Also called: Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Operational Excellence Manager
Hunts down waste in a factory and leads projects that make everything faster, cheaper and safer.
You stand at a workstation with a stopwatch, timing every motion an operator makes, and realize they walk a mile a day fetching parts. You lead a week-long team blitz to redesign the station. Over a year your projects can save millions.
Estimated from industry surveys.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in engineering or business plus Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Industrial Engineering, Business Administration, Mechanical Engineering.
Growing faster than average. No separate BLS projection; related to industrial engineers (much faster than average).
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI finds waste in data faster, but leading change on the floor and coaching people stays human.
Classes: Statistics, Business class, Engineering CTE.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.