Vice President, Global Operations

Footprint•Gilbert, AZ

About The Position

The Vice President, Global Operations is a key executive leadership role responsible for overseeing all aspects of Footprint’s global manufacturing operations across Mexico and Poland. This includes end‑to‑end accountability for production, quality, program management, manufacturing engineering, and continuous improvement. This role is critical to driving operational excellence, ensuring the timely delivery of high‑quality products, optimizing cost structure, increasing capacity and throughput, and enabling the company’s long‑term growth objectives. The VP, Global Operations will partner closely with cross‑functional leaders across Engineering, Supply Chain, Program Management, Quality, and Finance to align operational strategies with Footprint’s enterprise business goals. Examples of key duties are interpreted as being descriptive and not restrictive in nature.

Requirements

Strong executive leadership with a demonstrated track record of scaling global manufacturing operations.
Expertise in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, operational excellence, and production system design.
Strong financial acumen with experience managing large budgets and driving cost‑effective operations.
Deep knowledge of quality systems, regulatory compliance, and risk management in a high‑volume manufacturing environment.
Exceptional cross‑functional collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
Strong data‑driven decision‑making and strategic problem‑solving capabilities.
Ability to lead in a fast‑paced, complex, global environment with multiple competing priorities.

Responsibilities

Provide enterprise leadership for global operations, including development and implementation of operational strategy, annual operating plans, budgets, and value‑generation initiatives.
Establish, develop, and mentor high‑performing teams across Mexico and Poland manufacturing sites, ensuring organizational capability aligns with strategic needs.
Define, implement, and govern operational performance metrics and goals, driving accountability and execution across global manufacturing teams.
Ensure effective operational systems, processes, and technologies are adopted and standardized across sites.
Oversee day‑to‑day global production performance, ensuring manufacturing output meets cost, quality, and delivery targets.
Partner with plant leadership to develop operational objectives, optimize resource allocation, and ensure plants operate within budget.
Monitor operational KPIs and coach plant leadership on performance management, root‑cause analysis, and corrective action.
Ensure facility readiness, equipment reliability, and maintenance practices meet operational requirements and cost-efficiency expectations.
Lead cross‑functional coordination on new product introductions, ensuring operational readiness, capacity planning, and launch execution meet program timelines.
Provide oversight of manufacturing engineering to drive process optimization, standardization, automation, and scalability across global operations.
Strengthen program management discipline across sites to ensure predictable, on‑time delivery of key operational programs.
Champion a global culture of quality, safety, environmental stewardship, and regulatory compliance across all manufacturing locations.
Oversee all aspects of product quality, supplier quality, EHSS compliance, regulatory reporting, risk management, and internal/external audits.
Ensure robust systems and governance structures are in place for quality assurance, environmental compliance, occupational safety, and incident prevention.
Lead quality investigations, safety incident reviews, environmental risk assessments, and product complaint resolutions to drive continuous improvement.
Partner with engineering, operations, and program teams to ensure product standards, compliance requirements, and EHSS expectations are embedded into processes and launch criteria.
Lead Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement initiatives focused on cost reduction, productivity gains, reliability improvements, and waste elimination.
Partner with plant leaders to develop and execute improvement roadmaps that align to enterprise operational priorities.
Embed structured problem‑solving and performance management practices across all sites.
Build, lead, and mentor a high‑performing operations organization across multiple countries and cultures.
Foster a high‑performance environment with strong accountability, collaboration, and continuous development.
Ensure robust workforce planning and talent strategies to meet current and future operational needs.