- Employment
- Full-Time
- Seniority
- Manager
- Industry
- Fashion, Apparel & Leather Goods
- Posted
- Oct 30, 2026
About Christian Dior
Christian Dior, founded in Paris in 1946, stands as one of the world’s most influential maisons, uniting haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, fragrance, beauty, and exceptional retail experiences. As an employer, Dior offers a culture shaped by artistic audacity, meticulous craftsmanship, and the pursuit of excellence, where heritage and innovation continually enrich one another. Its teams collaborate across ateliers, studios, boutiques, and corporate functions within an international environment that values elegance, precision, inclusivity, and entrepreneurial spirit. Working at Dior means contributing to a legacy of timeless style while helping define the future of luxury with creativity, discipline, and purpose.
Christian Dior Couture seeks a Continuous Improvement Manager to drive operational efficiency, cost reduction, quality, and customer satisfaction across leather goods operations. The role leads improvement initiatives spanning production flows, materials, productivity, and manufacturing transformation. It is a permanent, full-time, on-site position in Florence, with a gross annual salary of at least €70,000 under the CCNL Pelli e Cuoio.
Role & Responsibilities
- Lead the continuous improvement strategy across leather goods operations to improve productivity, quality, service, and cost performance.
- Foster operational excellence through structured problem-solving, performance discipline, and continuous capability building.
- Identify operational losses, inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and non-value-added activities across production flows, and define actions to eliminate them.
- Optimize end-to-end production flows to improve lead times, workshop efficiency, and service levels.
- Identify, formalize, and share best practices across teams, workshops, and sites to ensure consistent, scalable improvements.
- Own materials and productivity performance, with a strong focus on leather consumption, scrap reduction, and resource efficiency.
- Monitor material usage and productivity against targets, analyze deviations, and lead corrective and preventive action plans.
- Coordinate the local Continuous Improvement team, set priorities, build competencies, and ensure execution of the improvement roadmap.
- Lead the manufacturing transformation project, ensuring governance, cross-functional alignment, milestone delivery, risk management, and expected business impact.
- Define, monitor, and report key performance indicators (KPIs) for productivity, materials, and cost; propose and track corrective action plans where needed.
- Identify and evaluate approaches, tools, and technologies that can accelerate process innovation, improve industrial performance, or enhance operational visibility.
- Implement a structured value analysis routine to identify optimization opportunities, challenge cost drivers, and generate sustainable savings.
Qualifications
- Expertise in Lean Management, Six Sigma, Kaizen, and other relevant process improvement frameworks; Six Sigma Black Belt certification.
- Proficiency in statistical analysis, data visualization, and tools for identifying trends, measuring performance, and tracking improvements.
- Ability to map current processes, identify waste, and design optimized future states using tools such as Value Stream Mapping (VSM).
- Strong project management skills to lead multiple improvement initiatives simultaneously.
- Expertise in root cause analysis techniques such as 5 Whys, Fishbone diagrams, and FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis).
- Ability to inspire, motivate, and lead cross-functional teams without direct authority, influencing stakeholders at all levels.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills to articulate complex ideas, present findings, facilitate workshops, and engage employees.
- Strong analytical and critical thinking skills to diagnose complex issues and develop effective, sustainable solutions.
- Ability to link continuous improvement initiatives to broader business objectives and organizational strategy.
- Skilled in facilitating group discussions, workshops, and brainstorming sessions to drive consensus and generate ideas.
- Persistence in overcoming obstacles and adapting to changing priorities and organizational needs.
- Ability to work effectively across departments and functions to achieve common goals.
Skills
Experience
At least 10 years
Workplace
The role is situated in Florence, Tuscany, Italy.
Explore jobs in Tuscany or in Italy.
Culture
Christian Dior fosters a culture of refined creativity, exceptional craftsmanship, and continuous innovation, where teams are encouraged to uphold the Maison’s heritage while shaping the future of luxury. As an employer, it offers a dynamic and exacting environment that values collaboration, excellence, and the development of talent across artistic, retail, and corporate disciplines.
About Cerulean
Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.
Frequently Asked Questions
The luxury industry is characterised by a diverse and nuanced nomenclature. Esteemed houses frequently employ proprietary terminology, and even within a single organisation like Christian Dior, titles may vary across global markets to reflect local conventions. To ensure absolute clarity, Cerulean assigns a standardised, industry-coherent canonical title to every listing. However, it is worth noting that this role is functionally synonymous with «Operational Excellence Manager», «Process Improvement Manager», «Manufacturing Excellence Manager», «Continuous Improvement Lead», and other variations. Our sophisticated search architecture anticipates these variations, ensuring that inquiries using related terms will seamlessly yield the exact roles you desire.