Director of Operations

Position Summary:Maximise your chances of a successful application to this job by ensuring your CV and skills are a good match.Owns the performance of the plant: what gets made, how safely, how well, how fast, and at what cost. Day-to-day production runs through the Plant Manager, raw materials and inventory through the Purchasing & Materials Manager, and equipment through the Plant Engineer. This role sets direction for all three and is accountable for the result.The job is not to hold the plant steady. Seal Bond expects the operation to be measurably better each quarter than it was the quarter before, and this role owns that improvement agenda — finding where the plant loses safety, yield, throughput, or margin, and closing those gaps with projects that stick.The Director of Operations is also the link between the production team and the executive team. Executive priorities get translated into work the floor can actually execute; floor reality gets carried back up unfiltered. Decisions in both directions are made on what is best for the company, not on what is easiest to explain in either room.Primary Responsibilities:SafetyOwn plant safety performance and set the expectation that no production target justifies an unsafe shortcutLead incident investigation to root cause, and verify corrective actions are still in place months laterMaintain training, PPE, hot work, lockout/tagout, forklift certification, and contractor safety programsKeep the plant audit-ready for MIOSHA and customer/ISO audits rather than preparing for them after they are scheduledQualityOwn finished product quality and the systems that produce it: batch accuracy, in-process checks, packaging and labeling verification, lot traceabilityDrive yield performance, and treat every batch that misses spec as a process question rather than an operator questionReduce batch building errors and packaging/labeling errors through process design, verification steps, and training, not through added inspection alonePartner with R&D on new product scale-up so formulas transfer to production cleanly the first timeOwn corrective action on customer quality complaints end to endProduction and ThroughputSet production schedules that balance customer commitments, batch sequencing, and equipment constraintsImprove output per hour at the constraint, currently the mixing and cartridge filling cells, rather than optimizing stations that are not limiting the plantManage labor deployment and staffing levels against actual demandOwn equipment uptime and preventive maintenance through the Plant EngineerMaterials and On-Time DeliveryEnsure raw materials are available to support the schedule without carrying inventory the business does not needOwn on-time shipment performance from order release through the dockWork with Sales on realistic commitments, and get early warning to customers when a date is at riskContinuous ImprovementMaintain a visible, prioritized project pipeline with owners, target dates, and quantified expected benefitReport results against the projected benefit, including the projects that did not workBuild the discipline into the team so improvement continues without the Director personally driving each project, including facilitating weekly meetingsAdopt tools and automation where they reduce error or effort, including the reporting and data systems already in placeReporting and ComplianceMaintain and submit third-party records as required by OSHA, EGLE, customers, etc.Record keeping and documentation of processes as defined in the Seal Bond Quality Management System (ISO 9001)Cost and MarginOwn the operations-controlled inputs to gross margin: material yield, scrap and rework, labor cost per unit, packaging cost, raw material costs and freight decisions within OperationsUnderstand product-level cost and know which products actually earn their marginBring cost reduction ideas forward with the analysis attachedMaintain relationships with key suppliers including negotiations and supply contractsTeam Leadership and DevelopmentBuild a production team that performs when the Director is not in the buildingDevelop the three direct reports into stronger managers, and build bench strength below themSet clear expectations, address performance directly and early, and hold a consistent standard across shifts and departmentsRecruit, onboard, and retain production talent in a tight local labor marketQualifications:Required7+ years of progressive manufacturing operations leadership, including managing managersDemonstrated ownership of safety, quality, and production performance for a plant or major departmentTrack record of continuous improvement projects with quantified, sustained resultsWorking knowledge of quality management systems and root cause methodologyStrong analytical skills, including the ability to pull and analyze data independently in Excel, and to work with Access, SQL, or comparable query toolsAble to present clearly in writing and visually, including Word documents and PowerPoint presentations suitable for an executive or board audienceBachelor's degree in engineering, operations, chemistry, business, or equivalent experiencePreferredBatch process manufacturing experience: chemical, coatings, adhesives, sealants, or similarExperience in a regulated or ISO-certified environmentERP experience, particularly production and inventory modulesLean, Six Sigma, or equivalent formal improvement trainingExperience scaling a plant through growth rather than only managing steady stateEQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:We are an equal opportunity employer. xhyhwjd All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, military status, protected veteran status, marital status, gender identity or expression, transgender status, citizenship, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic under applicable law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodation to, among others, individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans.