Job Description

Job Purpose: Oversee and direct total plant operations, with full accountability for operational performance ensuring production and cost efficiency, quality performance, inventory and logistics effectiveness, safety compliance across all shifts and long-term capability building, ensuring alignment with business strategy and customer requirements.

Responsibilities

- Accountable for overall plant performance, including cost, service, quality, and operational efficiency

- Oversee end-to-end plant operations including production, quality, inventory, logistics, and maintenance

- Lead and develop a multi-functional leadership team, ensuring strong succession planning and capability building

- Make complex, cross-functional trade-off decisions balancing cost, service, quality, and operational constraints

- Align production plans with material availability, inventory levels, and customer demand

- Ensure equipment reliability and oversee maintenance strategy and execution

- Act as the primary interface between operations, commercial and supply chain and corporate areas

- Lead capital investment planning and execution, including prioritization and ROI considerations

- Define and execute long-term operational strategies to improve plant capacity and efficiency

- Ensure compliance with all safety, environmental, and regulatory standards

- Drive continuous improvement initiatives across all plant functions

- Oversee KPIs such as productivity, downtime, quality, inventory accuracy, and service levels- Maintain a safe and clean work environment by enforcing 5S principles and all established Health & Safety policies.

- Optimize throughput and plant performance by monitoring production processes, personnel, and resource utilization.

- Lead root cause analysis activities for operational failures and implement corrective and preventive measures.

- Communicate job expectations, monitor performance, and manage personnel coaching, counseling, and discipline.

- Review production schedules and make staffing and operational decisions to meet customer requirements while aligning production plans with material availability, inventory levels, and shipping commitments.

- Oversee maintenance activities and ensure equipment reliability, upgrades, and replacements as needed to support safe operations, consistent quality, and delivery performance.

- Collaborate with Business Relationship Managers (BRMs) to ensure customer expectations and needs are met.

- Collaborate with Human Resources on workforce planning, training development, and employee relations matters.

- Manage plant budgets, cost analysis, and production goal setting, including labor, inventory, logistics, and quality-related cost drivers.

- Support and lead company continuous improvement initiatives.

- Oversee end-to-end plant operations including production, quality, logistics, and maintenance.

- Develop long-term operational strategies to increase plant efficiency and capacity.

- Ensure compliance with local, state, and federal environmental, health, and safety regulations.

- Lead capital improvement projects such as facility expansions and equipment modernization.

- Ensure focus on established KPIs for downtime reduction, productivity improvement, quality enhancement, inventory accuracy, and on-time delivery.

- Oversee the Quality function, ensuring compliance with quality standards, maintaining effective quality systems, driving corrective actions, and partnering with operations to improve product quality and customer satisfaction.

- Partner with supply chain and customer service teams to align production, inventory, warehousing, and logistics activities with customer demand and service expectations.

- Oversee the Inventory and Logistics function, including inventory accuracy, warehouse operations, material handling, shipping/receiving, and on-time movement of materials to support production and customer delivery requirements.

- Build productive relationships with vendors, contractors, and regulatory agencies.

- Develop, implement, and enforce factory cleanliness and housekeeping standards across all production and non-production areas.

- Train and coach employees on cleanliness expectations, proper sanitation practices, and ownership of work areas.

- Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on 5S, waste reduction, and workplace organization.

- Collaborate with production, maintenance, and safety teams to reduce contamination risks and improve overall plant conditions.

Qualifications

Job Competencies:

- Strong leadership capabilities with proven experience leading leaders

- Strategic thinking and decision-making skills

- Strong business acumen with ability to link operations to financial and customer outcomes

- Experience in continuous improvement methodologies

- Strong cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management

Strong written and verbal communication skills.

- Leadership capabilities with a focus on staff development.

- Demonstrated experience with continuous improvement.

- Working knowledge of quality systems, root cause analysis, corrective actions, and continuous improvement methodologies.

- Strong operational planning skills with the ability to lead inventory, logistics, and cross-functional plant support functions.
Education and Experience Required:

- Bachelor's degree (Engineering, Operations, Business or related field preferred)

- 10+ years of experience in manufacturing or operations

- Proven experience managing plant-level or large-scale operations

- Demonstrated leadership of multi-functional teams (production, quality, supply chain, etc.)

- Experience with cost management, operational planning, and performance accountability

- Strong understanding of manufacturing systems, inventory, and logistics operations

- 2+ years college degree or equivalent knowledge/experience.

- 5+ years supervisory or managerial experience in a production or manufacturing environment, including leadership responsibility for quality, inventory, logistics, or other plant support functions.

- Demonstrated experience managing quality systems, inventory control, material flow, and logistics coordination in a manufacturing setting is preferred.

- Strong Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and general computer skills.