Director of Plant Operations

About the role

UTEX is seeking a hands-on Director of Plant Operations to lead its largest and most strategically important manufacturing site. The plant produces precision seals and engineered components for demanding industrial applications across oil & gas, mining, water distribution, chemicals, and general industrial markets. The role reports to the SVP Operations and carries full accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, workforce capability, equipment reliability, capital execution, and sustained operational performance.

Responsibilities

• Lead all site operations, including production, quality, planning, maintenance, EHS, shipping, engineering, tooling, and support functions.
• Own plant performance results across safety, quality, delivery, cost, asset reliability, labor productivity, and customer service.
• Improve production flow, throughput, schedule attainment, and on-time delivery in a high-SKU, short-run manufacturing environment.
• Establish disciplined daily management, visual controls, standard work, problem-solving routines, and clear accountability across the plant.
• Strengthen quality performance through first-pass yield improvement, scrap/rework reduction, process control, root cause analysis, and operator ownership at the source.
• Build workforce capability by assessing skills, closing technical gaps, formalizing critical process knowledge, and developing front-line leadership.
• Develop a multi-year capital plan tied to safety, quality, capacity, reliability, automation, productivity, tooling, equipment upgrades, and facility improvements.
• Partner with Corporate Engineering to ensure capital projects are well executed from concept through closeout, including scope definition, technical justification, business case development, implementation and benefits realization.
• Improve maintenance work management, preventive maintenance compliance, equipment uptime, root cause failure analysis, OEE, MTBF, and reliability-driven productivity.
• Partner with the plant controller and FPA to organize, present and explain how the plant is performing operationally and financially.
• Partner with the HR function to cultivate, train and retain people.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of proven plant leadership experience in a technically complex manufacturing environment, with measurable improvement in safety, quality, delivery, cost, people, and equipment performance.
• Ability to transform culture, develop people/leadership and deliver results are critical attributes that will make the candidate and site successful.
• Molding experience is preferred, including compression, injection, transfer, rubber, plastic, elastomer, polymer, and/or engineered-material molding processes.
• Experience with high-mix, low-volume manufacturing, short production runs, complex routing, fast reprioritization, and labor-flexibility requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to manage capital projects, evaluate ROI, develop business cases, control scope/cost/schedule, and ensure operational adoption after startup.
• Financially adept leader able to manage budgets, understand cost drivers, and connect operational decisions to business outcomes.

Leadership Style

• Visible, hands-on, and credible on the shop floor; earns trust through presence, consistency, practical problem solving, and follow-through.
• Demonstrates outstanding listening skills and transforms “what is heard” into actionable items that improve plant morale and performance.
• Balances urgency with disciplined assessment; diagnoses before prescribing but moves quickly once priorities are clear.
• Demonstrates a bias for action without over analyzing complex situation.
• Able to simplify complex operational issues, make decisions with imperfect information, and build alignment around clear actions and measurable outcomes.
• Demanding but fair; sets high expectations, develops capable people, and creates a culture of accountability, safety, quality, and continuous improvement.

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and holiday pay
• Career development and training opportunities
• A company culture rooted in respect, innovation, and collaboration