Director of Operations
About The Position
The Director of Operations leads all manufacturing operations at ODL's Zeeland, Michigan headquarters plant. This leader is accountable for safety, quality, cost, on-time delivery, year-over-year margin improvement, and strong customer relationships. The role calls for a commercial mindset and creative problem solving, including understanding customer needs, business economics, and how plant decisions affect revenue and margin. The Director owns plant safety and quality performance, on-time delivery, plant P&L, and continuous improvement. The role partners with customers and cross-functional teams to align production with demand, pricing, margin goals, and product and process priorities. The Director also develops talent, drives technology and automation adoption, and serves as an AI champion by identifying practical use cases and building adoption across the plant.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field.
- 10+ years of manufacturing experience, including 5+ years in plant leadership with P&L responsibility.
- Track record of improving safety, quality, delivery performance, and cost.
- Creative problem-solving ability for operational and commercial challenges.
- Strong commercial and financial acumen, with comfort engaging with customers.
- Lean and continuous improvement experience.
- Ability to lead large, multi-shift teams.
- Ability to leverage technology, automation, and data across a plant to improve productivity, quality, and decision making.
- Ability to collaborate across Supply Chain, Finance, Sales, and Engineering.
Nice To Haves
- MBA or advanced degree.
- Experience in building products, glass, fenestration, or similar discrete manufacturing.
- Experience applying AI or advanced analytics in a manufacturing environment.
Responsibilities
- Drive a zero-injury culture and ensure compliance with safety and regulatory requirements.
- Own plant quality performance, including first-pass yield, scrap, and PPM, and foster employee ownership of quality.
- Own on-time delivery performance by driving schedule adherence, capacity planning, and recovery plans.
- Support key customer relationships through plant visits, business reviews, and assistance resolving service or quality issues.
- Collaborate with Supply Chain, Finance, Sales, and Engineering to align production with demand, cost, and product and process priorities.
- Align production with demand, pricing, and margin goals, weighing product mix, capacity, and cost-to-serve tradeoffs.
- Deliver plant P&L results and drive year-over-year margin improvement through productivity, yield, scrap reduction, and conversion cost.
- Lead lean initiatives and capital projects to reduce waste, improve OEE, and increase capacity.
- Leverage technology, automation, and data to improve plant visibility, productivity, and decision making.
- Identify practical AI use cases and build adoption across the plant.
- Develop plant talent at all levels, build succession depth, and foster accountability and engagement across shifts.
- Lead large, multi-shift manufacturing teams.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
