Vice President of Operations

Pierce Pacific Manufacturing•Portland, OR

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Vice President of Operations is the senior leader responsible for the safe, efficient, and profitable execution of all manufacturing operations for a $30 million annual revenue heavy equipment manufacturing business. This role provides strategic and hands-on leadership across operations, production control, purchasing, engineering, and environmental health and safety, with clear accountability for building a safety-first culture, advancing lean manufacturing, improving on-time delivery, quality, throughput and driving sustainable margin expansion.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
10+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience, including leadership of multi-functional operations teams in an industrial or heavy equipment manufacturing environment.
Demonstrated success leading production, production control, purchasing, engineering coordination, and EHS in a manufacturing setting.
Strong knowledge of lean manufacturing, continuous improvement methods, KPI management, and operational problem-solving.
Proven ability to improve margins through cost control, productivity gains, sourcing discipline, and operational execution.
Strong financial acumen, including budgeting, capital planning, labor and overhead management, and inventory performance.
Excellent leadership, communication, and change management skills, with the ability to engage both shop floor and executive stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Experience with ERP-driven planning, scheduling, and materials management systems preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead all day-to-day manufacturing operations, including production, production control, scheduling, purchasing, engineering support, maintenance coordination, and environmental health and safety.
Establish and maintain a safety-first culture that ensures compliance with company policies and all applicable regulatory requirements while reducing risk, incidents, and near misses.
Drive lean manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives across the business, including waste reduction, flow improvement, standard work, process standardization, visual management, root cause problem-solving, and productivity improvement.
Own operational performance metrics for safety, quality, delivery, inventory, labor efficiency, scrap, productivity, and cost, and implement actions that improve results.
Partner with finance and commercial leadership to improve gross margins through labor efficiency, material cost control, sourcing discipline, throughput improvement, pricing support, and reduced rework and warranty exposure.
Oversee production control processes to align capacity, materials, labor, and schedules with customer demand and revenue objectives.
Lead purchasing and supplier performance efforts to improve cost, quality, delivery, and supply continuity while supporting strategic sourcing and inventory optimization.
Partner with engineering to support manufacturability, product quality, design for production, new product introduction, and timely resolution of technical issues affecting operations.
Develop and manage operating budgets, capital expenditure plans, staffing plans, and operational forecasts that support business goals and return on investment.
Build, coach, and develop a high-performing operations organization with clear accountability, strong communication, and succession planning.
Provide timely and accurate reporting to executive leadership on plant performance, key risks, improvement initiatives, and progress against financial and operational goals.