Improvement Specialist

On an improvement specialist apprenticeship course, you’ll help carry out an improvement strategy.

An improvement specialist is responsible for implementing a strategy for improvement, educating others, and providing advanced and sophisticated Lean and Six Sigma, project and change management ideas and methods.

You’ll oversee improvement practitioners who manage smaller improvement projects, depending on your advanced knowledge and skills in applying improvement ideas and techniques across a range of programmes, initiatives, and regions to build the capacity of others.

You’ll be able to observe processes, problems, and opportunities in real-time and do graphical and statistical analyses to make adjustments.

In addition, you’ll work closely with other improvement specialists to help execute the strategy, working on several initiatives at once that are linked to key business objectives and identifying and engaging subject matter experts and key stakeholders.

What you’ll learn

On an improvement specialist apprenticeship course, you’ll learn to:

• Accomplish improvement project objectives, keep team members/stakeholders responsible for performing agreed-upon tasks inside an improvement project and develop/maintain appropriate stakeholder relationships within and beyond the organisation.
• Participate in the implementation of the improvement strategy as an active member of the improvement community.
• Prepare and offer concise suggestions and thoughts. Track and share progress using effective formats and channels. Make good use of questions and answers to them. Create a good connection with others.
• Train, support, and critique improvement practitioners’ tools, including tool selection, tool connections, how they’re used inside a structured process, results analysis, and suggestion presentation.
• Plan and manage your finances, multi-stakeholder project delivery and benefits realisation.
• Create reinforcement, engagement, and communication methods.
• Assist others in determining the most appropriate methods for delivering improvements (e.g., Practical Problem Solving, Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control, 8-Disciplines, Identify-Define-Optimise-Verify). Perform gateway assessments to ensure that initiatives are ready to move forward.
• Assist others in selecting the appropriate tools for process mapping and analysis. Critiquing of the state has improved.
• Identify and analyse value streams using appropriate methods and technology to enhance the flow to the customer. Develop a plan for adopting Lean in your organisation, including effective and appropriate performance measurements.
• Educate people on how to construct tests to reproduce failures, diagnose and minimise short and long-term measurement variance, and organise, analyse, and evaluate data collecting and measurement studies.
• Develop and communicate findings about key inputs/root cause(s) contribution to product/process performance using appropriate graphical and statistical techniques.
• Monitor and evaluate ongoing process variance and changes using chart selection, control-limit setting, sample sizing/frequency, and control rules.
• Help others prepare for control and long-term success, including methods and tools for maintaining benefits, learning extraction, replication, sharing, and consolidation of fresh data into organisational learning.

Entry requirements

You’ll usually need:

• Improvement level 4 qualification or equivalent
• Apprentices without level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this before taking the end-point assessment.

Assessment methods

The End Point Assessment comprises two distinct assessment methods: 

• Professional discussion, underpinned by a portfolio of evidence 
• Examination, based on mini case-studies  

Duration, level, subjects and potential salary upon completion

Apprenticeship standard

More information about the Level 5 Improvement Specialist Apprenticeship standard can be found here.

Apprenticeship end point assessment

For more information about the End Point Assessment Process, please read the Institute of Apprenticeships’ information page.