Lean Development Manager, EMEA & North America

Drive Lean Transformation Across EMEA & North America as Manager, LEAN Development

Are you passionate about driving operational excellence and creating measurable business impact? Join us as Manager, LEAN Development, EMEA & NA, where you will enforce Lean transformation across manufacturing plants and supplier operations. In this role, you will help organizations improve safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and cost performance while building a strong culture of continuous improvement. You will work closely with leaders across EMEA and North America, coaching teams, facilitating improvement initiatives, and ensuring Lean principles translate into sustainable business results. If you enjoy combining strategy, leadership, and hands-on improvement work, this could be the next exciting step in your career. Location will be in Tampere.

Your responsibilities

- You will lead the deployment of Lean and Operational Excellence initiatives across assigned plants and suppliers in EMEA and North America.

- You will drive improvements in safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and cost performance by leading structured improvement projects and Kaizen activities.

- You will coach and train leaders and teams on Lean methodologies, helping them build sustainable continuous improvement capabilities.

- Your role is to develop the capability of unit leaders and employees to analyze performance, identify improvement opportunities, and implement improvements by utilizing Lean tools and methodologies.

- You will partner with site leaders, operational teams, and suppliers to implement best practices and ensure long-term improvement outcomes.

Expectations for you

- You have a bachelor's or master's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business, or a related field.

- You have at least five years of experience in Lean Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement.

- A few years experience Manufacturing, or Supply Chain leadership roles (+Lean understanding).

- You have solid knowledge of Lean principles, Six Sigma, structured problem solving, and performance management, as well as proven experience in leading projects that utilize these methodologies and tools.

- You have experience leading change and influencing stakeholders across functions and organizations.

- You have advanced English proficiency.

- Travel max. up to 50%, mainly within Finland/Nordic countries

To succeed in this role
To be successful, you combine strong Lean expertise with the ability to engage and influence people at all organizational levels. You are comfortable working in an international environment and can turn operational data into practical improvement actions. Most importantly, you create trust, build capability in others, and deliver sustainable business results through continuous improvement.

We also expect you to align with Valmet’s Leadership Principles—practical behaviours that guide how we lead, collaborate, and succeed together:

- Take accountability – Act with ownership, set clear expectations, and follow through

- Lead with courage – Champion change, try bold ideas, and learn quickly

- Build on trust – Listen to understand, be open, and create psychological safety

- Collaborate for growth – Work across boundaries, value diverse perspectives, and focus on customer value

Want to know more?
Ready to make a lasting impact across our global operations? We'd love to hear from you. Please submit your application through our careers site by November 13, 2026.
We will start reviewing the applications already during the application period .  In our recruitment process we use a variety of selection methods, eg video screening, personality questionnaires, ability tests and interviews.

We encourage our employees to a healthier lifestyle by being a Smoke-free Workplace.

When everything works together
Valmet is where the best talent from a wide variety of backgrounds comes together. We work together with our customers throughout the entire lifecycle, delivering cutting-edge technologies and services as well as mission-critical automation and flow control solutions. Backed by more than 225 years of industrial experience and a global team of over 19,000 professionals close to customers, we are uniquely positioned to transform industries toward a regenerative tomorrow.

At Valmet, diversity of thought drives innovation. We are committed to a respectful and inclusive environment, where people can be themselves and are supported to contribute at their best. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and make hiring decisions based on skills, experience, and potential, never on personal characteristics such as gender, gender identity, age, ethnicity, nationality, disability, neurodiversity, religion, sexual orientation, or political views.
Join the team – and lead the way with us!

www.valmet.com/career