Position Summary
The Director of Operations provides strategic and hands-on leadership for manufacturing operations, ensuring safe, efficient, high-quality, and cost-effective production across assigned facilities or business units. The position is responsible for operational performance, production execution, labor and capacity planning, continuous improvement, delivery performance, cost control, and leadership development. The Director of Operations works cross-functionally with Sales, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, Finance, Human Resources, and Customer Service to align manufacturing capabilities with customer requirements and company objectives.
Operational Leadership & Execution
· Direct day-to-day manufacturing operations and establish priorities that support safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity objectives.
· Translate company strategy and customer requirements into measurable plant and departmental operating plans.
· Ensure production schedules are executed effectively and customer delivery commitments are supported by appropriate labor, equipment, materials, and capacity.
· Establish standardized operating expectations across facilities, shifts, departments, and work centers.
· Identify operational risks early and lead corrective actions to minimize disruptions, downtime, premium freight, missed shipments, and customer impact.
· Maintain a strong presence on the manufacturing floor and ensure leadership teams are actively managing performance.
Safety & Compliance
· Champion a safety-first culture and ensure compliance with company policies, OSHA requirements, environmental requirements, and applicable regulations.
· Hold plant leadership accountable for incident prevention, hazard identification, corrective actions, training, and safe work practices.
· Partner with Human Resources, EHS, and plant leadership on investigations and actions related to workplace safety.
· Ensure manufacturing processes and equipment are operated within established safety and regulatory requirements.
Quality & Customer Performance
· Partner with Quality leadership to maintain product and process quality and ensure customer requirements are consistently achieved.
· Review customer scorecards, complaints, returns, corrective actions, and operational quality trends.
· Ensure containment and corrective actions are implemented promptly when manufacturing performance creates customer risk.
· Drive operational discipline around standardized work, process controls, traceability, inspection requirements, and documented procedures.
Production, Capacity & Labor Planning
· Oversee production planning and execution to optimize throughput, labor utilization, machine capacity, inventory, and on-time delivery.
· Evaluate current and future capacity requirements based on forecasts, new business, program launches, equipment constraints, and staffing levels.
· Partner with Human Resources and plant leadership on staffing plans, overtime requirements, attendance management, workforce development, and succession planning.
· Balance customer demand with available capacity and escalate resource constraints before they negatively affect delivery.
· Support make-versus-buy, outsourcing, shift-pattern, and capital-equipment decisions.
Continuous Improvement & Productivity
· Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on labor efficiency, scrap reduction, downtime, changeover reduction, throughput, material flow, and overall equipment effectiveness.
· Use Lean manufacturing, root-cause analysis, problem-solving, and data-driven methods to eliminate waste and improve operational performance.
· Establish measurable productivity goals and require corrective action plans when results fall below target.
· Promote standardized work, visual management, 5S, preventive maintenance, and disciplined problem-solving practices.
Cost & Financial Performance
· Manage operations within approved budgets and identify opportunities to reduce manufacturing costs without compromising safety, quality, or customer requirements.
· Monitor labor cost, overtime, scrap, rework, downtime, premium freight, outside processing, maintenance expense, and other key manufacturing cost drivers.
· Partner with Finance to understand plant profitability, manufacturing variances, capital requirements, and cost-improvement opportunities.
· Develop and support annual operating budgets, capital plans, productivity targets, and cost-reduction initiatives.
· Evaluate capital expenditures and operational investments based on capacity, safety, quality, productivity, and return on investment.
Leadership & Organizational Development
· Lead, coach, and develop Plant Managers, Production Managers, Supervisors, and other assigned operational leaders.
· Establish clear accountability, performance expectations, operating rhythms, and escalation protocols.
· Conduct regular operational reviews and ensure leaders develop and execute corrective action plans.
· Build succession plans and strengthen the leadership pipeline for critical manufacturing positions.
· Partner with Human Resources on performance management, employee relations, retention, training, and organizational development.
· Promote a culture of accountability, urgency, teamwork, communication, and continuous improvement.
Cross-Functional Leadership & New Program Launches
· Partner with Sales to ensure customer commitments align with manufacturing capabilities and capacity.
· Work with Engineering and Program Management on process development, equipment, tooling, prototypes, PPAP/APQP activities, and new-product launches as applicable.
· Partner with Supply Chain and Purchasing to address material availability, supplier performance, inventory, outsourcing, and logistics constraints.
· Support S&OP or equivalent demand-and-capacity planning processes.
· Ensure operational readiness for new customers, products, equipment, transfers, and manufacturing programs before launch.
Performance Management & Executive Reporting
· Develop and maintain operational dashboards and scorecards for executive leadership.
· Analyze trends, identify performance gaps, and establish corrective actions with clear ownership and due dates.
· Provide regular updates on plant performance, customer risks, staffing, capacity, capital needs, major projects, and operational priorities.
· Ensure operational data is accurate, timely, and used to drive decisions.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
· Safety performance and incident reduction
· On-time delivery / schedule attainment
· Labor efficiency and productivity
· Scrap, rework, and cost of poor quality
· Machine downtime and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
· Overtime and labor-cost performance
· Premium freight and expedite costs
· Inventory accuracy and working-capital performance
· Manufacturing cost and budget performance
· Customer scorecards and operational complaints
· Continuous improvement savings
· Employee turnover, absenteeism, and leadership development
· New-program launch performance
Qualifications
· Bachelor’s degree in Operations Management, Engineering, Business, Supply Chain, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
· 10+ years of progressive manufacturing or operations leadership experience, including multi-department or plant-level responsibility.
· 5+ years of experience managing managers, plant leaders, or significant manufacturing teams.
· Demonstrated experience improving safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and manufacturing cost performance.
· Strong knowledge of production planning, labor management, capacity planning, Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and operational KPIs.
· Experience with ERP/MRP systems, manufacturing reporting, budgeting, and data-driven performance management.
· Experience in an OEM, Tier 1/Tier 2, automotive, industrial, or other high-volume manufacturing environment preferred.
· Working knowledge of quality systems, preventive maintenance, new-product launches, and supply-chain operations.
· Ability to travel between facilities and to customer or supplier locations as required.
Knowledge, Skills and Competencies
· Manufacturing operations leadership
· Strategic planning and execution
· Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement
· Financial and operational acumen
· Capacity, labor, and production planning
· Root-cause analysis and problem solving
· Executive communication and cross-functional leadership
· Performance management and accountability
· Change management and organizational development
· Customer focus and operational urgency
· Decision-making under pressure
Leadership Expectations
The Director of Operations is expected to lead with a strong floor presence, establish clear accountability, and make fact-based decisions that balance safety, quality, delivery, cost, employees, and customer requirements. The position must identify risks before they become disruptions, communicate issues transparently, develop capable leaders, and drive sustainable improvements rather than short-term fixes.
Physical / Work Environment
This position operates in both office and manufacturing environments and requires regular presence on the production floor. The role may require standing, walking through manufacturing areas, use of required personal protective equipment, and travel between facilities. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Pay: $170,000.00 - $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
- Vision insurance
Education:
Experience:
- Manufacturing management: 8 years (Required)
- Lean manufacturing: 8 years (Required)
Work Location: In person
