Director of ManufacturingEquipment Manufacturing | Peoria, IL (In-Person) | Full-Time | Relocation Assistance Provided
Compensation: $150,000 - $190,000
Reports To: Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Someone has to own what happens on the shop floor - the safety, the quality, the schedule, and the people who make it all happen. If leading that operation, at scale, is the challenge you want, keep reading.
We're looking for a Director of Manufacturing to own that floor - safety, quality, on-time delivery, and the skilled-trades workforce behind it all - reporting directly to our COO.
What You'll DoSupervisory- Lead, develop, and hold accountable shop-floor supervisors, leads, and trades teams - building a strong frontline leadership bench to support scaling
- Coach teams in structured problem-solving and lean methods (e.g., 5S, kaizen) to eliminate waste and improve flow
- Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement where every team member is empowered to surface problems and improve the process
- Partner with HR on hiring, onboarding, training, performance management, and workforce development for a growing trades organization
- Lead change management so new processes, layouts, equipment, and systems are adopted effectively and sustainably
Non-Supervisory- Champion a zero-injury safety culture on the manufacturing floor - machine guarding, lockout/tagout, ergonomics, hot-work, and PPE compliance
- Ensure builds meet engineering specs, drawings, and applicable codes (e.g., ASME BPE), along with the cGMP-aligned documentation and material traceability pharmaceutical customers require, partnering with Quality on first-pass acceptance and audit readiness
- Own daily and weekly shop-floor execution - fabrication, assembly, integration, and factory acceptance testing - to hit build milestones, ship dates, and customer witness events
- Translate project schedules and engineering releases into production plans and shop loading across concurrent engineer-to-order projects, managing constraints and driving recovery plans when delivery is at risk
- Build and execute a manufacturing capacity plan that scales fabrication, assembly, and integration ahead of demand
- Lead skilled-trades workforce planning - welders, fabricators, assemblers, and technicians - including hiring, cross-training, certification, and flexible labor strategies to grow capability without diluting quality
- Partner with the COO on data-driven capacity and headcount modeling, and identify the capital equipment, tooling, and floor-space investments needed to expand throughput
- Define and own manufacturing KPIs - on-time delivery, first-pass yield, labor utilization, safety, and rework - and drive root-cause analysis and corrective action when targets are missed
- Manage manufacturing labor cost and utilization against project estimates, protecting Equipment-division margin as volume scales
- Partner with Engineering, Project Management, and Supply Chain to keep designs manufacturable, schedules on track, and materials available
- Establish standard operating rhythms (daily huddles, tiered production reviews) so execution is consistent and coordinated across the floor
- Serve as the manufacturing point of accountability for Quality and customer witness / factory acceptance events
What Success Looks Like- The floor runs safely and ships projects on time to specification, with high first-pass yield, minimal rework, and labor utilization and build costs tracking to estimate
- Skilled-trades capacity, disciplined standard work, and a frontline leadership bench scale to support backlog and pipeline, with Manufacturing operating as a predictable, collaborative partner
What We're Looking ForExperience- Bachelor's degree preferred, in engineering, manufacturing, industrial, or operations
- 5+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience, including direct responsibility for shop-floor operations in an engineer-to-order, custom-equipment, or fabrication and assembly environment
- Demonstrated success scaling manufacturing capacity and a skilled-trades workforce to meet growing demand
- Track record of delivering complex builds on time, on quality, and on cost in a low-volume, high-mix setting
Software- Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint, Outlook)
- Proficiency with ERP software (Epicor Kinetic preferred)
- Comfort using production data, dashboards, and reporting tools to manage performance
Traits- Operational & Analytical - strong ability to translate data into floor-level decisions and action
- Hands-On Leadership - a visible leader who builds trust with frontline teams and drives accountability
- Communication & Collaboration - excellent cross-functional partnership across Engineering, Project Management, Quality, and Supply Chain
- Disciplined Execution - committed to safety, quality, and standard work, with a continuous-improvement mindset
- Comfort with Ambiguity - able to build structure and capacity in a scaling environment while keeping production running
Values Alignment- Initiative: instinct for taking action to improve, solve, and deliver.
- Collaboration: proactive communication with your stakeholders.
- Competence: ability to do your job well.
- Reliability: persistent follow-through on commitments.
- Bold Humility: courage to speak, act, and listen without arrogance.
Preferred Qualifications- Experience in pharmaceutical, biotech, or other regulated process-equipment manufacturing
- Familiarity with ASME BPE, cGMP, weld qualification, and material-traceability requirements
- Lean / Six Sigma certification (Green Belt or Black Belt)
- Experience standing up or expanding manufacturing capacity, shifts, or facilities during rapid growth
Benefits- Leading medical insurance - consistently low rates compared to other businesses in the area
- Health Savings Account with employer contributions (plan-dependent)
- Dental, vision, and life insurance
- Short-term and long-term disability
- Identity theft insurance
- 401(k) with 4% employer match
- Generous PTO
- Paid paternity and maternity leave
- Paid cell phone plan with stipend for a new phone every 2 years
- Employee referral program
Working ConditionsThis role includes regular time on the manufacturing floor, with exposure to fabrication, welding, and assembly environments and associated PPE requirements, along with periods at a desk for planning, analysis, and reporting. Standard business hours apply, with flexibility required to support production needs, critical project milestones, customer commitments, and peak workload periods. Travel is minimal, under 5% of the time, primarily to visit customer sites, suppliers, and partners.
