Leading Operational Excellence
Embed continuous improvement. Deliver commercial results.
Real projects. Real stakeholders. Real results. This Level 5 Improvement Specialist apprenticeship develops your operational leaders as both people leaders and improvement specialists: they tackle live processes, prove every gain in pounds and learn to coach their teams to keep improving. Human-centred, improvement-led and performance-driven from the first workshop to the last.
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Key facts
- Qualification Level 5 Improvement Specialist Apprenticeship, plus CMI Chartered Manager status (CMgr)
- Start dates Every two months: January, March, May, July, September and November
- Duration 15 months, plus a 3-month End Point Assessment
- Structure 6 face-to-face workshops, each paired with a virtual Pitstop, 6 leadership coaching sessions, 6 Leadership Progress Reviews and 7 Technical CI reviews
- Outcomes A portfolio of measured improvements on live processes, each one baselined and logged in Fuel ROI
- Funding Growth and Skills Levy funded, £9,000 funding band
Great leaders never stop improving.
Improve the process. Bank the result. The Level 5 Improvement Specialist credential proves your managers can lead improvement, not just join in. Less waste. Faster flow. Gains on the bottom line.
This is continuous improvement training with a leadership edge. Your managers go after the opportunities that move the business, never improvement for its own sake, and tie each one to renewals and commercial growth.
Then they teach it. Teach-back practice runs through every workshop, so each leader becomes a CI coach who passes the tools and principles on to their team. The impact grows from self, to team, to the whole organisation.
WHO IT’S FOR
The managers who run operations and lead improvement.
Built for experienced operations managers who want to lead change with clarity, heads of department accountable for operational performance, and new and aspiring managers ready to step up. Whatever their stage, they bring a live operational challenge and leave able to lead improvement across their department. It’s an operational excellence programme built around the problems they already own.
Operations Managers
Heads of Department
Operational Leaders
Aspiring Managers
ACHIEVE OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Continuous improvement
that pays its way.
Tools alone don’t move the numbers. This process improvement programme builds leaders who choose the right problem, fix it for good and prove what it was worth.
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Improve What Matters
Target the opportunities that move the business. Never continuous improvement for its own sake.
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Tied to Commercial Value
Every improvement links to renewals and commercial growth, and shows up in EBIT.
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Fix It at the Root
Root-cause analysis, SPC and hypothesis testing replace guesswork and repeat firefighting.
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Flow, Not Waste
Value-stream mapping and Lean tools strip out waste and speed up flow across the operation.
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Leaders Who Coach
Each leader grows into a CI coach who teaches the principles and practice to others.
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Gains That Stick
Control and reaction plans hold the gain, and replication multiplies it across the organisation.
TWO SKILL SETS. ONE LEADER.
By the end of the programme, your operational managers will be able to:
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Lead with genuine operational intent
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Develop and retain high-capability teams
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Coach others in continuous improvement
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Lead change at department level
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Build a multi-element business case
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Design and improve services and processes
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Map value streams and improve flow
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Apply CI tools, including DMAIC
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Use statistics and testing to find root causes
- Lead cross-functional improvement projects
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Sustain gains with control and reaction plans
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Deliver benefits that show up in EBIT
THE RETURN
Validated data. Measured return.
Fuel Learning’s programmes have already delivered £60m+ in verified ROI. Our Leading Operational Excellence programme is built to do the same for you: we’ll make every penny of your Growth and Skills Levy count, and deliver a return you can measure in pounds.
Every improvement is built on your live operation: your processes, your teams and your priorities. A CI maturity assessment baselines the starting point across self, team and organisation, and is re-assessed at the end. Participants log every measured gain in Fuel ROI, and we review the return with you as it builds. Real work. Real results. Real return. From day one.
| For you, the buyer | For the line manager | For the team | For the department | For the participant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Levy invested in live improvement projects, with gains tied to commercial value and evidenced in EBIT. | Managers who fix problems at the root and build business cases grounded in data. | A leader who coaches them in CI, so improvement becomes everyone’s job. | Better flow, less waste and gains held in place with control plans. | The confidence to lead, drive change and champion CI across the business, whilst earning a Level 5 qualification and CMI-backed recognition. |
THE ROI CYCLE
Predict. Prove. Improve.
That’s how leaders drive results.
Predict, Prove, Improve is the signature cycle of the programme, and it runs through every workshop. Each phase builds capability through applied practice, not theory.
Everything is built on your leaders’ own operation: live improvement projects, real process data and genuine delivery challenges. Each cycle tackles a real operational problem, so learning is applied immediately and capability lasts.
The scope grows every time: first themselves, then their team, then the whole organisation. By the end, your leaders have a portfolio of measured improvements, ready for the End Point Assessment.
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Predict
Read the process data, find the root cause and build the business case before committing resource.
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Prove
Test the improvement against what actually happens, and evidence the impact in time, cost and quality.
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Improve
Control the gain, replicate it across the operation and rebaseline for the next cycle.
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
Six leadership workshops.
Each face-to-face workshop is paired with a Pitstop: a virtual 45 to 90 minute session on one concept, from the business case to Lean, process mapping, experimentation and failure-mode avoidance. Teach-back practice runs through every workshop, and a CI maturity assessment measures progress from start to finish, across self, team and organisation.
What it costs. What it takes.
The models I learned on my programme, allowed me to implement a project which increased our quality and has led to a 29% increase in revenue on one particular account.
Heather Sanders, Operations Director & Fuel Graduate · SOCOTEC
HOW WE DELIVER
Delivery that fits.
Flex, Focus, Fusion. We offer the choice of three delivery models – so we can build the perfect programme to suit your precise needs, cohort size and preferred learning environment. Three delivery models, one decision: how do you need it delivered?
