XPEL, Inc.

Director of Manufacturing

XPEL, Inc. • $125K — $150K *
San Antonio, TX 78228In-Person
Manufacturing & Automotive
8 - 10 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Polymer Science, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
  • 10+ years of manufacturing or process engineering experience, particularly in roll-to-roll coating and converting.
  • 5+ years of leadership experience at the manager or director level.
  • Experience with contract manufacturers and key suppliers in the coating and converting space.
  • Proven track record of improving quality, yield, and throughput in manufacturing processes.
  • Solid understanding of coating processes, drying, curing, and lamination techniques.
  • Familiarity with ISO 9001 and/or IATF 16949 quality systems.

Responsibilities

  • Provide technical leadership over coating, lamination, and converting processes for PPF products.
  • Serve as the technical authority on PPF film structure and related materials.
  • Evaluate and optimize coating processes to meet product specifications.
  • Guide best practices in drying, curing, and web handling for consistent production.
  • Lead root-cause analysis on defects and connect feedback to process improvements.
  • Oversee XPEL's network of manufacturing partners to ensure quality and capacity.
  • Drive continuous improvement practices like Lean and Six Sigma to enhance production efficiency.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to lead and shape the technical direction of innovative PPF products.
  • Collaborative environment with R&D and Product Management teams.
  • Potential for international travel, enhancing global industry exposure.
  • Access to advanced manufacturing technologies and processes.
  • Professional development opportunities, including mentoring and team building.
Full Job Description
Job Summary:

The Director of Manufacturing is XPEL's senior technical leader for how our paint protection film (PPF) products are produced.

Core Duties
  • Provide technical leadership over roll-to-roll coating, lamination, slitting and converting processes for XPEL's paint protection film products, with a focus on TPU-based films.
  • Serve as XPEL's technical authority on the PPF film structure, including self-healing and protective topcoats, pressure-sensitive adhesives, primers and release liners.
  • Evaluate and optimize coating processes (such as slot-die, gravure and similar methods) to meet each product's coat weight, appearance and performance requirements.
  • Guide best practices in drying, curing and web handling to ensure consistent, repeatable production.
  • Ensure products consistently meet specifications for clarity, gloss, thickness, adhesion, self-healing, stain and yellowing resistance, conformability and long-term weathering performance.
  • Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action on coating, adhesive and film defects, and connect field performance and installer feedback to process and material causes.
  • Provide technical oversight of XPEL's network of coating, converting and manufacturing partners to ensure processes, quality and capacity support company growth.
  • Lead technical qualification and onboarding of new partners, including process specifications, quality agreements, trial runs, capability studies, scorecards and audits.
  • Work with Procurement and Quality on raw-material specifications (TPU film, resins, adhesives, liners), incoming inspection and supplier corrective actions, with focus on lot-to-lot variation.
  • Partner with R&D and Product Management to move new PPF products from lab and pilot scale to full production, including DOE, capability validation and product qualification.
  • Drive Lean, Six Sigma, SPC and related continuous improvement practices to reduce variation and improve yield, scrap, throughput, OEE and on-time delivery.
  • Establish change control, process documentation (SOPs, work instructions, recipes) and FMEA/PFMEA practices across coating and converting operations.
  • Build and develop a team of process and manufacturing engineers and serve as a technical mentor across XPEL and its partner network.
  • Additional duties as assigned by leadership.


Basic Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Polymer Science, Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field.
  • 10+ years of manufacturing or process engineering experience, including roll-to-roll coating, laminating, extrusion or converting of films, coated materials or other flexible substrates.
  • 5+ years leading technical or multi-functional teams at the manager or director level.
  • Experience working with contract manufacturers, toll coaters, converters or key suppliers.
  • Track record of delivering measurable improvements in quality, yield and throughput.
  • Solid understanding of coating processes, drying and curing, web handling and lamination.
  • Knowledge of polymer films (TPU preferred), adhesive systems and coating chemistries.
  • Experience developing and enforcing product and process specifications, and with film testing methods such as adhesion, peel, gloss, thickness and weathering.
  • Working knowledge of SPC, DOE, structured root-cause analysis (8D, 5-Why, Fishbone) and FMEA.
  • Familiarity with ISO 9001 and/or IATF 16949 quality systems and EHS practices for coating operations.
  • Experience with ERP/MES systems and production data analytics.
  • Excellent communication skills with executives, R&D, partners, suppliers and production teams, with the ability to influence without direct authority.
  • Ability to travel up to 50%, including internationally.


Desired Qualifications

  • Advanced degree in a technical discipline
  • Experience with paint protection film, TPU films or automotive exterior films and coatings
  • Experience in related industries such as automotive, adhesive tapes and labels, flexible packaging or coated materials
  • Lean Six Sigma Green/Black Belt or PMP certification


About XPEL, Inc.

XPEL, Inc. is a leading provider of protective films and coatings for the automotive and architectural markets. The company's products are designed to protect against damage from rocks, debris, and other hazards, as well as to enhance the appearance of vehicles and buildings. XPEL's product portfolio includes paint protection films, window films, and ceramic coatings, among others. The company is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, and has operations in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Learn more about XPEL, Inc.
Size
709 employees
Market Cap
$1.5 billion
Industry
Retail & Consumer Goods
Net Income
$18.2 million
5 Year Trend
+38%
Revenue
$158.9 million
NASDAQ
XPEL
* Ladders Estimates

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