General Manager

Dedicated retained search for a fast-growing custom metal fabricator specializing in laser and plasma cutting, forming, robotic and manual welding, wet paint, powder coating, and assembly services. The company serves a diverse customer base across telecommunications, AI infrastructure, automotive, industrial equipment, large storage and containment, and other demanding end markets.

Operating across multiple facilities in Northeast Indiana with more than 300,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The company is expected to approximately double revenue in 2026, supported by significant Equity Ownership investment in facility expansion, capital equipment, and organizational growth.

Value-driven culture built around integrity, success, and partnership. The next GM will be expected to preserve the company’s entrepreneurial energy while building the leadership depth, operating cadence, and scalable systems required for the next stage of growth.

Position Summary

Lead the company through its next phase of profitable growth, multi-site operational scale, and enterprise value creation. This executive will have full-business leadership responsibility and will be accountable for strengthening safety, quality, delivery, throughput, labor productivity, margin performance, leadership depth, and scalable operating systems across three manufacturing facilities. KEY ATTRIBUTE: Experience in Continuous Improvement, lean manufacturing, operational excellence across all facets on business/operations.

The ideal candidate will have progressed through operations, plant leadership, or general management and will bring a demonstrated record of improving manufacturing performance, developing leaders, scaling capacity, and translating operational discipline into financial results. Commercial leadership and customer credibility are important, but growth must be disciplined, operationally executable, margin-accretive, and scalable.

Hands-on, high-energy GM who can lead the whole business, support aggressive but profitable growth, protect profitability, and build a scalable & sustainable manufacturing platform.

Key ResponsibilitiesP&L and Enterprise Leadership

· Own revenue, gross margin, EBITDA / EBT, cash flow, working capital, labor productivity, and capital investment performance.

· Translate operational metrics into financial outcomes through labor utilization, material yield, plant efficiency, freight, overtime, scrap, rework, inventory, and quote-to-actual margin performance.

· Set clear priorities, operating rhythms, and accountability expectations across the business.

Operational Excellence and Multi-Site Execution

· Lead the organization to consistently deliver safety, quality, delivery, productivity, cost, and customer-service standards across all facilities.

· Recruit, develop, and manage an Operations leader capable of scaling plant performance and strengthening daily execution.

· Build disciplined capacity planning across equipment, labor, floor space, material flow, maintenance readiness, leadership capability, staffing, automation, facility layout, capital investment, supplier capability, and make-versus-buy decisions.

· Establish daily management, weekly KPI reviews, monthly operating reviews, and escalation routines.

· Standardize cutting, forming, welding, paint, powder coating, assembly, material flow, maintenance, quality, and shipping practices.

· Promote data-driven decision-making, root cause problem solving, standard work, and continuous improvement.

Capital Planning and Manufacturing Strategy

· Lead capital planning for growth, automation, capacity, safety, productivity, quality, and cost reduction.

· Evaluate equipment investments, layout improvements, maintenance needs, facility expansion, and ROI-based make-versus-buy decisions.

· Develop capacity, automation, staffing, and facility plans that support continued growth while improving profitability.

Commercial Discipline and Customer Partnership

· Recruit, develop, and partner with a Sales leader to build a disciplined commercial strategy that supports profitable, operationally executable growth.

· Prevent overcommitment of capacity and avoid acceptance of unprofitable or operationally misaligned work.

· Support key accounts, strategic opportunities, pricing discipline, market development, and quote-to-actual margin improvement.

· Maintain customer-facing credibility and support customer visits, audits, launches, and strategic account relationships as needed.

Cross-Functional Alignment and Organizational Scale

· Create alignment between Sales, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, Finance, and HR.

· Ensure new customer launches include manufacturability review, capacity confirmation, material readiness, quality expectations, and profitability targets.

· Partner with Sales and Engineering to support new product introductions, customer requirements, and capacity planning.

· Work with Supply Chain to strengthen material availability, inventory optimization, supplier performance, and cost control.

· Build and develop a scalable leadership team across plant management, operations, quality, engineering, supply chain, sales, finance, and HR.

Culture and Leadership

· Lead with urgency, accountability, humility, and high standards.

· Build trust with frontline teams, plant leaders, customers, and ownership while preserving QuikCut’s entrepreneurial, high-performance culture.

· Develop leaders, strengthen communication, and create a performance culture grounded in safety, quality, continuous improvement, and disciplined execution.

12-24 Month Performance Objectives

· Achieve financial performance by building a scalable leadership structure across plant management, operations, quality, engineering, supply chain, sales, and finance.

· Improve operational cadence and standardization across all facilities; increase throughput and capacity utilization while protecting safety, quality, and delivery.

· Improve on-time delivery, scrap, rework, labor efficiency, productivity, inventory, and cost performance.

· Strengthen quoting discipline and quote-to-actual margin performance; support growth with strategic customers while ensuring profitable execution.

· Develop capital, capacity, automation, and staffing plans to support continued growth and improve profitability through operational execution, pricing discipline, labor productivity, material control, and waste reduction.

· Launch Paperless Parts for quoting new and existing business.

QualificationsRequired

· Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business, or a related field; equivalent experience will also be considered. Prefer MBA or related Masters program. 

· 10+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience with responsibility for plant operations, multi-site operations, or full business performance.

· Strong preference for candidates who have served as Plant Manager, Director of Operations, VP Operations, COO, General Manager, or GM in a manufacturing business.

· Direct experience in custom metal fabrication, contract manufacturing, sheet metal fabrication, precision fabrication, welding, finishing, assembly, or closely related industrial manufacturing.

· Experience leading Lean manufacturing, daily management, standard work, root cause analysis, continuous improvement, budgets, labor planning, cost controls, capital projects, capacity planning, and operational KPIs.

· Customer-facing credibility and the ability to support Sales in strategic accounts, quoting discipline, and operational feasibility.

· Strong working knowledge of laser, plasma, and/or waterjet cutting; forming and press brake operations; welding processes including robotics; blast, wet paint, and powder coat operations; assembly; and material flow.

Preferred

· MBA or advanced degree; Lean, Six Sigma, or operational excellence certification.

· Private equity, founder-led, sponsor-owned, or high-growth manufacturing experience.

· Experience scaling operations through double-digit annual growth and leading multi-site manufacturing teams.

· Experience improving ERP, CRM, quoting, scheduling, production-management, or commercial systems such as M1, Pipedrive, or Paperless Parts.

· Experience managing facility expansion, automation, capital investment, or major operational transformation.

Key Competencies

· Strategic thinker with hands-on execution capability

· Results-driven leader with strong operating discipline

· Talent builder and people developer

· Strong people manager and coach

· Data-driven decision-maker

· Change leader with standardization mindset

· Excellent communicator and cross-functional collaborator

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER