Vice President of Operations

Marmon Holdings, Inc.•Leawood, KS

About The Position

Wilbert Funeral Services, Inc. As a part of the global industrial organization Marmon Holdings—which is backed by Berkshire Hathaway—you’ll be doing things that matter, leading at every level, and winning a better way. We’re committed to making a positive impact on the world, providing you with diverse learning and working opportunities, and fostering a culture where everyone’s empowered to be their best. The Vice President of Operations is responsible for end-to-end operational excellence across all facilities in the U.S. including manufacturing, procurement, logistics/distribution, quality, safety, and service. The role sets operational policy, provides strategic and day-to-day leadership to site and functional leaders, and drives a rigorous, metrics-based operating system and continuous improvement (CI) culture to deliver sustainable productivity, quality, and customer-service results. Company Overview: Wilbert, which is part of Marmon Holdings, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway Company and is a $300 million company with four industry-leading brands, 1,000 employee partners, 100 licensee partners, and 300+ points of distribution. The Wilbert Group offers a range of manufactured concrete products, including burial vaults, monuments, lawn crypts, columbarium niches, septic tanks, retaining walls, storm shelters, and agricultural precast products. The company operates manufacturing plants, warehouses, monument production facilities, a casket manufacturing plant, and crematories. The monument division produces granite memorials and markers, custom granite signage, and engraved brick pavers, and engages in wholesale monument sales. Position Overview The Vice President of Operations is responsible for end-to-end operational excellence across all facilities in the U.S. including manufacturing, procurement, logistics/distribution, quality, safety, and service. The role sets operational policy, provides strategic and day-to-day leadership to site and functional leaders, and drives a rigorous, metrics-based operating system and continuous improvement (CI) culture to deliver sustainable productivity, quality, and customer-service results.

Requirements

BS in Business Administration, Operations Management, Engineering, or comparable experience; MBA preferred.
10+ years in plant/operations management within manufacturing; 5+ years in multi‑site operational leadership.
Lean/CI expertise; proven experience leading Kaizen, A3, and layered audit routines.
Demonstrated success delivering quantifiable CI savings, conversion‑cost productivity, and footprint/network optimization outcomes.
Deep knowledge of OSHA policies/regulations; strong EHS and quality management acumen.
Strong financial literacy (budgets, ROI, cost/benefit) and KPI management.
Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder‑management skills; ability to coach and develop teams at multiple levels.
Proficiency with core productivity tools and ability to learn company‑specific systems.

Nice To Haves

MBA preferred.

Responsibilities

Define, implement, and continuously improve a standardized company operating system (e.g., production system playbook, standards, and routines) to embed operational excellence behaviors and results enterprise‑wide.
Lead enterprise productivity to achieve annualized CI/EIP savings targets and year‑over-year conversion‑cost productivity improvements with clear, quantifiable goals and quarterly tracking.
Serve as an organizational change agent, advising senior leadership on business transformation priorities, expected impact, and adoption plans.
Analyze operations performance to identify opportunities for cost reduction, policy/process changes, and program improvements; implement corrective actions and administrative control systems to ensure sustainment.
Sponsor and deliver footprint optimization programs that rationalize capacity, mix, and cost to achieve material annualized savings and profitability improvements; build the business case, milestones, and risk plan.
Approve budgets and capital allocations; coordinate budgetary control systems and reporting to fund operations and maximize ROI.
Drive Lean maturity using a defined toolset including 5S, MDI, PDCA, Standard Work, Kaizen events, A3 problem solving, and Layered Process Audits; ensure daily management is in place and effective.
Lead Operations and partner closely with Engineering & CI leadership to standardize critical plant equipment and processes across the network to reduce variation and improve reliability.
Establish preventive maintenance (PM) programs and uptime dashboards; ensure maintenance planning and spare‑parts strategies support target OEE and availability.
Build capacity and utilization models to identify constraints and unlock excess capacity to support growth and service level targets.
Provide leadership for operational flow and product diversification initiatives to optimize throughput, mix, and margins.
Oversee quality and EHS performance; ensure compliance with relevant regulations (e.g., OSHA) and company standards.
Lead or play a key role in establishing and maturing S&OP processes that align demand, supply, and inventory plans to meet customer needs at optimal cost.
Direct procurement and logistics to deliver cost, quality, and service objectives; develop supplier strategies that support resiliency and working‑capital goals.
Appoint and develop department leaders; set clear responsibilities and cadence for performance reviews, KPI routines, and cross‑functional coordination.
Prepare and present operating reviews, budgets, and transformation progress to executive leadership and other stakeholders.
Represent Operations on executive committees and cross-company project teams; network with engineering, production planning, and other functions to accelerate improvements.