J.D. Irving

Director of Operations, Pine

J.D. Irving$90K — $120K *
Manufacturing & Automotive
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Postsecondary education in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Business, or equivalent Master's level education with willingness to complete an MBA.
  • 7-10 years of management experience in the forest products industry.
  • Strong budget and business planning skills.
  • Exceptional analytical and problem-solving abilities.
  • Capability to lead change with various stakeholders, including business leaders and operators.
  • Proven ownership and ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
  • Self-motivated with a pragmatic approach and data-driven decision-making skills.

Responsibilities

  • Maintain top safety standards and ensure compliance with policies and regulations.
  • Develop and participate in the operational strategy for the pine mills.
  • Oversee mill managers to ensure alignment with business strategy and responsibilities.
  • Identify improvement opportunities for productivity and cost reduction across mill operations.
  • Manage daily operations to exceed budget targets and improve results.
  • Lead the implementation of maintenance audits and prioritize improvement plans.
  • Ensure quality targets are achieved and customer expectations are met.

Benefits

  • Relocation support for out-of-area candidates provided.
  • Opportunity to develop and implement operational strategies for multiple locations.
  • Engagement in safety management and continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Collaboration with leadership teams to drive performance and accountability.
Full Job Description
Job Description

The Director of Pine Operations, reporting to the General Manager of Pine and Harwood Sawmills, will be responsible for the operation and productivity of the Pine Mills located in Dixfield, Maine, Doaktown, New Brunswick and the value-added plant in Cobleskill, New York. The pine mill managers and value-added mill manager will report directly to the Director of Operations and they will drive strategy, budgeting, profitability, productivity, and continuous improvement for these regional operations. The ideal candidate will be based out of our operation in Dixfield, Maine. Relocation support will be provided to out-of-area candidates.

Responsibilities

Safety
  • Maintain the highest standards of safety, providing strong leadership and ensuring the team follows all policies, procedures and regulations
  • Become knowledgeable about the high-risk areas of the pine mills and ensure action plans are in place to mitigate risk
  • Chair the bi-annual safety management review meetings at your sites
  • Ensure resources are deployed to meet improvement goals on your Safety Scorecard

Strategy
  • Participate in the development of the pine mills operations strategy
  • Based on the above, identify resources required to meet the goals (including prioritizing CAPX requests)
  • Ensure mill manager and value-added managers understand their expectations, roles and responsibilities to deliver on the business strategy. Ensure alignment at the site levels to the overall division goals
  • Identify talent, both internally and externally and develop succession plans for key roles. Develop high potential talent for the next steps in their career

Operations
  • Manage and identify opportunities to improve productivity, reduce cost and maximize the quality, value and recovery of wood products produced throughout the pine mills and the value-added facility
  • Ensure daily management system is in place and mills are delivering results
  • Engage with mill leadership teams to ensure sites exceed budgeted targets
  • Provide leadership on the maintenance audit, ensure it is implemented and improvement plans are in place to get to a 3.0 on Tier 1 measures - identify resource requirements and synergies where possible
  • Identify high risk areas (extended production or quality losses) and prioritize resources to address where possible and have contingency plans in place
  • Provide clear direction and oversight of maintenance projects and prioritization of work
  • Ensure CI resources are deployed where we get the best ROI
  • Oversee environmental audit understanding all risk areas and ensure sites are adhering to best practices

Quality
  • Engage mill managers and value-added managers to deliver on recovery and grade targets
  • Ensure customer delivery expectations are met
  • Oversee sites to confirm all achieve a minimum of 3.0 on all areas of the quality audit; review audit parameters to ensure they cover all areas and adjust as required
  • Partner with Woodlands to ensure the link is clear between log quality and lumber value (stain, rot, etc.)
  • Deal with customer complaints in a timely fashion, with corrective actions linked back to the quality audit.

Other Duties
  • Lead budgeting for sites
  • Lead period forecasts and be within +/- 10% of forecast submissions
  • Ensure controls/processes are in place to manage inventory accuracy (stores, lumber) ensure no gaps exist in internal controls that could expose us to theft or fraud
  • Utilize JDI systems and data to drive effective business decisions to improve profitability


Qualifications

  • Postsecondary education in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Business or equivalent Master's level education and/or the willingness to complete an MBA with the company is required
  • 7-10 years of management experience within forest products
  • Solid budget and business planning experience
  • Superior analytical and problem-solving skills
  • Ability to facilitate and lead change with multiple stakeholders (business leaders and operators)
  • Must demonstrate ownership, and the ability to handle multiple priorities in a faced-paced environment
  • Driven, self-starter with pragmatic thinking ability
  • Ability to use data to drive solutions

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About J.D. Irving

J.D. Irving is a diversified conglomerate with operations in forestry, paper products, agriculture, transportation, and retail. The company is one of the largest employers in Eastern Canada, with over 16,000 employees. J.D. Irving is committed to sustainable development and has implemented a number of initiatives to reduce its environmental impact. The company is also involved in a range of community and charitable activities. J.D. Irving is headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick.
Learn more about J.D. Irving
Size
16,000 employees
Industry

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