Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) is a leading global specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Our businesses deliver a broad range of products and solutions to customers in every corner of the globe, serving the transportation, infrastructure, environment and consumer industry sectors. We bring the power of innovative chemistry to solve customers' challenges today while preparing them to meet tomorrow’s needs. Our commitment to innovation is driven by a passion to advance our customers' businesses through our deep understanding of their applications and the global trends that impact their operations.
If you do not meet every requirement, or your experience is slightly different that what we have listed, we still encourage you to apply!
Cabot is seeking a Senior Director of Process Excellence who will be leading the Process Excellence organization within Cabot’s Global Business Services (GBS) function, and will be responsible for developing and executing Cabot’s end-to-end process strategy, with the ultimate goal of driving GBS service efficiency across end-to-end processes (Record to Report R2R, Order to Cash O2C, Source to Pay S2C and Plan to Deliver P2D).
The Senior Director leads a team of Global Process Owners (GPOs) and a pool of analysts, driving measurable outcomes through standardization and continuous improvement, leveraging tools such as Lean Six Sigma, intelligent automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), and process mining.
As a key member of the GBS leadership team, the Senior Director will shape the future GBS operating model, establish global standards, and lead enterprise-wide initiatives that enhance efficiency, scalability, and business value.
How You Will Make an Impact:
Strategy & Governance
- Define and own the GBS Process Excellence strategy, roadmap, and operating model; align with enterprise strategy and service management framework and leverage leading digital technologies (e.g. AI)
- Establish global process design standards, policies, and governance.
- Assess organization structure and evolve format of team as organizational needs change.
Process Transformation & Standardization
- Drive Process Excellence team to deliver efficiencies within their processes
- Manage portfolio of change initiatives to balance resources and maximize benefits, prioritizing high-impact projects tied to business outcomes (cost, quality, cycle time, experience).
- Implement Lean Six Sigma methodologies.
- Own the global process taxonomy, maturity model, benchmarking, and continuous improvement pipeline.
Digital Enablement & Automation
- Partner with Digital to deploy process mining (usage of system data logs), task mining (identify highly manual, repetitive work suitable for automation), and workflow orchestration (tools that standardize and automate workflow across teams) at scale.
- Identify high-impact use cases for AI, generative AI, and intelligent automation to enhance productivity, experience, and generation of data-driven insights.
- Collaborate with digital and legal teams to ensure responsible AI governance, model training, and value realization.
Operational Excellence & Performance
- Define and manage GBS performance metrics, dashboards, and regular reviews with business stakeholders.
- Drive root cause analysis and corrective actions when issues arise focusing on quality, timeliness, and customer experience.
Risk, Controls & Compliance
- Partner with Internal Audit, Finance, Legal, HR, and other functions to embed controls, data integrity, and policy adherence into process design and daily operations.
- Ensure processes are adjusted to accomplish regulatory changes.
Leadership & Culture
- Build a high-performing team to attract, develop, and retain top talent.
- Scale capability through training and certification programs (yellow/green/black Belt, design thinking, …).
- Role-model a culture of customer-centricity, agility, and accountability and help embed a culture of innovation, agility, and accountability across GBS and the rest of Cabot
- Manage / mentor / coach GPOs to drive an excellence mindset and assure processes are fit for purpose and well executed.
Stakeholder Engagement & Change
- Act as a strategic partner to global and regional Leaders; translate business needs into process solutions.
- Lead change management and communications for process and digital transformation initiatives; secure executive sponsorship and adoption.
Success Measures (KPIs & Outcomes)
- Cost-to-Serve Reduction: e.g., 10–20% over 12–24 months via standardization/automation.
- Cycle Time & Productivity: % reduction in E2E cycle times; productivity uplift per FTE.
- Quality & Compliance: Defect rate reduction; audit findings closed; control maturity scores.
- Experience: CSAT/NPS improvements; reduction in escalations and rework.
- Adoption & Standardization: % of processes on global standards; STP rates; automation coverage.
- Benefits Realization: Delivery vs business case; tracked in a formal benefits ledge
What You Will Bring To Cabot:
Competencies / Knowledge, Skills and Behaviors
- Strategic Thinking & Framework Ownership – Designs scalable models and governance.
