Director of Operations
Position Overview
The Director of Operations will provide strategic and hands-on leadership for manufacturing operations across multiple facilities and shifts. This position is responsible for driving profitability, operational efficiency, resource allocation, and continuous improvement while ensuring teams have the materials, equipment, labor, and systems needed to meet business objectives.
The Director will translate organizational strategies into actionable operational plans, establish and monitor KPIs, support team development, and drive improvements in safety, quality, delivery, and cost. This role requires strong analytical and communication skills, a thorough understanding of manufacturing processes and technology, and the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams including Human Resources, Quality, Engineering, New Product Development, Finance, Supply Chain, Sales, and Account Management.
Key Responsibilities
Operations & Leadership
- Lead manufacturing and facilities teams across multiple plants and shifts while serving as a key escalation point for operational issues.
- Recruit, develop, and retain high-performing teams while ensuring management systems and procedures are effectively implemented.
- Evaluate training effectiveness and identify opportunities to strengthen employee capabilities.
- Utilize versatility matrices and Training Within Industry (TWI) methodologies to build employee skill depth and ensure required competencies and certifications are maintained.
- Allocate personnel and resources to address both planned and unplanned maintenance needs.
- Promote the use of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) practices within production operations.
- Establish and reinforce a culture centered on Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost (SQDC).
- Monitor team and individual performance, establish improvement goals, and provide guidance to achieve operational KPIs.
Safety
- Promote a zero-incident, safety-first culture focused on protecting employees and ensuring safe products.
- Ensure plant safety policies, procedures, and practices are understood and consistently followed.
- Support timely investigation of incidents and implementation of corrective measures to prevent recurrence.
Quality
- Champion a culture focused on preventing defects rather than accepting, creating, or passing them forward.
- Strengthen manufacturing controls and processes to reduce the Cost of Poor Quality.
- Develop team problem-solving and troubleshooting capabilities to quickly identify root causes and implement effective countermeasures.
- Coordinate resources for suspect materials/products and support the Material Review Board (MRB) process.
- Support effective Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) programs designed to prevent recurring issues and apply lessons learned across similar products and processes.
- Ensure production and support personnel are properly trained and follow established management system procedures.
- Support compliance with FDA and ISO 13485 requirements and recommend documentation or process changes that strengthen the management system.
- Analyze historical performance and lead improvement initiatives designed to reduce scrap and improve quality.
Delivery & Production
- Drive on-time, in-full (OTIF) performance and work to reduce product lead times.
- Ensure resources are aligned with production priorities, particularly where key customer requirements have increased importance.
- Provide input into production planning and scheduling to optimize performance and address capacity or process constraints.
- Utilize alternate or best-performing work centers when appropriate and collaborate with Quality to qualify multiple work centers for increased flexibility.
- Help develop solutions to minimize the impact of supply chain limitations and outsourced-process constraints.
Cost & Continuous Improvement
- Drive cross-functional initiatives focused on productivity, inventory management, and waste reduction.
- Manage manufacturing operations in accordance with P&L and financial plan expectations.
- Adjust production strategies as needed to align with sales requirements while maintaining cost controls.
- Support oversight of costs associated with manufacturing support functions.
- Review Bills of Manufacture (BOMs) to ensure material, labor, and overhead standards accurately reflect expected manufacturing costs.
- Identify and implement Lean manufacturing initiatives, including 5S and reduction of the eight types of waste.
- Focus improvement efforts on increasing value-added activities and overall operational efficiency.
- Monitor and understand Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) metrics.
- Identify opportunities and implement countermeasures addressing the six major equipment losses using both real-time information and historical data.
Qualifications & Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline and/or 10+ years of experience in molding or a related component manufacturing process.
- Demonstrated leadership experience with strong execution, project management, facilitation, and team-building capabilities.
- Working knowledge of ISO 13485, FDA 21 CFR 820, and cGMP requirements.
- Experience in medical or food-grade manufacturing environments, including clean room operations.
- Strong interpersonal and leadership skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively across teams.
- Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and ERP systems with MES functionality.
- Demonstrated experience implementing continuous improvement and problem-solving methodologies, including Lean and/or Six Sigma Manufacturing.
- Proven ability to drive productivity and operational improvements.
- Understanding of budgeting, expense management, and basic financial information.
- Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills.
- Comfortable communicating and collaborating with employees at all levels, as well as customers and vendors.
- Strong analytical, organizational, and decision-making skills.
Pay: $180,000.00 - $200,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Professional development assistance
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
