Plant Manager
Reports To: Director of Operations / Vice President of Operations
Position Summary
The Plant Manager is responsible for overseeing all daily plant operations to ensure safe, efficient, and cost-effective production. This role leads production, maintenance, quality, and plant personnel to meet customer requirements, achieve operational goals, maintain compliance, and drive continuous improvement.
Key Responsibilities
- Plant Operations: Oversee daily manufacturing activities to meet production schedules, quality standards, delivery commitments, and operational targets.
- Leadership & Workforce Management: Lead, develop, and hold supervisors and employees accountable for performance, productivity, attendance, and adherence to company policies.
- Safety & Compliance: Maintain a safe working environment by enforcing safety procedures, conducting inspections, and ensuring compliance with applicable regulations and company standards.
- Production & Efficiency: Monitor production output, labor utilization, equipment performance, downtime, and scrap while implementing improvements to increase efficiency and reduce waste.
- Quality Management: Ensure products meet customer specifications and quality requirements while supporting corrective actions and preventing recurring defects.
- Maintenance & Equipment: Coordinate preventive maintenance, repairs, and equipment improvements to minimize downtime and maintain reliable operations.
- Budget & Cost Control: Manage plant operating expenses, labor costs, materials usage, and other resources to meet financial and productivity objectives.
- Continuous Improvement: Identify and implement process improvements using Lean manufacturing, 5S, root-cause analysis, and other problem-solving methods.
- Inventory & Materials: Coordinate with purchasing, warehouse, and supply chain teams to maintain appropriate inventory levels and ensure materials are available to support production.
- Performance Reporting: Track and communicate key performance indicators (KPIs), production results, safety performance, quality metrics, and improvement initiatives to senior management.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with sales, customer service, engineering, quality, maintenance, and logistics to resolve issues and support business objectives.
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing, Engineering, Operations Management, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience may be considered.
- 5+ years of manufacturing or plant operations experience, including leadership or supervisory responsibilities.
- Strong knowledge of production planning, manufacturing processes, quality systems, workplace safety, and maintenance practices.
- Demonstrated ability to lead teams, manage budgets, solve operational problems, and improve performance.
- Experience with Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and performance measurement preferred.
- Strong communication, organizational, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
- Proficiency with ERP/MRP systems and Microsoft Office applications preferred.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Safety incidents and compliance performance
- Production output and schedule attainment
- On-time delivery
- Product quality, scrap, and rework rates
- Labor productivity and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
- Downtime and maintenance performance
- Operating costs and budget performance
- Employee retention, training, and engagement