Continuous Improvement Senior

About Our Job
With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose — for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.

What We Offer
The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. The target salary range for this position is $72,534 - $96,108. We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but are not limited to:

• A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service
• 457B Retirement Plan
• 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 11 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday and 1 volunteer day per year
• Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date

Location
The City and County of Denver supports a hybrid workplace model. Employees work where needed, at a job site several days a week and off-site as needed. Employees must work within the state of Colorado on their off-site days.

What You'll Do

At Denver Human Services (DHS), we envision a healthy community where people are connected, supported, safe, and well. One in three people in Denver turn to DHS for support at all stages of life. Our employees help children, older adults, families, and individuals navigate social and economic pressures by connecting them to services and experts who support their overall well-being.

The Division of Strategic Insights and Impact, within the Department of Human Services, is seeking a candidate with a proven track record of applying Lean, Six Sigma, or comparable continuous improvement methodologies to enhance service delivery and customer outcomes. The ideal candidate brings both technical expertise and ambition, someone who can partner across multiple divisions, lead complex initiatives through influence rather than formal authority, and operate comfortably in a highly collaborative environment. Strong project management skills are essential, including the ability to plan, coordinate, and drive cross-functional work from concept through implementation while supporting organizational priorities.

The Mayor's Peak Performance initiative starts with his vision: Drive innovation by daring to be bold and creative. The city is driven to deliver breakthrough solutions with speed and efficiency which actively contributes to a culture that embraces continuous improvement. Our team at Denver Human Services makes the right work easier to do by supporting innovation and project management through facilitating process improvement, teaching tools and techniques, leading division and department-wide projects, and coaching staff with their ideas.

Additionally, the Continuous Improvement Senior will:

• Plan, coordinate, and facilitate Lean and Kaizen activities across the organization, including training sessions, workshops, rapid improvement events, process mapping, and value stream analysis.
• Design and develop Lean training curriculum tailored to business needs and organizational context.
• Partner with managers and staff to implement Lean practices, providing hands-on support and coaching throughout improvement efforts.
• Support leadership in reviewing progress, identifying improvement opportunities, and prioritizing Lean initiatives aligned with organizational goals.
• Collect, analyze, and visualize data to document current-state processes, assess performance, and recommend evidence-based improvements.
• Track and report program outcomes and benefits, including cumulative impact across divisions.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with executives, managers, supervisors, frontline staff, and other stakeholders to foster collaboration, trust, and buy-in for continuous improvement.
• Communicate effectively across the organization regarding training opportunities, Lean tools, improvement strategies, and results through written and oral presentations.
• Redesign and test processes and procedures to improve effectiveness, support implementation of approved changes, provide guidance to operational staff, and conduct follow-up to ensure intended outcomes are achieved.
• Ensure sustainability of improvements by embedding standard work, performance monitoring, and continuous feedback mechanisms
• Manage a portfolio of projects, including continuous improvement initiatives and broader program or operational projects (such as program design changes), by defining scope, timelines, deliverables, risks, and dependencies; coordinating cross-functional teams; and ensuring alignment with departmental priorities.

What You'll Bring
We value diversity of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, gender, religion, language, ability, and experience and exemplify this through the makeup of our team at all levels. You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships and push yourself, your work, the people around you and Denver to the next level.

Our ideal candidate has some or all the following experience, skills, and characteristics:

• Expert level understanding of Lean and/or similar continuous improvement methodologies, project management, and knowledge of when to use which method or tool
• Human Services experience preferred
• Expert level communication, interpersonal, and influencing skills (without authority), with ability to use fact-based and well-thought-out arguments to challenge all levels or change behavior/techniques as required
• Ability to hold performance dialogues and identify root-causes of problems with all levels of the organizations
• Ability to drive to actionable outcomes and follow up on results
• Expert level proficiency in training facilitation, communication, presentations skills (verbal and written), and development of materials and curriculum
• Ability to work independently and to drive work to completion
• Ability to work with diverse teams across multiple disciplines within the organization
• Ability to adapt behavior and work methods in response to new information, changing conditions or unexpected obstacles
• Ability to collect, analyze and interpret both qualitative and quantitative data
• Demonstrated analytical, root cause analysis, problem solving, and decision-making skills
• Ability to utilize management and planning tools (production boards, flow diagrams, affinity diagrams, gap analysis, and selection/prioritization matrix)
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Teams, SharePoint, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Visio
• Ability to break down large efforts into manageable steps
• Ability to set and meet deadlines for self and others
• Time and task management prioritization skills

Required Minimum Qualifications

• Education requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Experience Requirement: Three (3) years of professional level experience consulting with management providing expertise in process improvement techniques to achieve department/agency objectives and which includes applying organization and business knowledge to market and communicate the benefits of Continuous Improvement and operates with substantial latitude for independent action or decision
• Education/Experience Equivalency: One (1) year of the appropriate type and level of experience may be substituted for each required year of post high school education. Additional appropriate education may be substituted for the minimum experience requirements

Application Deadline
This position is expected to stay open until January 2nd. Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than January 2nd at midnight to ensure consideration.

About Everything Else
Job Profile
CA3108 Continuous Improvement Senior

To view the full job profile including position specifications, physical demands, and probationary period, click here.

Position Type
Unlimited

Position Salary Range
$72, $119,681.00

Target Pay
$72,534-$96,108; based on experience.

Agency
Denver Human Services

Redeployment during Citywide Emergencies
City and County of Denver employees may be re-deployed to work in other capacities in their own agencies or in other city agencies to support core functions of the city during a citywide emergency declared by the Mayor.

The City and County of Denver provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, or any other status protected under federal, state, and/or local law.
It is your right to access oral or written language assistance, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations. To request any of these services at no cost to you, please contact with three business days' notice.
Applicants for employment with the City and County of Denver must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S.
For information about right to work, click here for English or here for Spanish.