Plant Operations Director

Cold Steppe is building a biomass-to-biochar platform that turns agricultural waste, starting with rice hulls from Arkansas's farming communities, into biochar: a carbon-rich material that improves soil health, sequesters carbon, retains water, and supports food system resilience. Our first facility, AR-1, sits in Stuttgart, Arkansas, the heart of rice country. It's a highly automated, continuous-process operation, and it's the foundation for how Cold Steppe expands across new sites and new regions. We're an early-stage company moving fast — the people who join us now will help define how we operate, what we stand for, and how we scale. See what Cold Steppe is building: youtube.com/watch?v=QwQmHqDSF1Q THE ROLE The Plant Operations Director is Cold Steppe's operational leader at AR-1, and its most visible face in Stuttgart. Reporting directly to the Co-Founder and COO, you'll own everything that happens inside the facility, and how Cold Steppe shows up in the community around it, including: Safety and environmental compliance : building a culture where hazards get surfaced before they become incidents, not just a compliance checkbox Production and operational performance : throughput, yield, quality, and uptime on a continuous, automated production line Maintenance and reliability : a practical preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance program Quality and continuous improvement : improvement built into the operating rhythm, not treated as a side project Operating budget and cost management : significant ownership of the facility's financials, tied to operational decisions Hiring, developing, and leading a high-performing team : building one of the most technically interesting manufacturing workforces in the Stuttgart area from the ground up Community engagement and workforce development : you're the face of Cold Steppe locally – chamber of commerce, schools, site tours for researchers, partners, and investors R&D and technical curiosity : AR-1 is Cold Steppe's flagship facility and an active site of learning; new process configurations and product applications get worked out here alongside regular operations, and your fluency in the process feeds that work rather than protecting production from it You'll work closely with the founders and play a direct role in shaping how future facilities are designed and operated. WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE First 90 Days Build relationships with the operations team and community partners Learn the production process and operating systems Establish daily operating rhythm and performance metrics Reinforce a world-class safety culture Within the First Year Improve uptime, throughput, and operating efficiency Build scalable operating procedures and maintenance practices Develop a strong, engaged workforce Help create the operational blueprint for future Cold Steppe facilities WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR We're looking for someone genuinely curious, deeply capable, and ready to do something that hasn't been done before in this community, someone who has built real things, led real teams, and solved real problems in an industrial environment, and still asks questions like they're new to the field. Preferred Qualifications Engineering degree required; equivalent technical manufacturing experience considered case-by-case 15+ years of manufacturing, plant, or operations leadership experience Experience managing a 24/7 continuous manufacturing operation Strong leadership of frontline production and maintenance teams Thermodynamics and power operations background — particularly important as we scale to Alabama sites Mechanical and/or electrical background Experience with safety, environmental compliance, and operational excellence Budget and cost management responsibility Preventive and predictive maintenance experience Continuous improvement mindset (Lean, Six Sigma, TPM, or similar is a plus) Public-facing, community, or educational experience is a meaningful plus — coaching, teaching, workforce development, or anything that required explaining complex things to people who didn't already know them Experience From Industries Such As Biomass/biochar, thermal or energy systems, forest products, pulp & paper, agricultural processing, chemical processing, food manufacturing, building materials/cement/minerals, or industrial/continuous process manufacturing. WHY THIS OPPORTUNITY IS DIFFERENT This is not a traditional Plant Manager position. You'll have the opportunity to: Build systems instead of inheriting them Work directly with company founders Help shape future facilities across multiple locations Influence technology, operations, and company culture Lead one of the most innovative manufacturing operations in the region Become a visible leader within the local community FIT CHECK Who Thrives Here Curious and technically engaged Comfortable in a fast-moving startup environment Hands-on and visible on the plant floor Excited to build something from the ground up Comfortable making decisions without excessive bureaucracy May Not Be the Right Fit If... You prefer highly structured corporate environments You need established systems and detailed playbooks before taking action You prefer managing from an office instead of being visible on the plant floor You are uncomfortable wearing multiple hats while helping build a growing organization WHAT WE OFFER The opportunity to be a foundational hire at a company doing something genuinely important A direct line to the founding team and real influence over how the facility and the company develop A clear path to growth as Cold Steppe scales to additional sites Cold Steppe is actively planning additional facilities. For the right candidate, this role has a natural path from leading AR-1 to Regional Operations Director, overseeing multiple sites, setting the operating standards new facilities launch against, and developing the plant leaders who run them. That's not a requirement of the job on day one, but it's how we see it growing, and the title reflects that trajectory from the start. #J-18808-Ljbffr