- Process Excellence Mastery – Lean Six Sigma, E2E optimization, statistical rigor.
- Digital Fluency – ERP integration, automation, process/task mining, analytics.
- Financial Acumen – Business cases, ROI, P&L impact, benefit tracking and realization.
- Change Leadership – Orchestrates adoption and behavioral change at scale.
- Stakeholder & Executive Communication – Clear, persuasive, partnership-oriented and outcome-driven.
- Risk & Compliance – Controls embedded by design; audit-ready operations.
- People Leadership & Mentoring – Builds capability and succession pipelines
Education/Experience
- 15+ years of experience in GBS/shared services, process excellence, operational excellence, or large-scale transformation roles in a global company.
- Bachelor’s degree required, MBA or equivalent preferred.
- Certification: Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (master black belt preferred). Agile/SAFe, Prosci/Change Management certification a plus.
- Strong digital process skillset: process mining (e.g., Celonis/Power BI + Process Mining), automation (RPA/IPA), workflow/orchestration.
- Proven track record leading large, cross-regional programs (Americas, EMEA, APAC) and governing portfolios of continuous improvement, automation, and transformation.
- Experience with ERP platforms (SAP/Oracle/Workday/MS Dynamics) and service management tools (e.g., ServiceNow).
- Demonstrated excellence in people-leadership and executive stakeholder management including influencing without authority and board-level communication.
- Track record in change management at scale.
How We Will Support Your Success
- The actual compensation offered to the successful candidate will depend on the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience and location.
For transparency, the pay ranges for this role are:
Boston, MA: $228,700 to $331,600
Riga, Latvia: €93,300 to €135,300
These ranges reflect the competitive market conditions in each location and may vary based on qualifications and experience.
- In addition to base salary, all positions are eligible for health benefits on the first day of employment, annual bonus based on company performance, local benefits, and opportunities for professional growth and development.
- Dynamic, Flexible, Hard Working, Team Environment – We are busy, collaborative, growing, and we are doing really meaningful work.
- Feedback – we are committed to giving and receiving feedback in a direct and open fashion.
- Support – you are part of a team and deserve to feel encouraged and supported. You will be part of a team that cares about you personally and professionally. Our success depends on your success.
At Cabot, we bring the power of innovative chemistry and a spirit of partnership with our customers to advance solutions that will enable a sustainable future. Our strength in research and development is a major reason why we have been an industry leader for more than 135 years in products such as reinforcing and specialty carbons, battery materials, aerogel, fumed metal oxides, inkjet colorants, masterbatches and conductive compounds.
Our employees around the world are united by our shared purpose: Creating materials that improve daily life and enable a more sustainable future. Through our corporate strategy, “Creating for Tomorrow,” we are focused on our core strengths to lead in performance and sustainability – today and into the future.
EEO/AA Employer/Vet/Disabled/RC14001
Realizing we function better together than individually, Cabot Corporation is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that embraces our differences and to empower employees to achieve exceptional results, without consideration of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other legally protected categories. This includes providing reasonable accommodation for employees’ and applicants’ disabilities or religious beliefs and practices, in accordance with applicable law.
Cabot is committed to supporting and maintaining a safe and environmentally focused working environment. All employees are expected to uphold this commitment in every position.
Nondiscrimination Policy with Respect to Discussion of Pay
This is to advise that it is the policy of Cabot Corporation not to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because such employee or applicant has inquired about, discussed, or disclosed the compensation of the employee or applicant or another employee or applicant. This policy, however, shall not apply to instances in which an employee who has access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as part of that employee's essential job functions (such as in payroll or HR) discloses the compensation of such other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to such information, unless that disclosure is in response to a formal complaint or charge, in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing or other action, including an investigation conducted by Cabot, or otherwise as required by law.
Pre-Employment Drug Testing and Background Checks
Cabot is proud to operate as a drug-free workplace. All applicants conditionally offered a position must (a) complete and pass a background check and (b) complete a drug test and receive an acceptable test result. For certain manufacturing, quality and production positions, a pre-employment physical may be required.
