive operational success? Apply today to shape the future of productivity at Linde! About Linde: Linde is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company with 2024 sales of $33 billion. We live our mission of making our world more productive every day by providing high-quality solutions, technologies and services which are making our customers more successful and helping to sustain and protect our planet. Culture: At Linde, we strive to create a work environment that treats all employees with respect, supports new thoughts and ideas, encourages growth and development, celebrates our differences, and embraces inclusion. Linde is committed to remaining an employer of choice for the diverse, ever-increasing pool of global talent. For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit www.linde.com. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other reason prohibited by applicable law. Linde thanks all applicants in advance for their interest; however, only those applicants who are being considered for an interview will be contacted. #LI-LL1