Director of Operational Excellence

Fathom Mfg•Hartland, WI

1d•$155,000 - $180,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Operational Excellence & Transformation provides on-site leadership and oversight to strengthen operational discipline, develop robust processes, and drive effective change management across the organization. This role is intended for a proven change agent with deep manufacturing expertise and a history of transforming high-mix/low-volume environments into efficient, stable, and scalable operations. The director assesses current-state performance, identifies gaps, designs improvement plans, and owns their execution, monitoring, and sustained advancement. At the focus site, the role ensures consistent implementation and maintenance of operational routines, scheduling systems, quality processes, Lean principles, customer service standards, and daily management disciplines. The director serves as the on-the-ground operational leader who drives change, reinforces new behaviors, and stabilizes processes until the facility reaches its expected performance level. The role also works across facilities to scale best practices and support a unified operational vision. It involves hands-on implementation and travel as needed.

Requirements

10+ years leading manufacturing operations with proven transformation success.
Hands-on expertise with CNC machining, additive manufacturing, sheet metal fabrication, molding, and finishing.
Strong understanding of quoting, design for manufacturability (DFM), routing, scheduling, capacity planning, and cost structure.
Demonstrated experience turning underperforming facilities into top-performing plants.
Deep knowledge of Lean, continuous improvement methodologies, and structured problem solving.
Strong leadership presence and ability to influence at all levels.
Highly organized, with the ability to standardize processes across multiple sites.
Ability to travel as needed for hands-on implementation.

Nice To Haves

Experience in private equity-backed or high-velocity manufacturing environments.
Experience supporting ITAR/AS9100 environments.

Responsibilities

Evaluate facility operations, including scheduling, throughput, staffing, equipment utilization, quality, and workflow.
Develop improvement roadmaps with the VP of Operations using best-in-class manufacturing practices.
Identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and waste in CNC, additive, sheet metal, and finishing operations.
Develop actionable strategies connected to revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and operational stability.
Lead onsite execution of improvement plans.
Drive transformation initiatives using Lean, Kaizen, SMED, 5S, and continuous improvement tools.
Implement daily management systems, including tier meetings, KPIs, visual controls, JDIs, and problem-solving routines.
Build durable processes that function without heavy oversight.
Mentor and coach plant managers, supervisors, and frontline leaders.
Model and enforce effective scheduling, capacity planning, and customer delivery disciplines.
Build a culture of accountability, problem-solving, and structured execution.
Coordinate operational integration among plants and scale best practices across the network.
Strengthen quality processes, inspection routines, and preventive controls.
Partner with quality teams to incorporate QC requirements into daily routines.
Improve customer satisfaction through reliable lead times, standardized workflows, and white-glove service expectations.
Collaborate with commercial, quoting, sourcing, and engineering teams to eliminate friction points.
Provide manufacturing insight on quoting, COGS reduction, design for manufacturability, and outsourcing strategies.
Help unify facilities under a “One Company / One Standard” operational vision.
Monitor KPIs for safety, quality, on-time delivery, throughput, productivity, and revenue attainment.
Identify early indicators of risk in revenue, backlog, resource constraints, and site-level performance.
Provide clear reporting to the VP of Operations and executive leadership.