Director of Operations Technology & Automation

Charter Manufacturing•Saukville, WI

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Charter Steel is looking for an experienced manufacturing leader to lead its Operations Technology, Automation and Controls organization across seven manufacturing facilities. This role sits at the intersection of operations, manufacturing strategy and technology. The position requires a leader who understands how manufacturing plants operate, can translate operational challenges and business priorities into a clear technology agenda, and can align a talented organization around that agenda. This is not a traditional IT leadership role, nor is it for the deepest technical expert, but for a leader who can guide a strong technical team. The Director will lead an organization of approximately 40 employees, including four managers. The role involves working closely with plant and operations leadership to establish priorities, evaluate opportunity and risk, drive accountability, and ensure technology enables measurable improvements in manufacturing performance. Key responsibilities include creating a unified direction by translating manufacturing strategy into a prioritized roadmap for Operations Technology, Automation and Controls, serving as a liaison between operational challenges and technical capabilities, and setting portfolio priorities through a disciplined approach to decide which work advances business goals. The role also involves building the operating system for the function, leading transformation from reactive execution to strategic deployment, partnering deeply with Operations to understand shop floor realities, and leading the leadership team to develop managers and employees. A critical aspect is balancing current operational needs with future capabilities and investments for growth.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Industrial, Operations, Technology or a related field.
10+ years of progressive leadership experience in manufacturing operations, manufacturing engineering, automation, controls, operations technology, operational excellence or a closely related plant technology connected function.
Technical credibility and judgment sufficient to lead Automation, Controls and Operations Technology experts and assess opportunities and risks.
Demonstrated success leading leaders in a complex manufacturing environment; multi-site leadership experience is strongly preferred.
Proven experience translating business strategy into operating priorities, resource allocation, execution plans and measurable results.
Experience establishing or improving governance, KPIs, performance management, accountability and operating rhythms.
Demonstrated experience leading transformation, organizational change, continuous improvement or significant operating-model change.
Strong understanding of plant operations and the interdependencies among production, maintenance, quality, supply chain, engineering and other manufacturing functions.
Strong analytical and business judgment, including the ability to evaluate tradeoffs among growth, operating risk, technical risk, cost and business value.
Experience with budgeting, planning, resource allocation and reporting.
Commitment to a culture of safety, accident prevention and continuous improvement.

Nice To Haves

An established leader with a firm background in manufacturing operations, plant leadership, manufacturing engineering, automation, controls, operational excellence or a similarly plant-connected environment.
A strong people leader who can lead experienced managers and technical experts with confidence and humility.
Business-savvy and strategic, with the judgment to make decisions when the answer is not purely technical.
Collaborative, influential and comfortable challenging leaders at all levels.
Experienced in transformation, change leadership or building a more disciplined operating model.
Technically credible without needing to be the deepest technical SME.
15+ years of related leadership experience in a manufacturing environment.
Experience leading a multi-site operations, engineering, automation or operations technology organization.
Experience with strategy deployment, enterprise continuous improvement or similar performance systems.
Experience building or improving a functional operating model and portfolio prioritization process.
Experience balancing legacy/technical debt with operational reliability, growth and long-term investment priorities.

Responsibilities

Leading an organization of approximately 40 employees, including four managers, working alongside plant and operations leadership to establish priorities, evaluate opportunity and risk, drive accountability and ensure technology enables measurable improvements in manufacturing performance.
Create one direction. Translate manufacturing strategy into a clear, prioritized roadmap for Operations Technology, Automation and Controls across seven facilities.
Connect the plants and technical organization. Serve as the conduit between operational challenges and technical capability, ensuring teams understand the business problem and expected outcome before determining the solution.
Set the portfolio priorities. Establish a disciplined approach to decide which work advances growth, reduces risk, improves reliability or strengthens the operating model - and which work can wait.
Build the operating system for the function. Establish governance, decision rights, performance measures, communication rhythms and accountability that enable consistent execution.
Lead transformation. Move the organization from reactive, project-by-project execution toward coordinated, strategic deployment of manufacturing technology.
Partner deeply with Operations. Build credibility with plant and frontline leaders, understand the realities of the shop floor and incorporate operational knowledge into decisions about technology and investment.
Lead the leadership team. Develop four managers and approximately 40 employees while strengthening leadership capability, succession, collaboration and accountability.
Balance today and tomorrow. Protect the reliability of the run state while building the capabilities, roadmap and investments needed to support future manufacturing performance and growth.