Operations Manager

W. R. Grace & Co.•Baltimore, MD

13d•$140,080 - $192,610•Onsite

About The Position

W.R. Grace operates a comprehensive manufacturing plant and a technical and analytical services center in the Curtis Bay area of Baltimore. The company's largest facility at nearly a million square feet, Curtis Bay consists of 10 production plants that manufacture hundreds of products from four product lines: fluid cracking catalysts, hydroprocessing catalysts, polyolefin catalysts, and silicas. With approximately 600 employees, Grace is a significant employer in the Curtis Bay area. More than half of the products manufactured there are exported at a value of approximately $150 million annually. All employees at the Curtis Bay actively participate in environment, health and safety and play an integral role in achieving compliance with our EHS policy including emergency preparedness and response as defined in site-wide and local area documentation. We’re hiring an Operations Manager to support one of our business units at our Curtis Bay/Baltimore, MD manufacturing site. As an Operations Manager you will ensure the safe and efficient 24/7 operations. You will report to Site Operations Director and be a member of the Operations Leadership Team. In addition, you will have a team of 20-25 direct reports, to include operations leaders, supervisors, production engineers and maintenance planners and be responsible for coaching and development. This role combines both technical and leadership expertise along with collaborating with multiple functions together to solve problems safely and effectively.

Requirements

B.S. degree in an Engineering discipline with Chemical or Mechanical highly preferred.
Minimum of 12+ years of experience working in a manufacturing environment, specialty chemicals environment strong preferred
5+ years’ leadership experience with direct supervisory responsibilities to include working in a union environment.
Life safety training and proven experience identifying workplace hazards
Ability to work in and support a 24/7 operation

Nice To Haves

Process scale-up and plant trial experience.
PSM experience.
Experience with Production planning or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), SAP highly preferred.
Experience using Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing principles.
Project Management experience.
Demonstrated problem-solving experience and attention to detail.
Demonstrated leadership experience with transformational change using influence to drive results.
Experience communicating effectively across all levels of the organization.
Experience with developing and tracking KPIs, metrics, and other operations-related reporting used to make business decisions to drive improvements.

Responsibilities

Lead manufacturing employees and a technical team to safely operate the plant and meet production, quality, safety, health, environmental, and cost goals in a 24/7 environment while complying with Federal, State, Local, Grace and Union policies.
Model a mindset and behavior of safe work practices and use of critical life safety rules in everything. Anticipate scenarios which increase safety or production risks, such as winter weather or equipment failure. Develop action plans to mitigate these risks.
Ensure resources and plans are in place to cover plant shutdowns, Job Hazard Analyses and support for off-shifts. Oversee the investigation program and root cause analyses for production losses or safety incidents and ensure proper actions are in place.
Actively support production troubleshooting with technical and leadership skills. Effectively and timely escalate issues to the Site Operations Director.
Manage the engagement, performance and development of a team of direct reports and indirect reports. Hire, onboard, train, develop and coach direct reports according to Grace policies and management practices. Maintain a positive working environment, resolve personnel conflicts and serve as a sounding board.
Participate in the asset management process including key inputs such as: Capacity, resources, shutdown schedules, and plant trials.
Continuously review the compliance with respect to production, yields, and fixed costs and reports on variances
Support both site and business leadership in develop overall strategies, annual operating plan and other business plans.
Champion the capital program for the assigned plant with input on priorities and scope.