Director of Operations

We are looking for an experienced Director of Operations to organize and oversee the daily operations of our company. You will be the one to ensure that our business is well-coordinated and productive by managing its procedures and coaching its people.

The area of responsibility for this role is very wide and thus requires thorough knowledge of various company processes. The ideal candidate must be able to plan many different types of operational activities. He/She must be an excellent leader who can discover the most efficient ways to run the business. 

A particular focus will be on promoting and improving our ever-growing culture of continuous improvement and adoption of lean production techniques and on creating a sense of urgency throughout the organization with a particular focus on creativity over capital in the first year.

This leader will oversee approximately 60 employees including 4 direct reports – 3 production managers and 1 engineer across 2 production campuses, about 1 mile apart.

Responsibilities

• Regular communication with CEO to make decisions for operational activities and set strategic goals.
• Plan and monitor the day-to-day running of business to ensure smooth progress. Delegate day-to-day tasks, where appropriate.
• Ensure that the operations team is meeting its daily, weekly and monthly commitments for production and shipments.
• Provide clarity to team on priorities and actions to meet objectives. Hire and/or coach leaders on the operations and production team to ensure high performance. 
• Regularly communicate to all production employees to celebrate accomplishments and provide feedback.
• Supervise staff from different departments and provide constructive feedback
• Evaluate regularly the efficiency of business procedures according to organizational objectives and apply improvements.
• Work with CFO to develop key metrics and KPI’s to regularly monito performance of the operations team. Create an environment of accountability to monitor these measures and ensure a sense of urgency to adjust operations as needed to meet these objectives.
• Responsibility for management of the financial performance of the production department – making sure that the production input costs are appropriate for the current sales level. Work closely with CFO to monitor the cost of operations and initiate initiatives to improve efficiencies and cost where needed.
• Develop a professional preventative maintenance program to ensure the facility and equipment are well maintained and performing to specification.
• Develop and maintain a cap ex strategy and provide analysis as necessary to support and justify new capital expenditures.
• Interact with HR to ensure that department is fully staffed and that upgrades are made, where appropriate.
• Work with HR to develop a professional and consistent performance management system that provides clear feedback to employees and ensures a path of growth for high performers.
• Champion of the culture; continue to help the executive team make this a great place to work for everyone in the organization.
• Interact with procurement processes and coordinate material and resources allocation.

·       Revise and/or formulate policies and promote their implementation.

·       Manage relationships/agreements with external partners/vendors.

·       Evaluate overall performance by gathering, analyzing and interpreting data and metrics.

·       Evaluate performance of those people and departments reporting to this role and hold them accountable to required metrics / due dates.

·       Director of Operations is also responsible for managing the Open Mold facility, the smaller of our two manufacturing locations.

Requirements and skills

• Proven experience as Director of Operations or equivalent position.
• In-depth knowledge of continuous improvement and lean production processes
• Creative problem solver.
• Excellent organizational and leadership abilities.
• Sense of urgency and can communicate that sense downstream throughout the organization.
• Outstanding communication and people skills.
• Ability to work with others, coach, encourage and sometimes demand everyone’s best performance.
• Comfortable in a board-level environment. Prepare and present to the BOD information on the performance and key initiatives of the operational team.
• In depth knowledge of diverse business functions and principles (e.g. supply chain, finance, customer service etc.)
• Working knowledge of data analysis and performance/operation metrics
• Familiarity with MS Office and various business software (ERP, Scheduling Systems).
• BSc/BA in business administration or relevant field; MSc/MA will be a plus.
• 10 plus years of progressive experience in operations, and production manufacturing.
• Previous strategy and change management experience.
• Demonstrated track record of delivering results with matrixed teams.
• Authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.