Plant Manager

Title: Plant Manager

Location: Mills River, NC

Duration: Full Time

Job Description Summary:

The Plant Manager will lead and oversee the operations of the Mills River facility including the production, maintenance, quality, logistics, and health & safety functions, ensuring operational goals and performance objectives are consistently achieved.

Areas of Focus:

• Responsible for plant financial performance to include labor productivity, material utilization, inventory accuracy, operating costs, and capital expenditure management to achieve budget and profitability targets.
• Drive a proactive safety culture with accountability for OSHA compliance, environmental standards, incident reduction, and employee engagement in safety initiatives.
• Coordinates with other corporate organizations such as Human Resources and Finance to ensure successful operations.
• Support customer relationships by participating in operational reviews, responding to escalations, and ensuring timely execution of corrective actions and delivery commitments.
• Coordinate with Sales and Marketing to determine pricing and timing to be communicated to the customer base as part of the sales cycle.
• Partner with Sales teams to support materials reordering processes, optimize inventory levels, and ensure production alignment with customer demand.
• Build and maintain an operational culture that pursues excellence in EH&S, Quality, and Customer Focus.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives utilizing Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies to improve safety, quality, delivery, inventory, productivity, and cost performance.
• Ensure compliance with applicable quality management systems and lead initiatives focused on reducing defects, scrap, and cost of poor quality.
• Maintain a visible presence on the manufacturing floor to support employee engagement, problem solving, and operational discipline.
• Active engagement with the local community and educational institutions to support workforce development and enhance the site’s reputation and ability to attract talent.
• Develop and execute strategic operational plans aligned with company growth objectives, including capacity planning, workforce development, and operational scalability.
• Foster a high-performance culture built on accountability, communication, teamwork, and continuous development.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Organizes and oversees the schedules and work of assigned management staff.
• Conducts performance discussions and evaluations that are timely and constructive.
• Mentors and trains leaders in the production environment.
• Attracts, grows, and retains talent at all levels in the organization.
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities desired:
• Excellent managerial and supervisory skills within a production environment.
• Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making skills, using structured problem solving to eliminate waste and improve process capability.
• Ability to interpret financial data as needed to set and manage production goals.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Extensive knowledge of Lean Manufacturing principles including leader standard work, value stream mapping, and root cause problem solving.
• Ability to translate company strategy into site and functional objectives that have aligned targets across functions.
• Ability to develop leaders at all levels, including coaching teams in standard work, problem solving, and daily management, while fostering a culture of teamwork and performance.

Education and Background:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Industrial Management, or related manufacturing field desired.
• At least ten years of experience in industrial management required, with at least 5 years in a plant leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience across multiple departments within a plant environment to include Production, Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, etc.
• Experience using ERP/MRP systems and manufacturing performance metrics to drive operational decision-making.
• Experience working within a production environment with operations in the US and Mexico, preferred.
• Six Sigma Certification or significant Lean Manufacturing experience.

Physical Requirements:

• Must be able to quickly traverse manufacturing areas.
• Moderate periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.