General Manager

The Opportunity

• Well-established, industry-leading privately held company with over 5,000 employees worldwide
• Report to the President. Company Officer position. P&L for three separate bulk material handling operations at 80-epmployee site, including glass bead manufacturing, pre-formed thermo, and thermoplastic lines. Also oversee a remote location.
• Retirement of long-term leader creates this perfect opportunity for a servant leader to bring the site to the next level of operational effectiveness - lead the Lean journey from reactive to proactive stance as well as lead several CapEx projects
• Collaborative, "we" not "I" team oriented and hands-on culture

What You'll Do

Top Priorities

• Provide overall leadership and P&L for all operations at this site and a smaller remote location in MO. Direct reports from 3 on-site Plant Managers plus the remote site Plant Manager, Engineering, QA/QMS, Finance, HR
• Build trust with the site teams and lead the Lean journey, with initial focus on 5S, housekeeping and maintenance. The site has many long term employees who perform their jobs well, but need consistent leadership to embrace Lean principles, take ownership of continuous improvement, and make the paradigm shift from reactive to proactive.
• Implement best practices from sister sites that are further along the Lean journey, through pro-active relationship building and sharing - don't reinvent the wheel.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to younger, up-and-coming Engineers and Operations team members; provide more formal clarity on roles and responsibilities at all levels to ensure effective onboarding, training and proper expectations for new hires
• Lead multiple capital projects up to about $6M including significant facility modernizations, replacement of older equipment, some automation

Overall Responsibilities

• Meet annual budget and company profit and loss
• Meet key objectives related to inventory, including WIP turns and inventory accuracy
• Develop, maintain, and nurture key customer and vendor relationships
• Execute strategy to meet internal and external production demand expectations
• Determine, lead and institute companywide standards, best practices, and procedures
• Work closely with cross functional teams and floor leads to develop and improve company products, best practices and identify and prioritize areas for improvement
• Support production floor to identify process bottle necks, process defects, equipment inefficiencies, potential safety issues and resolve issues quickly
• Plan and execute improvements in manufacturing processes for optimal production efficiency
• Ensure preventive maintenance programs are in place, documented and continuously improved
• Maintain and ensure environmental and safety training, permitting requirements are in place and all policies and procedures meet company guidelines
• Ensure technical teams meet product improvement or product introduction objectives in quality, cost, and timing
• Implement, monitor and report key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Recommend and implement new methods that improve flow, reduce cost, and/or improve quality maximizing efficiency using Lean methods and tools
• Ensure that recently improved processes are sustained

The Profile

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent required, prefer MSME, BSChE or other relevant field
• 7+ years of progressively responsible industrial manufacturing leadership experience in Operations Management OR Plant Management experience is REQUIRED
• Previous supervisory / operations management experience in bulk materials, liquid paint, processing or manufacturing of traffic or coatings industries strongly preferred
• Proven experience implementing and maintaining 5S, Lean manufacturing and Continuous Improvement principles - as a means to an end, not for the sake of belt certification as its own objective
• Flexible, proactive and motivational servant leadership working style with strong personal ownership
• Ability to multi-task under pressure and work independently
• Planning and analytical skills are an asset
• Attention to detail, ability to multi-task and meet deadlines
• Good computer skills (e.g., MS Office including Excel, Word and PowerPoint) are essential