Plant Manager – Plastic Extrusion ManufacturingPosition Overview
We are seeking an experienced Plant Manager to lead the day-to-day operations of a high-volume plastic extrusion manufacturing facility. This individual will have overall responsibility for safety, production, quality, maintenance, cost control, employee development, and operational performance.
The ideal candidate is a hands-on manufacturing leader with a strong background in plastic extrusion, who understands the technical and operational demands of extrusion processing and can translate business objectives into measurable plant performance.
This is a high-impact leadership role with responsibility for driving continuous improvement, improving equipment utilization, developing a strong production team, and establishing a culture of accountability and operational excellence.
Key ResponsibilitiesPlant Operations
- Lead all day-to-day manufacturing operations across production, maintenance, quality, and warehouse/material functions.
- Develop and execute production plans to meet customer requirements, quality standards, and delivery commitments.
- Monitor plant performance through key metrics including OEE, throughput, scrap, downtime, labor efficiency, schedule attainment, and on-time delivery.
- Identify operational constraints and implement solutions to improve capacity, productivity, and reliability.
- Ensure appropriate staffing, scheduling, training, and resource allocation to support production requirements.
- Maintain strong communication between manufacturing, engineering, quality, maintenance, supply chain, and commercial teams.
Plastic Extrusion
- Provide leadership and technical direction related to plastic extrusion processes, equipment, tooling, materials, and process controls.
- Optimize extrusion lines for throughput, yield, quality, and consistency.
- Troubleshoot processing issues involving temperature profiles, material flow, die performance, cooling, sizing, haul-off, cutting, winding, and downstream equipment.
- Partner with engineering and technical teams on new product introductions, process development, line modifications, and equipment upgrades.
- Establish and maintain standardized operating procedures and process parameters.
Safety & Compliance
- Establish a strong culture of safety throughout the facility.
- Ensure compliance with applicable OSHA, environmental, and company safety requirements.
- Lead safety initiatives, incident investigations, corrective actions, and employee training.
- Identify and eliminate unsafe conditions and manufacturing practices.
- Maintain appropriate documentation and accountability around plant safety performance.
Quality
- Partner with Quality to maintain consistent product performance and customer specifications.
- Establish corrective and preventive actions for recurring quality issues.
- Reduce scrap, rework, customer complaints, and process variability.
- Promote a culture of first-pass quality and process ownership throughout production.
Maintenance & Reliability
- Work closely with Maintenance to improve equipment reliability and minimize unplanned downtime.
- Establish preventive and predictive maintenance priorities based on equipment criticality.
- Support capital planning for equipment replacement, upgrades, automation, and capacity expansion.
- Ensure production equipment is maintained to appropriate operational and safety standards.
Continuous Improvement
- Lead Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives throughout the facility.
- Utilize data and root-cause analysis to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Implement initiatives focused on reducing scrap, downtime, labor costs, changeover time, and material waste.
- Establish standard work and visual management systems.
- Develop a culture where employees are encouraged to identify and solve operational problems.
Leadership & Team Development
- Lead, coach, and develop supervisors, engineers, maintenance personnel, and production employees.
- Establish clear expectations and performance standards for plant personnel.
- Build a strong pipeline of manufacturing talent through training, mentoring, and succession planning.
- Foster a collaborative, accountable, and results-oriented plant culture.
- Address performance issues effectively while maintaining strong employee engagement.
Financial & Business Management
- Manage plant operating expenses and work toward established financial targets.
- Develop and manage departmental budgets.
- Identify opportunities to reduce manufacturing costs while maintaining safety and product quality.
- Participate in capital expenditure planning and ROI analysis.
- Provide regular reporting on plant performance, financial results, capacity, and improvement initiatives.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Business, or a related field preferred.
- 7+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience, preferably within plastics or a related process manufacturing environment.
- Strong hands-on experience with plastic extrusion manufacturing required.
- Previous experience managing a manufacturing facility, plant, or major production operation.
- Demonstrated experience leading production, maintenance, quality, and continuous improvement teams.
- Strong understanding of manufacturing KPIs including OEE, scrap, downtime, labor efficiency, throughput, and yield.
- Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, root-cause analysis, or similar continuous improvement methodologies.
- Strong financial, analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
- Demonstrated ability to lead through change and hold teams accountable for results.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Preferred Experience
- Experience with thermoplastic extrusion, including profile, sheet, tubing, film, or other extrusion processes.
- Experience with extrusion equipment, dies, tooling, downstream systems, and process controls.
- Experience managing capital projects and equipment installations.
- Experience with automation and manufacturing process optimization.
- Experience implementing ERP/MES systems or manufacturing performance dashboards.
- Experience operating in a multi-shift manufacturing environment.
Leadership Profile
The successful candidate will be a hands-on, data-driven manufacturing leader who can move comfortably between the production floor and executive leadership. They should be technically curious, operationally disciplined, and capable of developing people while driving measurable improvements in plant performance.
The position offers an opportunity to have significant influence over manufacturing strategy, operational performance, capital investment, and organizational development within a growing plastics manufacturing operation.
H2
Pay: $130,000.00 - $160,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Relocation assistance
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
- How many years of experience with plastic extrusions? What specific products?
- How many years of plant managment experience?
Work Location: In person
