Job PurposeThe Plant Manager will provide overall leadership for the phased development, start-up, ramp-up, and ongoing operation of the new lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility in Greenville, South Carolina. This is a unique opportunity to build a factory and its organization from the ground up in a fast-paced, highly dynamic environment.
The role will evolve through multiple phases of the project, beginning with facility construction and operational readiness and progressing through equipment installation and commissioning, production launch, workforce ramp-up, stabilization, and full-scale manufacturing operations.
The Plant Manager will be accountable for establishing the operating model, leadership capability, organizational structure, culture, management systems, and performance disciplines required to achieve excellence across safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, people, and customer satisfaction.
This leader must bring broad manufacturing expertise in a high-volume, fully automated environment and understand the interdependencies across production, engineering, maintenance, quality, supply chain, materials, EHS, finance, and people. The successful candidate will combine strong operational and financial acumen with knowledge of lithium-ion cell manufacturing and a demonstrated ability to build organizations, develop leaders, anticipate workforce needs, and establish strong relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, and business partners.
Essential Duties and ResponsibilitiesFactory Development, Start-Up & Operational Readiness - Provide operational leadership throughout the phased development of the Greenville facility, ensuring manufacturing and operational requirements are incorporated as the factory is constructed, commissioned, launched, and scaled.
- Partner with Engineering, Project Management, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, EHS, People & Culture, IT/OT, and other functions to establish comprehensive manufacturing readiness.
- Translate facility and project milestones into executable operational plans covering equipment, processes, workforce, training, materials, systems, safety, quality, and infrastructure.
- Ensure equipment, manufacturing processes, systems, organizational capability, and workforce readiness progress together so that potential gaps are identified and resolved before they impact production.
- Establish the operating systems, standard work, governance, performance metrics, escalation processes, and accountability required to transition successfully from project execution into manufacturing operations.
- Lead the operational transition through equipment installation and commissioning, qualification, production launch, ramp-up, stabilization, and full-scale operations.
Manufacturing & Operational Leadership - Provide end-to-end leadership of plant operations with accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, capacity, employee performance, and overall manufacturing results.
- Maintain a comprehensive understanding of plant operating processes and ensure effective integration across production, maintenance, engineering, quality, supply chain, materials, EHS, and supporting functions.
- Establish a culture of operational excellence, disciplined execution, accountability, continuous improvement, and structured problem solving.
- Establish and continuously evaluate plant KPIs to identify performance gaps, determine root causes, and drive sustainable corrective actions.
- Drive improvement in manufacturing productivity, equipment effectiveness, reliability, throughput, yield, quality, labor efficiency, and operating cost.
- Ensure appropriate manufacturing systems, controls, procedures, and escalation mechanisms are established as production volume and organizational complexity increase.
- Champion Lean manufacturing principles and create a culture in which continuous improvement is embedded throughout the organization.
Lithium-Ion Cell Manufacturing - Provide leadership within a technically complex lithium-ion cell manufacturing environment.
- Apply practical knowledge of cell manufacturing processes, automated manufacturing equipment, process controls, materials, quality requirements, and production risks to operational decision-making.
- Work closely with Cell Engineering, Process Engineering, Quality, EHS, and other technical teams to establish safe, repeatable, high-quality manufacturing processes capable of operating at scale.
- Ensure plant teams understand the relationships among process capability, product quality, yield, throughput, equipment performance, manufacturing cost, and customer requirements.
- Support the effective introduction, industrialization, and scale-up of new manufacturing processes and technologies.
Financial & Business Leadership- Own plant operating performance from both an operational and financial perspective.
- Develop and manage plant operating budgets, forecasts, labor plans, productivity targets, capital requirements, and cost-improvement initiatives.
- Demonstrate strong understanding of the economic drivers of manufacturing and translate operational performance into financial and business outcomes.
- Partner closely with Finance to understand and manage manufacturing cost, labor, productivity, inventory, scrap, yield, capital utilization, and other key plant performance drivers.
- Evaluate significant operational decisions through both manufacturing and financial lenses, balancing immediate execution requirements with the long-term capability and competitiveness of the plant.
- Establish strong cost-management and financial disciplines as the facility transitions from construction and start-up investment to sustainable manufacturing operations.
Workforce Planning & Organizational Capability - Build the plant organization in phases aligned with facility construction, commissioning, production launch, ramp-up, and future operating requirements.
- Develop short- and long-term workforce plans to ensure the plant has the appropriate leadership, technical, skilled-trades, professional, and manufacturing capabilities required at each stage of growth.
- Anticipate talent, capacity, skill, and leadership gaps before they become constraints to manufacturing performance or future growth.
- Partner closely with People & Culture to develop recruiting, workforce planning, onboarding, training, retention, employee engagement, talent management, and organizational capability strategies.
- Establish clear organizational structures, decision rights, accountabilities, and leadership responsibilities as the facility grows and becomes operational.
- Develop workforce flexibility and organizational depth to mitigate single points of dependency and ensure business continuity.
- Regularly assess whether workforce capacity and capability are appropriately aligned with production requirements, operating plans, and future growth.
Leadership Development & Succession - Recruit, build, coach, and develop a high-performing plant leadership team capable of successfully operating at increasing levels of scale and complexity.
- Establish a leadership culture where leaders are expected not only to deliver results but also to develop other leaders and build capability within their organizations.
- Partner with People & Culture to regularly assess leadership capability, organizational effectiveness, succession coverage, bench strength, and future talent requirements.
- Build strong succession pipelines for critical plant leadership and technical positions and ensure appropriate development plans are established for potential successors.
- Identify and develop high-potential talent through coaching, mentoring, expanded responsibilities, cross-functional experience, and targeted development opportunities.
- Establish sufficient leadership and technical depth to minimize organizational vulnerability and ensure continuity as the facility grows.
- Create a culture where talent development and succession planning are ongoing leadership responsibilities rather than periodic HR activities.
Customer, Supplier & Stakeholder Leadership- Build strong, credible, long-term relationships with customers and ensure plant execution consistently supports quality, delivery, responsiveness, and customer commitments.
- Build strategic relationships with suppliers, equipment manufacturers, contractors, and other external partners critical to the construction, start-up, and ongoing operation of the plant.
- Work collaboratively with customers and suppliers to resolve issues quickly while protecting long-term business relationships.
- Serve as a senior representative of the Greenville operation with business leadership, customers, suppliers, community stakeholders, and other external partners as appropriate.
- Build strong cross-functional relationships across the broader organization and effectively navigate a complex, matrixed environment.
- Maintain a visible leadership presence throughout the plant and foster an employee environment built on communication, engagement, trust, accountability, and strong employee relations.
Safety, Quality & Culture - Establish safety as a foundational operating principle and ensure appropriate systems, behaviors, and leadership accountability are embedded throughout the facility.
- Champion a quality-first mindset and ensure the organization consistently meets internal requirements and customer expectations.
- Build a high-performance culture characterized by accountability, collaboration, transparency, urgency, ownership, and continuous improvement.
- Establish clear expectations for leadership behavior and ensure those expectations cascade throughout the plant organization.
- Create an environment where employees understand how their work contributes to plant performance, customer success, and the broader business.
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Business, or a related discipline.
- Significant progressive leadership experience within complex, high-volume, highly automated, or advanced manufacturing environments.
- Demonstrated experience leading a significant manufacturing operation with accountability across safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, people, and financial performance.
- Demonstrated experience supporting or leading the build and start-up of a new manufacturing facility, significant plant expansion, major manufacturing transformation, or complex production ramp-up.
- Strong knowledge of lithium-ion cell manufacturing or relevant advanced manufacturing technologies and processes.
- Broad understanding of manufacturing operations and the interdependencies among production, engineering, maintenance, quality, supply chain, materials, EHS, finance, and people.
- Strong financial and commercial acumen with experience managing operating budgets, forecasts, manufacturing costs, capital investments, productivity, and business performance.
- Demonstrated success building, leading, coaching, and developing high-performing leadership teams.
- Experience with workforce planning, organizational design, talent development, and leadership succession.
- Demonstrated ability to build effective relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, executive leadership, and cross-functional partners.
- Proven ability to lead through ambiguity and rapidly changing priorities within a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
Preferred Qualifications - Advanced degree in Engineering, Operations, Manufacturing, Business Administration, or a related discipline.
- Direct experience in lithium-ion cell manufacturing or large-scale battery manufacturing.
- Experience taking a newly constructed manufacturing facility through commissioning, production launch, volume ramp-up, and stabilized operations.
- Experience with highly automated manufacturing equipment and advanced manufacturing technologies.
- Strong working knowledge of Lean manufacturing, structured problem solving, operational excellence, and continuous-improvement methodologies.
- Experience working within a global manufacturing organization or complex matrixed business environment.
General Job Requirements- This position requires working in a plant/warehouse environment. Therefore, expect varying working conditions.
