Director of Manufacturing Operations

Key Responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership and direction for the Merritt Precision Florida facility.
• Develop and execute annual operating plans aligned with company strategy and customer commitments.
• Lead managers and supervisors, establish clear expectations, and build a culture of accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
• Build trusted relationships with key customers through regular communication, operational reviews, facility tours, and issue resolution.
• Provide regular updates to the Vice President of Operations regarding performance, risks, priorities, and improvement initiatives.
• Lead manufacturing operations to achieve strong performance in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and employee engagement.
• Optimize production flow, staffing, equipment utilization, labor efficiency, throughput, and capacity.
• Champion Lean Manufacturing, standard work, root cause problem-solving, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Develop equipment strategies including PM, capital investments, and long-term capability planning.
• Oversee implementation of new processes, equipment, automation, and operational technologies.
• Develop and manage the facility operating budget and support forecasting and capital planning.
• Monitor labor, overtime, productivity, inventory, scrap, rework, and operating expenses.
• Drive sustainable improvements in profitability, resource utilization, and operational efficiency.
• Partner with Finance and leadership to evaluate business performance and corrective actions.
• Ensure operational execution supports exceptional customer service and on-time delivery.
• Partner with Quality, Engineering, Sales, and Customer Service to resolve issues and meet customer requirements.
• Support customer visits, audits, business reviews, and corrective action activities.
• Ensure compliance with quality systems, safety requirements, company policies, and applicable regulations.
• Provide oversight of purchasing, production planning, scheduling, inventory, warehouse, shipping, receiving, and facility operations.
• Own production planning, scheduling, and ERP/database execution to ensure accurate production priorities, resource allocation, and customer commitments.
• Ensure material availability supports production requirements while maintaining appropriate inventory levels.
• Improve supplier performance, inventory accuracy, schedule attainment, and operational readiness.
• Recruit, develop, coach, and retain high-performing managers, supervisors, and future leaders.
• Establish succession plans and development priorities for key operational roles.
• Partner with Human Resources on workforce planning, employee relations, performance management, and engagement initiatives.
• Model integrity, humility, accountability, professionalism, and servant leadership.
• Champion the Correct Craft culture by developing people, leading with humility, serving others, fostering accountability, and creating an environment where employees can grow professionally and personally.
• Champion a proactive, zero-incident safety culture throughout the facility.
• Ensure leaders and employees follow safe work practices and promptly address hazards and incidents.
• Partner with Safety and Human Resources to maintain compliance with OSHA and other applicable requirements.

  Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Manufacturing, Business Administration, or a related field preferred; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
  • Minimum of 10 years of progressive manufacturing or operations leadership experience, including at least five years leading multi-functional teams.
  • Experience managing managers or department leaders and responsibility for facility-wide operational performance.
  • Experience in composites manufacturing, marine, aerospace, automotive, defense, or a related industry preferred.
  • Demonstrated success with Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, budgeting, capital planning, and ERP/MRP systems.