Director of Operations

Gooch & Housego Rochester GSO•City of Rochester, NY

6d•Onsite

About The Position

Gooch & Housego (G&H) is a global leader in precision optics, photonics, and optical systems, serving customers across industrial, medical, life sciences, aerospace, and defense markets. With a long history of technical innovation and manufacturing excellence, G&H combines deep engineering expertise with commitment to quality, collaboration, and continuous improvement. The Rochester site plays a critical role in G&H’s manufacturing footprint, delivering complex, high-precision products to customers worldwide. The Director of Operations is responsible for leading manufacturing operations at the G&H Rochester site, with accountability for execution across assembly, optical glass subassembly, and production operations. This role focuses on operational excellence, people leadership, and delivery, operating within a shared leadership model alongside Quality, Finance, and Sales. This is a hands-on, on-site leadership role that requires strong floor presence, sound judgment, and the ability to lead teams through complexity, change, and competing priorities with maturity and clarity.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, or a related field
10+ years of progressive manufacturing or operations leadership experience
Demonstrated success leading teams in complex, technical manufacturing environments
Strong people leadership capability with credibility on the manufacturing floor
Experience operating in matrixed or shared leadership environments
Ability to lead with maturity, judgment, and consistency under pressure

Nice To Haves

Experience in optical, photonics, precision manufacturing, or similarly complex industries
Exposure to optical glass subassembly or precision assembly processes
Experience supporting New Product Introduction or scaling production
Multi-site manufacturing experience
Lean, Six Sigma, or other continuous improvement training

Responsibilities

Lead day-to-day manufacturing operations across assembly, optical glass subassembly, and production, Polymer injection molding and CNC machining
Own site-level performance across safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity
Establish clear operational priorities and execution rhythms aligned to business and customer needs
Ensure consistent application of standard work, visual management, and[LS1] accountability
Identify operational risks, constraints, and bottlenecks and drive corrective actions
Partner with HR and Finance on workforce planning and labor utilization
Lead and develop operations supervisors, and frontline leaders[LS2]
Build leadership capability through coaching, feedback, and development
Foster a culture of accountability, respect, and engagement
Address performance and behavioral issues promptly and constructively
Operate effectively within a shared leadership model
Partner with Quality on compliance, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement
Collaborate with Sales and Program teams on customer commitments and capacity planning
Partner with Engineering on process improvements and technology transitions
Work with Finance on cost control and operational investments
Lead continuous improvement initiatives across operations
Support New Product Introduction and production scale-up
Drive disciplined execution during periods of change or transition
Make timely decisions within defined authority
Escalate risks and trade-offs appropriately
Provide clear, fact-based updates to senior leadership