Our client, a growing organization in the manufacturing sector, is seeking a Director of Operations to lead and scale day-to-day plant and distribution performance within a 24/7 environment. This role owns cross-functional execution across production, logistics, inventory flow, and continuous improvement while building the operating cadence, KPIs, and management routines needed for long-term growth. The Director of Operations will partner closely with executive leadership to align people, equipment, materials, and processes to consistently meet customer requirements.

Salary + Additional Benefits:

• $110,000-$150,000
• 401K - company match
• Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance

• Provide strategic and day-to-day leadership for Production, Manufacturing, Distribution, Logistics, and other assigned operational functions.
• Establish an operating cadence (daily performance reviews, weekly action tracking, escalation protocols) and ensure follow-through on commitments.
• Serve as the primary operational integrator across Production, Distribution, Logistics, Inventory, Quality, Maintenance, Purchasing, Sales, HR/Safety, and Finance.
• Translate sales demand, customer requirements, and inventory needs into coordinated production, staffing, material, and shipping plans.
• Partner with executive leadership on capacity planning, capital priorities, organizational design, risk, and long-range growth.

• Direct plastic/extrusion and metal fabrication operations, holding production leaders accountable for schedule attainment, throughput, labor utilization, downtime, scrap, yield, quality, and safety.
• Develop capacity plans that account for machine capability, staffing, materials, maintenance, changeovers, and demand.
• Drive KPI discipline (OEE, schedule attainment, cost per unit, downtime, scrap, yield, first-pass quality) and ensure reporting accurately identifies root causes.
• Identify chronic bottlenecks and lead structured corrective action and continuous improvement.

• Lead outbound distribution, shipping, receiving, freight, import activities, warehouse execution, and material movement.
• Build a formal Logistics function with clear ownership of transportation, load planning, carrier performance, and shipping execution.
• Establish controls (segregation of duties, approvals, documentation) for freight sourcing, purchase orders, and invoice review.
• Ensure materials are verified, inspected, accurately entered into the ERP, and quickly available to operations.
• Partner with Inventory Control to improve accuracy, location control, cycle counting, and scanning processes.

• Build a culture of continuous improvement using structured problem solving, root cause analysis, corrective action, standard work, visual management, and data-driven decision-making.
• Standardize processes across shifts and departments to reduce variation and reliance on tribal knowledge.
• Improve workflow, layout, material movement, labor productivity, and changeover time.
• Require sustained corrective action and verify effectiveness.
• Develop dashboards and management routines with clear owners and due dates.

• Partner with HR/Safety to ensure compliance with OSHA and company safety programs (PPE, lockout/tagout, powered industrial trucks, machine safety, training), and enforce management accountability for incident prevention and hazard correction.
• Partner with Quality to control incoming materials, in-process production, finished goods, and nonconforming product through documented processes.
• Ensure adherence to approved SOPs, document control, and change management, and support product, customer, and certification requirements.

• Manage to true cost drivers (labor, overtime, freight, scrap, downtime, inventory carrying cost, rework).
• Partner with Finance on budgets, variance monitoring, forecasts, and ROI of improvements and capital expenditures.
• Align staffing and overtime to demand and productivity rather than historical headcount.
• Support purchasing by communicating demand, capacity, material needs, and supplier performance issues.
• Present concise performance updates to executives, including risks, countermeasures, owners, and due dates.

• Build operating systems from scratch as needed (procedures, KPIs, budgets) in a growing environment.
• Maintain a hands-on floor presence to establish standards and execution discipline.
• Build foundational operating systems from scratch as needed, including procedures, KPIs, and budgets in a growing environment.
• Maintain a hands-on leadership presence on the floor, especially in the early stages, to establish standards and execution discipline.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in lieu of degree
• Advanced degree is a plus
• 10+ years of related operations leadership experience in manufacturing
• Experience managing a 24-hour / multi-shift operation preferred
• Proven ability to build scalable operating systems, including KPIs, procedures/standard work, and budgets in a growth environment
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to eliminate silos and drive accountability across operations, quality, maintenance, purchasing, safety, and finance
• Comfort presenting to and partnering with executive leadership on capacity, risk, and long-range growth planning
• Working knowledge of safety and compliance expectations in manufacturing environments, including OSHA-aligned programs, training, and enforcement
• Experience leveraging ERP systems and operational data to drive visibility, accuracy, and decision-making.