Operations Manager (Itasca)

1. The Organization

The 163 Family of Companies is a portfolio of manufacturing and building products businesses. Within the portfolio, First Choice Glass + Portal (FCG+P) serves the glass, glazing, and architectural enclosure markets. Its Systems Enclosures Group — FCG+P-SEG, based in Itasca, Illinois — designs, models, engineers, and fabricates enclosure systems for data center customers, who perform the installation.

2. The HAC Program

HAC stands for Hot Air Containment. HAC units are engineered systems of panels, doors, and ceilings that keep hot air contained inside the data center hall so the overall airflow is directed exactly where it needs to go: hot air is removed through the raised access floor, while cool air is supplied to the room by VCFU units suspended at the top of the data hall.

FCG&P-SEG carries the full scope of work — design, 3D modeling, engineering, and fabrication — supplying customers who handle installation on site. The program is in its infancy, with initial multi-phase deployments for major data center campuses now in fabrication. The Business Unit Leader is building the operating backbone of the program; this role is the execution engine underneath it.

3. The Opportunity

The Operations Manager owns day-to-day execution of the HAC Systems Program's production and logistics — turning released-for-fabrication packages into on-time, ready-to-ship units. This is a hands-on, floor-and-office role reporting to the Business Unit Leader, focused entirely on the Data Center HAC business (this role has no Pittco scope).

Beyond running the shop floor day to day, this person is expected to play an active role in forecasting demand against the program's phased customer commitments, coordinating procurement of materials and components against that forecast, and managing shipping and logistics so completed units reach customer sites on schedule. As the program scales, this role is the operational backbone that keeps production, materials, and outbound logistics synchronized.

4. Key Responsibilities

Production execution

• Own daily production control for HAC panel, door, and ceiling fabrication — scheduling, capacity, throughput, and on-time ready-to-ship performance against committed customer milestones.
• Translate the Business Unit Leader's plan into a working floor schedule; adjust in real time as priorities, materials, or capacity shift.
• Coordinate with engineering and project management so released-for-fabrication packages flow cleanly into production, packaging, and shipment.
• Maintain shop-floor data capture and ERP discipline (job tracking, WIP status, labor and material actuals) so production status is trustworthy at any point in the schedule.
• Establish and uphold safety and quality standards on the floor day to day.

Forecasting & procurement

• Build and maintain a rolling production forecast against the program's phased customer deployment schedule, translating committed and pipeline volumes into material and capacity requirements.
• Coordinate procurement of materials and components against that forecast — lead times, order timing, and supplier coordination — to keep production supplied without excess inventory.
• Maintain inventory visibility (on-hand, on-order, committed) and flag material risks to on-time delivery before they become schedule problems.
• Partner with the Business Unit Leader on unit costing and job-costing inputs, ensuring procurement decisions reflect current cost and margin targets.

Logistics & shipping

• Own outbound shipping and logistics execution — packaging, carrier coordination, and delivery scheduling — for completed HAC units shipping to data center customer sites.
• Sequence shipments against customer installation windows and site readiness, coordinating directly with customers' site teams as needed.
• Track shipment status end to end and resolve exceptions (damage, delay, carrier issues) quickly to protect customer milestones.

Team & continuous improvement

• Hire, train, and develop the production team alongside the Business Unit Leader; build a culture of ownership on the floor.
• Identify and drive process improvements across production, procurement, and shipping as volume scales.
• Support documentation of standard operating procedures so the program's systems remain trusted and transferable as it grows.

5. Candidate Profile

Must-have

• Production control — hands-on experience with manufacturing scheduling, capacity planning, and shop-floor execution in a fabrication or assembly environment.
• Procurement & materials — working knowledge of procurement, inventory management, and demand/materials forecasting.
• Logistics fluency — comfortable owning shipping, carrier coordination, and outbound delivery scheduling.
• Working leader — effective on the floor and in the office; leads by presence, not just by report.
• ERP discipline — comfortable working within an ERP system for job tracking, inventory, and production data.

Strongly preferred

• Background in fabrication environments — aluminum extrusion machining, panel fabrication, architectural products, enclosures, or similar.
• Experience standing up production-control or inventory systems in an early-stage or scaling operation.
• Experience coordinating directly with customers on delivery and site-readiness logistics, ideally in a data center or construction-adjacent industry.

6. Measures of Success

First 12 months

• On-time ready-to-ship performance across active program phases.
• Rolling forecast and procurement plan in place and trusted — material shortages are the exception, not the rule.
• Shipping and logistics execution reliably meets customer site-readiness windows.
• Production team hired, trained, and retained; quality and safety record established.
• Inventory and job-costing data accurate and current in the ERP system.

7. Position Details

Title

Operations Manager

Business unit

FCG&P-SEG — Data Center HAC Systems Program

Reports to

Business Unit Leader, HAC Systems Program

Location

740 Hilltop Drive, Itasca, IL 60143 — on-site (floor + office)

Travel

Minimal; primarily site coordination with customers as needed

Compensation

Base + performance incentives tied to unit operating performance; details at offer

Start

Immediate