Plant Manager

American Bath Group is a leading North American manufacturer of bathware products, serving residential, commercial, wholesale, and retail channels through a broad manufacturing and distribution network. The Salem, Ohio facility is a strategically important manufacturing operation supporting multiple production processes and product lines within a complex manufacturing environment. The site has also absorbed manufacturing volume and operational responsibility from previously consolidated operations, creating a uniquely challenging leadership opportunity requiring strong operational discipline, workforce leadership, and execution consistency. The facility is currently in an active period of operational stabilization and requires a hands‑on Plant Manager capable of strengthening execution, rebuilding accountability, developing frontline leadership, and creating a more durable operating structure across the operation. The Opportunity This is a high‑impact Plant Manager role for a manufacturing leader who has successfully stepped into challenging environments and created stability, accountability, and improved performance. The Salem operation is not looking for a maintenance‑mode leader. The site needs a visible, floor‑oriented Plant Manager who can build trust, strengthen frontline leadership, improve accountability, and create a more consistent operating rhythm while meeting aggressive production demands. Just as importantly, this role requires a leader who can rebuild confidence in plant leadership, improve workforce engagement, and create stronger alignment between leadership expectations and day‑to‑day execution. The operation effectively functions as multiple manufacturing ecosystems under one roof, requiring a leader capable of integrating teams, processes, and priorities while creating a unified culture of accountability and performance. The role exists because the plant is moving through a critical leadership transition and needs a central operating leader who can create steadiness, reduce reactive firefighting, strengthen leadership credibility, and build a more sustainable management system across production, maintenance, engineering, planning, quality, distribution, and procurement. This role is not inheriting a mature operating environment. The incoming Plant Manager will step into a facility still stabilizing following acquisition integration, manufacturing consolidation, ERP transition activity, and leadership turnover. Success in Year One In the first year, success will be defined by the plant becoming more predictable, more disciplined, and less dependent on constant leadership intervention to maintain daily execution. The successful Plant Manager will improve throughput reliability, strengthen labor consistency, rebuild accountability rhythms, mature frontline leadership, improve planning discipline, and reduce the level of reactive escalation required to keep the operation moving. Success will also require rebuilding confidence in plant leadership, improving frontline engagement, developing supervisors, and creating greater consistency between leadership expectations and daily operational execution. By the end of Year One, the Salem operation should demonstrate visible improvement in: Production flow Schedule adherence Shift‑to‑shift consistency Quality discipline Labor accountability Supervisory ownership Cross‑functional coordination The operation should also demonstrate stronger execution continuity without excessive dependence on reactive problem‑solving or individual heroics. The Mandate The mandate is to stabilize and mature the Salem operation following a critical leadership transition by rebuilding accountability systems, strengthening supervisory leadership, improving labor consistency, reducing operational firefighting, and creating sustainable execution discipline across a complex manufacturing environment while maintaining aggressive production demands. This role requires both direct operational leadership and operating‑system build capability. The Plant Manager must be able to lead from the floor, establish credibility quickly, make decisions under pressure, and install the leadership cadence, KPI discipline, communication rhythms, and accountability structure needed for the plant to operate with greater consistency. The role also requires building a more durable operating structure that reduces dependency on individuals and creates repeatable execution discipline across the plant. Year One Critical Outcomes Improve schedule attainment, output consistency, production flow stability, and shift‑to‑shift execution reliability Progress the operation toward key production and throughput objectives Improve first‑pass yield, scrap reduction, repair reduction, process discipline, and quality consistency Reduce overtime dependency, excessive weekend reliance, and reactive escalation Build stronger KPI management routines, communication rhythms, accountability systems, and leadership ownership Strengthen frontline supervision, labor consistency, onboarding discipline, and operator communication Improve frontline engagement, leadership visibility, and workforce trust Develop supervisors and strengthen leadership capability throughout the organization Improve coordination across production, engineering, maintenance, planning, quality, distribution, and procurement Build more scalable operating practices that improve execution reliability and reduce dependence on tribal knowledge Create a durable operating system capable of sustaining performance without constant centralized intervention Why This Role Is Hard This is a hands‑on leadership role inside a plant that is still being stabilized. The work requires sustained floor presence, high urgency, and the ability to lead through ambiguity while production continues. The site is still stabilizing following acquisition integration, manufacturing consolidation, ERP transition activity, and leadership turnover. Operational maturity varies across functions, workforce trust is still being rebuilt, and portions of the operation continue to rely heavily on leadership intervention rather than fully mature systems. The plant also operates with a relatively lean leadership structure, increasing the importance of visible floor leadership, strong prioritization, and operational decisiveness. This role will not fit a leader who requires mature systems, low escalation, balanced hours, or a lengthy runway before becoming effective. The right leader will establish credibility quickly, absorb pressure without creating volatility, and build structure while operating inside the work. Leadership Profile Hands‑on manufacturing leader with strong floor presence Proven stabilizer of difficult, under‑built, or turnaround manufacturing environments High urgency without emotional volatility Strong labor credibility with supervisors and hourly teams Builder of accountability systems, KPI management routines, and operating cadences Comfortable leading through ambiguity, pressure, and imperfect systems Able to reduce firefighting by creating repeatable execution discipline Practical operator who challenges perceived limitations and drives continuous improvement Comfortable making decisions quickly while improving systems in real time Visible and engaged leader capable of building trust in a low‑confidence environment Strong cross‑functional leader across operations, engineering, maintenance, planning, quality, distribution, and procurement Direct, steady, accountable, and credible in labor‑intensive environments Capable of becoming the central operating leader during a critical transition Experience Requirements Plant leadership experience with direct operational ownership in a manufacturing environment Demonstrated success stabilizing complex, under‑built, turnaround, or labor‑intensive operations Experience building accountability infrastructure rather than simply operating within inherited systems Strong labor leadership capability across supervisors and hourly manufacturing teams Experience leading union or labor‑intensive manufacturing environments strongly preferred Manufacturing leadership experience within building products, plastics, consumer durables, appliance manufacturing, metals, industrial products, or similarly complex manufacturing operations Ability to improve throughput, schedule adherence, quality, labor productivity, and execution discipline Experience leading through sustained production pressure and operational intensity Preferred experience in operational turnarounds, M&A integration, rapid growth, manufacturing consolidation, or leadership‑transition environments Experience operating inside post‑acquisition, consolidation, or operational integration environments strongly preferred Experience with acrylic, composites, plastics, or related manufacturing processes is preferred Why the Right Candidate Will Be Excited This is a rare opportunity for a true manufacturing builder. The right candidate will have the authority and visibility to materially change the trajectory of a strategically important plant. This is not a narrow production management assignment; it is an opportunity to stabilize a complex operation, rebuild leadership depth, strengthen workforce engagement, and create the operating system the site needs for long‑term success. For leaders who enjoy developing people, rebuilding operating discipline, integrating fragmented operations, and creating order inside imperfect systems, Salem presents a rare opportunity for meaningful impact. For a leader energized by difficult environments, visible ownership, and measurable operational influence, this role offers a platform to demonstrate high‑level plant leadership capability inside a highly visible manufacturing operation. #J-18808-Ljbffr