Plant Manager

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SUMMARY

Regal Rexnord is seeking a hands-on Plant Manager to serve as the operating leader for its filament-bearing production facility in Downers Grove, Illinois. The site manufactures filament-wound composite bearings for aerospace, defense, and heavy-industry applications. This position combines daily production management with overall facility leadership and accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, people, maintenance coordination, and continuous improvement.

The successful candidate will translate customer demand into clear daily priorities, lead disciplined execution within an AS9100-certified quality management system, develop frontline employees, and establish a visible, fact-based operating rhythm. This role requires strong floor presence, sound judgment, and the ability to solve problems at their source without compromising safety or compliance.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead daily and weekly production execution, including staffing, work-center priorities, material readiness, equipment availability, schedule attainment, and recovery planning.
• Provide senior on-site leadership for routine facility operations and maintain clear ownership for safety, housekeeping, 5S, emergency readiness, contractor activity, and general facility condition.
• Lead a proactive safety culture through employee engagement, hazard identification, floor observations, incident and near-miss follow-up, and timely corrective-action closure.
• Ensure production complies with the AS9100 quality management system, approved work instructions, specifications, inspection plans, traceability requirements, record controls, and change-management processes.
• Partner with Quality to contain nonconforming product, protect customers, complete root-cause analysis, implement corrective action, and verify sustained effectiveness.
• Lead, coach, and hold accountable approximately 25 direct labor and maintenance employees; establish expectations for safety, quality, attendance, teamwork, productivity, and conduct.
• Build staffing, skills, cross-training, and succession plans; ensure employees are trained and qualified before performing assigned work.
• Prioritize maintenance activity based on safety, quality, production risk, and customer need; improve preventive-maintenance discipline and eliminate recurring equipment failures.
• Use daily visual management and tiered escalation to review safety, quality, delivery, cost, people, and equipment performance.
• Lead continuous-improvement activity that increases throughput, reduces lead time and inventory, improves labor productivity, and lowers the cost of poor quality.
• Manage controllable spending, overtime, supplies, maintenance expense, and operating variances within delegated authority.
• Provide the General Manager with clear operating updates covering performance, risks, recovery actions, resource needs, and decisions required.

Critical Competencies

• Demonstrated ability to manage safety, quality, production, delivery, labor, maintenance priorities, and operating metrics in a regulated or high-reliability environment.
• Working knowledge of AS9100 or a comparable structured quality management system, including nonconformance control, corrective action, document control, traceability, and audit support.
• Experience with ERP or production-planning systems and the ability to interpret schedules, routers, work instructions, drawings, specifications, inspection information, and operating data.
• Strong communication, structured problem-solving, conflict-resolution, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to work regularly on the production floor and respond to operating issues outside normal administrative hours when required.

Education and Experience Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, business, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant manufacturing leadership experience.
• Five or more years of progressive manufacturing experience, including at least three years leading production employees or manufacturing teams.

Restrictions imposed by federal export control laws may limit this job opportunity to candidates who are a ‘U.S. Person,’ which includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, U.S. permanent residents, individuals granted asylum in the United States, refugees in the United States, or individuals who otherwise qualify for a license permitting them to hold the position.

Expected salary: $110,000 – $129,000 annually + a 10% bonus

The salary range provided is intended to display the value of the company's base pay compensation for this position. Salary is dependent on a multitude of factors, including but not limited to the physical worksite location, the geographic market of that location, candidate's skill set, level of experience, education and internal peer compensation comparisons among other potential factors.

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• • Physical Demands -The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand. The employee frequently is required to walk; use hands to manipulate, handle, or feel; reach with arms; and talk or hear. The employee must be able to lift and manipulate up to 50 pounds and occasionally required to lift and/or move up to 70 pounds. Must be able to occasionally stand for a portion of shift. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus. Per AS9100 requirements, an up-to-date vision test should be made available to management and may be shared with auditors.
  • Work Environment - The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The noise levels in the work environment are usually moderate. However, in some instances this job does require work in areas where ear protection is necessary. The use of safety glasses and safety toe shoes are required.

• Medical, Dental, Vision and Prescription Drug Coverage
• Spending accounts (HSA, Health Care FSA and Dependent Care FSA)
• Paid Time Off and Holidays
• 401k Retirement Plan with Matching Employer Contributions
• Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance
• Paid Leaves
• Tuition Assistance