Director of Operations

Director of Operations | Plastics Manufacturing | Custom Extrusion
A custom plastics manufacturer is seeking a Director of Operations to lead manufacturing performance, continuous improvement, and operational growth within a 24/7 production environment.

This is an executive-level operations role for a manufacturing leader who can connect the plant floor to the financial performance of the business. The Director of Operations will have responsibility for safety, quality, productivity, labor, cost, capacity, and operational P&L performance while developing the leadership team and building systems that support continued growth.

The ideal candidate brings experience leading a custom or highly variable manufacturing operation where product mix, scheduling, labor utilization, scrap, downtime, and customer requirements must be managed simultaneously.

Location & Relocation:

This is a nationwide search for the right candidate to lead this pivotal role. Relocation assistance if needed is available to support a smooth transition.

What You'll Lead

• Provide leadership for day-to-day manufacturing operations in a 24/7 production environment.
• Own operational P&L performance, budgeting, forecasting, labor costs, productivity, and manufacturing expenses.
• Establish and manage KPIs for safety, quality, scrap, downtime, throughput, labor efficiency, on-time delivery, and overall plant performance.
• Drive Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives that produce measurable improvements in cost, quality, productivity, and capacity.
• Develop manufacturing leaders and create greater accountability throughout the organization.
• Improve production planning, scheduling, workflow, and resource utilization.
• Evaluate manufacturing capacity and identify opportunities to improve equipment, processes, automation, and plant layout.
• Partner with commercial, engineering, quality, supply chain, HR, and finance functions to support customer requirements and business objectives.
• Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action for recurring operational issues.
• Support capital planning and evaluate investments based on operational need, ROI, capacity, and business impact.
• Develop scalable manufacturing processes and operating systems to support future growth.
• Participate as a member of the leadership team in business planning and execution.

What We're Looking For

• 10+ years of progressive manufacturing and operations experience, including leadership of plant or multi-department operations.
• Experience within plastics manufacturing, extrusion, converting, custom manufacturing, or another process-driven manufacturing environment strongly preferred.
• Experience leading a 24/7 or multi-shift manufacturing operation.
• Demonstrated responsibility for manufacturing budgets, operational P&L, cost control, and financial performance.
• Track record of using Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and structured problem-solving methods to improve results.
• Experience developing and managing manufacturing KPIs and using data to drive accountability and decision-making.
• Strong understanding of production planning, capacity, labor utilization, scrap reduction, quality, and equipment performance.
• Experience developing supervisors, managers, and other manufacturing leaders.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Business, Manufacturing, or a related discipline.