Sr. Director of Plant Operations - Tallassee

Key Responsibilities

• Partners with the COO to develop and execute strategic plans.
• Champion a workplace focused on Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) to drive a zero-incident safety culture.
• Coordinates with HSE team to continuously reduce workplace risks and environmental impacts.
• Foster a Quality culture of early detection and escalations across the site to reduce cost, drive efficiency and ensure compliance.
• Manage operational leadership teams and support the cross-functional staff including Quality, Finance, Health, Safety & Environmental, Human Resources, and Supply Chain.
• Act with analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills to drive Key Performance Indicators.
• Emphasize utilization of Lean/Six Sigma manufacturing tools (Kaizen, VSM, 5S+) to lead cost improvement analysis and implement actionable, measurable plans.
• Partner with Human Resources to drive talent management, learning, communication, and development strategies.
• Maintains Employee Engagement at high levels, including all-employee meetings, communications, and training and support all corresponding development initiatives.
• Coordinates hiring/headcount plans with Local and Corporate HR teams.
• Coordinates with Corporate Finance team in achieving P&L targets.
• Participates in the SIOP process and forecast reviews for site and overall company.
• Prepares for and directs monthly business reviews of the operation with Senior Management teams.
• Establishes criteria to measure short and long-term KPI’s and regularly evaluates results against these performance standards.
• Takes action to correct unsatisfactory conditions that may arise in any phase of the business operation and directs necessary actions to accomplish forecasted objectives.
• Provides clear leadership on issues related to asset management, including management of inventory levels and OEE of critical assets within targets.
• Analyzes production capacity against demand projections to identify bottlenecks and proactively resolves them through utilization of Lean Concepts, procurement of additional assets, or both.
• Responsible for overseeing facilities and property management of the Tallassee site.
• Drives development of talent throughout the team and ensures viable succession plans for key team members.

  Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Manufacturing from an accredited institution.
  • Minimum fifteen (15) years of experience with progressive levels of accountability and responsibility in roles focused on Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance, OPEX and/or related support functions in a manufacturing/production environment.
  • At least 10 years of leadership experience managing people.
  • At least 7 years of experience in a large, multi-shift manufacturing environment with direct oversight over production/operations.
  • Prior experience as a small to medium sized plant manager would be a plus.
  • Experience must include financial P&L, leading manufacturing excellence, customer management, and driving improvements through the implementation of lean manufacturing principles.
  • Experience driving improvement through the implementation of lean manufacturing principles and total quality practices.
  • Six Sigma Greenbelt or Blackbelt highly preferred.
  • Previous experience with ERP transformation and implementation in a manufacturing environment preferred.
  • Must be able to effectively and confidently communicate and coordinate project assignments with employees, customers, and suppliers at all levels.
  • Demonstrated ability to drive change and successfully lead and implement the change activities.
  • Working knowledge of information systems, human resources, and driving key projects and plant initiatives.
  • Proficiency in business software programs (e.g., Microsoft Office, etc.).
  • Demonstrated ability to build positive working relationships with all levels of employees.
  • Strong conflict resolution skills.
  • Excellent facilitation/coaching skills.
  • Ability to coach functional and leadership teams and help leaders of people develop skills to manage workforce.
  • Strong leader of people with proven capability to empower, motivate and develop others.
  • Strong drive for results and sense of urgency.
  • Proven ability to influence and work effectively across all levels in a highly matrixed environment.
  • Ability to drive improvement through the implementation of the lean manufacturing principles.
  • Demonstrated results in leading manufacturing excellence.
  • Strong technical understanding of manufacturing processes.
  • Strong analytical, communication, interpersonal, organizational, and negotiation skills.