Project Manager - Operational Excellence

At Interstates, we pursue a better way to deliver for our clients, our teams, and our communities. As we continue to grow and evolve, Operational Excellence helps us build reliable, efficient, and scalable ways of working; reducing waste, rework, and friction while improving quality and consistency

As aProject Manager for our Operational Excellence team, you will lead cross-functional initiatives that improve how work is planned, executed, measured, and delivered across Interstates. This role will partner with teams throughout the organization to establish clear processes, drive continuous improvement, strengthen customer-focused outcomes, and make performance visible through meaningful metrics.

The ideal candidate is an organized, collaborative, and improvement-minded leader who can turn ideas into sustainable results. This person will help teams start with proven standards, identify opportunities to work better, and implement solutions that create lasting value for both internal and external customers.

Here, integrity, trust and safety are always top of mind. Our work is exciting, and every single day is different. We will work together to solve problems, and we'll provide you with the training and support you need to craft a strong career path. You'll do it all at a dynamic, growing company that provides you with a competitive salary and outstanding benefits.

At Interstates, our success starts with yours.

Interstates Describes Its Culture as Family-Like

• Caring co-workers treat each other like family
• Be treated like an individual, not just a number
• Flexible schedules allow you to focus on your personal life as well as work life
• Lunch gatherings and social activities promote fun and camaraderie
• Support charities and your community through events sponsored and hosted by Interstates

Our Why:

• Providing opportunities for our people
• Making a difference with our clients
• Pursuing a better way

Sound to good to be true? Put in your application today and allow Interstates to prove to you why we are an Industry Leader in more ways than one.

Responsibilities:

• Lead Operational Excellence projects from planning through implementation and sustainment.
• Develop project plans, timelines, milestones, resource requirements, and communication strategies.
• Partner with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to understand current processes, identify friction points, and define desired outcomes.
• Establish and improve standardized processes, workflows, tools, and documentation.
• Facilitate continuous improvement activities, including process reviews, and "Make Work Better" initiatives.
• Ensure project solutions are practical, scalable, customer-focused, and aligned with the Interstates Way.
• Monitor project risks, issues, dependencies, and decisions; develop mitigation plans as needed.
• Communicate project status, outcomes, and next steps clearly to project teams, leaders, and other stakeholders.
• Support change management, adoption, and sustainment of new processes and standards.
• Identify opportunities to reduce waste, rework, delays, defects, and unnecessary complexity.
• Capture lessons learned and shared repeatable practices across teams and projects.
• Promote accountability, collaboration, and a culture of pursuing a better way.

Qualifications:

• Experience leading cross-functional teams and coordinating multiple stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of project planning, risk management, issue resolution, change management, and process improvement.
• Ability to analyze processes, identify improvement opportunities, and translate findings into practical solutions.
• Strong organizational, communication, facilitation, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to use data and performance metrics to evaluate results and guide decisions.
• Proficiency with project management, process mapping, documentation, and collaboration tools.
• Ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining attention to detail and follow-through.
• Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) or similar
• Experience with Operational Excellence, Lean, continuous improvement, or business process management.
• Experience developing standard work, process documentation, dashboards, or performance measures.

Education: Bachelor's degree in project management, business, engineering, operations, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.

Compensation: The base pay range for this position is $80,000-110,000. Our salary ranges are determined by the experience and education required, and level of responsibility. The range posted for this role represents a range that Interstates, in good faith, believes it is willing to pay at the time of this posting. The pay is determined by job related skills, training, education, and experience.

Travel & Location:

• Travel less than 5%. Travel for this position is very minimal and generally limited to occasional company events. No regular or frequent travel is expected.
• May be based in Sioux Center, IA | Omaha, NE | Sioux Falls, SD
• Remote considered with preference given to candidates near an Interstates office.

Benefits of Working at Interstates:

• 401(k) Retirement Plan + Company Match
• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance Benefits (Short & Long-Term Disability, Group Life Insurance, and more)
• Company Discount Perk Program (Access to discounts with renown brands across the country)
• Paid Time Off & Holiday Pay, Flexible Schedule (Support work/life balance)
• Bonus Incentives (End of Fiscal Year Incentives and Merit Increases)
• Per Diem/Travel Pay or FAVR Program Benefits (as applicable)
• Family & safety culture - a team that cares about you as a whole person, not just what you do at work
• Company Sponsored Holiday Events, Team Celebrations, and Community Outreach Volunteer Time
• Advancement Opportunities unique to our employee's long-term goals
• Want to be a PM in 2-3 years. At Interstates, we can get you there!
• Career Coaching
• Not treated like a number, you are apart of our FAMILY