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Join an open programme
Diverse, collaborative and flexible. Your managers learn alongside operational leaders from other organisations and sectors, with tailoring at coach level.
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Built for you
A closed cohort, tailored to your organisation. Your language, your systems, your challenges as the working material.
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The best of both
Flex and Focus combined: open, flexible workshops sitting alongside closed workshops targeted at your organisation.
GETTING STARTED
From meeting to launch
in three simple steps.
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A scoping meeting
Thirty minutes with our team. We map the roles that fit, size the cohort, confirm your levy position and agree what success looks like.
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We build the cohort
We handle eligibility, funding, paperwork, onboarding and manager briefings. All you do is sign off.
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They launch
New intakes start every two months. After a short assessment and benchmarking, your leaders go straight into their first workshop.
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Face-to-face Leadership Workshops
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Virtual Pitstops
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Leadership Coaching Sessions
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Access to over 30 additional Elective Modules
Programme structure in detail
Learn it in a workshop. Test it in a Pitstop. Apply it to a live process. Embed it with a coach. Go further with electives.
THE CADENCE
The programme runs for 15 months, followed by a three-month End Point Assessment. It opens with a 6-week initial assessment and benchmarking, then six face-to-face workshops run across the programme, each paired with a virtual Pitstop. Every session feeds a live improvement project rather than a folder of notes.
On completion, participants gain the Level 5 Improvement Specialist Apprenticeship and CMI Chartered Manager Status (CMgr).
The six leadership workshops
- Workshop 1: Leading Improvement Outcomes (2 days)
- Workshop 2: Building the High-Performing Team (1 day)
- Workshop 3: Optimise the Value Stream (2 days)
- Workshop 4: Lead the Change (2 days)
- Workshop 5: Drive Performance Through Control (2 days)
- Workshop 6: Sustain the Performance (1 day)
THE COACHING AND REVIEW SESSIONS
Participants have six leadership coaching sessions, six Leadership Progress Reviews and seven Technical CI reviews. Their coach and reviewers help them choose the improvement, capture the baseline, apply the tools live and log the measured result in Fuel ROI.
THE ELECTIVE MODULES
Alongside the core programme, participants get full access to 30+ FuelUP elective modules across Finance & Governance, Change & Innovation, People Management, Operational Skills, Strategy & Business Acumen, and Leadership & Personal Development.
THE DIGITAL LIBRARY AND THE SHOWCASE
A full suite of online training content, created and curated by Fuel Learning, available 24/7, so every skill from every workshop is on tap at the moment it’s actually needed. Scheduling runs through the FuelHub or a dedicated Fuel Learner Manager, and the Showcase closes the programme: measured ROI presented to senior stakeholders.
The End Point Assessment
The End Point Assessment (EPA) is where participants showcase everything they’ve learned and prove they’re ready to lead improvement. It’s carried out independently by Academy4PM and leads to a nationally recognised grade of Pass, Merit or Distinction.
Frequently asked questions
What does it cost us?
If you pay the Growth and Skills Levy, the programme is fully covered by it, up to the £9,000 funding band, with no course fees on top. Non-levy employers access the same programme with government covering 95% of the cost. One call and we’ll confirm your exact position.
Can we use our Growth and Skills Levy for CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT TRAINING?
Yes. Leading Operational Excellence is a Level 5 Improvement Specialist apprenticeship, so the training your managers receive is funded through your Growth and Skills Levy, up to the £9,000 funding band. That covers the six workshops, the Pitstops, coaching and reviews, and access to 30+ FuelUP elective modules.
What continuous improvement tools will managers learn?
The full improvement toolkit, applied to live processes: DMAIC, Lean and value-stream mapping, root-cause analysis, statistical process control (SPC), hypothesis testing, experimentation and failure-mode avoidance, plus the control and reaction plans that hold the gain. Every tool is taught in a workshop, practised in a Pitstop and applied to a real improvement project.
How much time does it take out of the working week?
Around six hours a week of off-the-job learning, built into working hours: six face-to-face workshops, virtual Pitstops, coaching and reviews, and project work that is the participant’s own role, done better.
What qualifications will participants get?
The Level 5 Improvement Specialist Apprenticeship and CMI Chartered Manager status (CMgr).
What does the line manager have to do?
A short briefing at the start, sight of the Fuel ROI calculator as results land, and the final decision that their apprentice is ready for assessment. We handle the rest, including all scheduling if they prefer.
What if we invest in them and they leave?
The stronger risk runs the other way: development is one of the biggest drivers of retention, and people who are invested in stay. And because participants coach colleagues and document every improvement, the processes, templates and time savings remain yours even in the worst case.
Who is eligible?
Anyone employed in England, aged 16 or over, in a role that fits the standard. Prior qualifications rarely block enrolment, and English and maths requirements are handled within the programme in line with funding rules. We check all of this for you before anyone commits.
How many people do we need to enrol?
Cohorts work at any size, from a handful in one department to a rolling intake across the organisation. Larger cohorts compound the return: participants coach each other, improvements spread faster, and the Fuel ROI calculator rolls everything into one report you can put in front of the board.
When can they start?
We have new Level 5 cohorts starting every two months: January, March, May, July, September, November.
Not quite the right fit?
We have programmes for every level of your organisation. If our Level 5 Leading Operational Excellence programme isn’t the right fit for your people, one of these will be.
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Growth and Skills Levy Funded
Leadership
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Take the next step
Request a callback. A member of the Fuel team will talk you through the Leading Operational Excellence programme, answer your questions and show you how it will drive lasting operational improvement across your organisation.
Want your operations managers to lead improvement that pays?
LEAD WITH AUTHORITY • DECIDE WITH EVIDENCE • IMPROVE WHAT MATTERS