Plant Manager

Vanderbloemen•La Mirada, CA

19d•Onsite

About The Position

Stainless Steel Fabricators, Inc. is seeking a Plant Manager, referred to in parts of the posting as General Manager, to lead manufacturing operations and drive profitable growth, operational excellence, customer satisfaction, and leadership development. The role oversees production, logistics, quality, and employee development, and serves as a conduit between the shop and engineering. The Plant Manager works closely with ownership to execute the company’s vision and build the systems, processes, and leaders needed for long-term success and scalable growth. The position combines business and financial management with hands-on manufacturing leadership. It includes responsibility for production scheduling, capacity, workflow, throughput, materials and suppliers, manufacturing systems, shipping and delivery, employee development, California employment compliance, customer and vendor communication, safety, and quality. The role is based at Stainless Steel Fabricators’ manufacturing and storage facility in La Mirada, California.

Requirements

Hands-on manufacturing or fabrication experience.
One to two years of successful progressive manufacturing leadership experience; additional years are strongly preferred for this level of responsibility.
Demonstrated experience leading supervisors, shift managers, and production employees.
Proven responsibility for manufacturing operations, production performance, and business results.
Experience improving throughput, quality, lead times, labor efficiency, or profitability.
Working knowledge of California employment practices and judgment to involve qualified HR or legal professionals when needed.
Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
Sound judgment, practical problem-solving ability, and a grounded common-sense approach.
Ability to maintain professionalism with employees, customers, vendors, and ownership.
High integrity and alignment with the company’s values-based culture.
Ability to understand shop-floor workflow, constraints, safety concerns, and employee dynamics.
Ability to communicate professionally with customers and manage expectations without overpromising.
Ability to develop supervisors and establish accountability at the appropriate level.

Nice To Haves

Experience in stainless steel, sheet metal, or custom-fabricated products.
Familiarity with Lean manufacturing.
Experience with ERP/MRP systems, job costing, and production scheduling.
Working knowledge of CAD/CAM, CNC, laser cutting, press brakes, welding, and fabrication technology sufficient to supervise those responsible for the processes.
Experience participating in capital-equipment selection and implementation.
Previous responsibility for customer-facing commercial or project-management activities.
More than two years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience.

Responsibilities

Lead day-to-day operations and the long-term performance of the business; translate ownership’s vision into measurable goals, priorities, and operating plans.
Establish organizational accountability, develop forecasts and performance targets, identify growth opportunities and operational risks, and build systems that improve consistency.
Understand job costing, material yield, labor efficiency, manufacturing variances, and return on investment for equipment, staffing, software, and process improvements.
Lead production scheduling, capacity planning, workflow, and on-time completion while maintaining safety, quality, and customer requirements.
Identify and remove bottlenecks across fabrication, welding, forming, machining, finishing, assembly, and shipping; manage labor and equipment utilization, downtime, scrap, rework, and lead times.
Establish meaningful key performance indicators and operating rhythms, and drive continuous improvement using practical Lean manufacturing and root-cause problem solving.
Develop sourcing strategies for critical materials, negotiate with suppliers, and maintain vendor relationships.
Work with engineering, estimating, programming, production, and the technology supervisor; evaluate and implement technology that improves accuracy, visibility, throughput, and customer service.
Use ERP/MRP, production scheduling, inventory, quality, and maintenance systems effectively; maintain working knowledge of Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook, and Teams.
Oversee shipping, freight, delivery scheduling, packaging, documentation, and customer delivery performance; coordinate production with shipping commitments and prevent freight damage.
Develop supervisors, shift managers, and emerging leaders; set expectations, hold employees accountable respectfully, conduct performance reviews and coaching, and support succession planning.
Build a culture of trust, teamwork, safety, quality, and continuous improvement; partner with ownership on hiring, onboarding, compensation, and organizational design.
Address conflict directly and fairly while maintaining employee dignity.
Maintain working understanding of California employment requirements and involve qualified HR or legal counsel when appropriate.
Partner with ownership and HR resources on wage-and-hour compliance, meal and rest periods, overtime, timekeeping, attendance, leave administration, accommodations, and employee classification.
Ensure hiring, onboarding, discipline, performance management, investigations, and terminations are handled consistently, professionally, and with appropriate documentation.
Support workplace safety, anti-harassment, anti-discrimination, retaliation-prevention, workers’ compensation, and required employee training and postings; maintain accurate personnel practices and protect confidential employee information.
Recognize potential employment-compliance risks and avoid unsupported legal or HR decisions without appropriate guidance.
Communicate professionally with employees, ownership, customers, and vendors; manage customer expectations regarding schedules, quality, specifications, and delivery.
Participate in major customer meetings, quoting discussions, and issue resolution; present operational and financial performance to ownership.
Promote a safety-first culture and compliance with applicable OSHA and workplace requirements.
Maintain quality-control and corrective-action practices and reduce defects, scrap, rework, customer complaints, and warranty exposure.
Ensure equipment, training, documentation, and work practices support safe and reliable operations.
Walk the floor to understand workflow, constraints, safety concerns, and employee dynamics; negotiate with shop-goods suppliers while protecting quality, availability, and total cost.
Respect the company’s history and culture while thoughtfully leading change and improving systems, throughput, delivery, quality, and profitability.