Director of Fiberglass Engineering

Latham, The Pool Company•Zephyrhills, FL

About The Position

The Director of Fiberglass Engineering is the senior engineering leader and a member of the Fiberglass Operations Leadership team. The role is responsible for the overall fiberglass engineering strategy, technical direction, and performance of fiberglass swimming pool manufacturing operations across Latham. Its scope includes manufacturing and process engineering, mold and tooling engineering, product industrialization, capital and capacity engineering, operational excellence, and technology and automation initiatives. The Director develops and executes engineering strategies to improve safety, quality, throughput, productivity, scalability, and profitability while supporting long-term business growth. In partnership with Operations, Product Management, Supply Chain, Quality, Lean Manufacturing, and Executive Leadership, the role aligns manufacturing processes, tooling assets, capital investments, and emerging technologies with operational performance and future business needs. The position establishes engineering standards, builds organizational capability, drives continuous improvement, and leads adoption of manufacturing technologies to strengthen competitiveness, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction across all fiberglass manufacturing facilities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering.
10+ years of progressive engineering leadership experience in manufacturing.
Strong knowledge of composites, fiberglass manufacturing, materials science, and product development.
Experience leading automation, robotics, controls engineering, or advanced manufacturing initiatives.
Knowledge of Industry 4.0 technologies, Industrial IoT (IIoT), smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and machine vision systems.
Demonstrated success leading plant automation projects with measurable ROI.
Strong understanding of capital project management and technology implementation within manufacturing environments.
Excellent leadership, business acumen, and communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.
Experience with PLCs, industrial controls, manufacturing execution systems (MES), ERP integration, and data analytics platforms.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a multi-year engineering strategy aligned with company growth objectives and operational priorities.
Provide leadership, direction, and development for engineering teams across fiberglass operations.
Establish engineering standards, governance processes, and best practices across manufacturing facilities.
Build organizational capability through talent development, succession planning, and continuous learning.
Partner with executive leadership to identify risks, opportunities, and long-term manufacturing requirements.
Lead manufacturing and process engineering activities to improve safety, quality, productivity, throughput, and operational performance.
Establish and maintain process standards, manufacturing specifications, and engineering controls across fiberglass operations.
Improve cycle time, yield, labor productivity, process capability, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
Support plant operations through root cause analysis, corrective actions, and sustainable process improvements.
Standardize manufacturing processes and share best practices across facilities.
Develop and execute mold and tooling strategies for current and future manufacturing requirements.
Lead tooling design standards, lifecycle management, maintenance strategies, replacement planning, utilization optimization, and capacity planning.
Support new product development through design-for-manufacturability (DFM), tooling development, and manufacturing readiness activities.
Ensure successful industrialization of new products through process validation, capability studies, trial builds, and production launch support.
Partner with Operations to transition products from development to full-scale production.
Develop long-range capital plans for growth, productivity improvements, modernization, and operational excellence.
Lead capacity modeling and analysis to identify manufacturing constraints, bottlenecks, and future resource requirements.
Manage engineering-related capital projects from concept through design, installation, commissioning, startup, post-implementation support, and ROI validation.
Validate project results through performance measurement, cost savings analysis, and return-on-investment tracking.
Ensure engineering resources and infrastructure support current and future production demands.
Support Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, and continuous improvement initiatives across fiberglass operations.
Lead and support value engineering initiatives using design or manufacturing process improvements to improve gross margin while enhancing customer value.
Use performance data and analytics to drive decisions and continuous process improvement.
Champion accountability, problem-solving, and continuous improvement throughout the engineering organization.
Develop and execute automation and advanced manufacturing strategies supporting long-term business objectives.
Evaluate and implement robotics, machine vision, industrial automation, artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing, and Industry 4.0 technologies.
Partner with Operations and IT to use manufacturing data for predictive analytics, process optimization, and operational decision-making.
Establish engineering standards for automation architecture, control systems, and technology integration.
Identify emerging technologies that improve safety, quality, productivity, scalability, and sustainability.