Manufacturing General Manager

SUMMARY: The General Manager provides overall leadership and strategic direction for a small manufacturing firm, driving organizational growth, profitability, and operational excellence. This role is accountable for P&L management, sales leadership, engineering and manufacturing oversight, safety compliance, and continuous improvement initiatives such as Lean and Six Sigma. The General Manager ensures alignment of all departments with company objectives and fosters a culture of innovation, accountability, and customer focus.

SUMMARY: The General Manager provides overall leadership and strategic direction for a small manufacturing firm, driving organizational growth, profitability, and operational excellence. This role is accountable for P&L management, sales leadership, engineering and manufacturing oversight, safety compliance, and continuous improvement initiatives such as Lean and Six Sigma. The General Manager ensures alignment of all departments with company objectives and fosters a culture of innovation, accountability, and customer focus.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Strategic Leadership:
  • Formulate and execute company policies and long-term strategies to achieve revenue growth, market expansion, and profitability goals.
  • Lead business planning initiatives, including sales strategies, financial performance targets, and new product development.
• Sales & Growth:
  • Drive top-line growth through proactive sales leadership, customer engagement, and market development.
  • Collaborate with sales teams to identify new opportunities, strengthen customer relationships, and expand into emerging markets.
  • Reviews operations and plans to meet requirements for sales planning and to ascertain manufacturing or outsourcing requirements to develop new markets.
• Operational Excellence:
  • Oversee engineering, manufacturing, and operations to ensure efficiency, quality, and safety standards are met.
  • Champion Lean Six Sigma and continuous improvement initiatives to optimize processes, reduce costs, and enhance productivity.
  • Resolve operational, manufacturing and facility problems to ensure minimum costs and prevent operational delays and to meet future growth.
• Strategic Planning & Financial Management:
  • Manage full P&L responsibility, including budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting.
  • Analyze activities, costs, operations and forecast data to determine department or division progress toward stated goals and objectives.
  • Reviews and approves preparation of accounting analysis for budgetary planning and implementation, production efficiency, financial reporting, budgetary planning and submittal for capital expenditures.
• Team Leadership & Partnership:
  • Direct and coordinate activities of department leaders in sales, engineering, quality, materials, manufacturing.
  • Provide coaching, performance management, and succession planning to build a high-performing leadership team.
  • Partner with corporate Shared Services (HR, Payroll, Accounting, IT, Safety, etc.) to leverage best practices, ensure compliance, and align activities with organizational standards.
  • Collaborate with Shared Services to optimize processes, enhance employee experience, and maintain consistency in policies and procedures across the organization.
• Safety & Compliance:
  • Ensure compliance with all safety regulations and promote a culture of workplace safety across all operations.
• Innovation & Customer Focus:
  • Support engineering and sales teams in developing innovative solutions that meet customer requirements and drive market growth.
  • Oversee design improvements for cost reduction, safety, and quality enhancements.
• Reporting to Board of Directors:
• Reports directly to the Board of Directors and/or Company Ownership, providing regular updates on organizational performance, strategic initiatives, and financial results.
• Reviews achievements against established goals and objectives, presenting recommendations for adjustments based on current business conditions and market trends.
• Engages in high-level discussions with ownership to align on vision, growth strategies, and long-term planning.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Master’s degree or equivalent experience; 8–10 years of progressive leadership in manufacturing, including P&L responsibility.
• Proven track record in sales leadership and business growth.
• Strong background in operations, engineering, and process improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma preferred) in a manufacturing environment.
• Strategic thinking, business acumen, and financial expertise.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and leadership skills.
• Experience managing cross-functional teams and driving cultural change.
• Problem Solving/Analysis and Project Management experience.
• Excellent time management and organization skills with the ability to effectively handle multiple projects simultaneously
• Strong proficiency with MS office (Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint) and ERP systems (Propeht21 experience a plus)
• Passionate, Adaptable, Customer Focused and Teamwork oriented
• Strong sense of urgency and accountability
• Ability to travel (up to 50% of the time) including travel to Canada and Mexico

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY INCLUDES:

• Competitive benefits, including: medical, dental, vision, life, STD & LTD insurance options, FSA, 401(k) and Profit Sharing
• Career growth
• Target salary range of $150k-$200k