Director of Manufacturing

Position Summary: Manages all activities related to company manufacturing operation: Compounding, Packaging, Scheduling and Site Continuous Improvement by performing the following duties personally or through subordinate supervisors. This role is accountable for manufacturing output and delivery performance across Swiss American, supporting customer demand and revenue objectives.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Actively participate in the strategic decision-making process by providing valuable insights and recommendations.
• Foster collaboration with different departments to ensure strategic initiatives are aligned with overall company goals.
• Lead or contribute significantly to key projects identified through the strategic planning process.
• Take ownership of outcomes related to strategic initiatives and demonstrate an initiative-taking approach to problem-solving.
• Effectively communicate strategic decisions to relevant stakeholders and provide regular updates on progress and achievements.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, market changes, and best practices to continue to be a role model for your team and other members of the organization.
• Develops and maintains manufacturing operations business plans to include all program requirements, labor hours, cycle, and production costs, scheduling department, material handling department and compounding department. Prepares the line operating plan based on current forecast and demand within budget expectations.
• Oversee all aspects of the team lifecycle, including recruitment, hiring, training, performance management, employee relations, and fostering a positive work environment.
• Work in coordination with the Technical Services Department and Cleaning Department in related activities involving the sanitation, quality and equipment reliability and efficient changeovers being responsible to the execution of the operating plan within established cost and continuous improvement standards.
• Establishes production and quality control standards, obtains data regarding types, quantities, specifications, and delivery dates of products ordered, aligning the manufacturing strategy including personnel requirements, material needs, subcontract requirements, facility needs, and tooling and equipment needs.
• Ensures all established costs, safety, quality, and delivery commitments are met. Champion safety behaviors to maintain an incident free working environment, Controls and Improve scrap for the operations, tracking cost of poor quality, maintain people under his direction accountable, establishes a cycle count program to maintain inventory accuracy at optimal level within targets, review BOM’s and propose changes as needed.
• Coordinates manufacturing activities with all other functions of the organization and suppliers to obtain optimum production and utilization of human resources, machines, and equipment and providing operations input on new business opportunities.
• Reviews production and operating reports and directs the resolution of operational, manufacturing constraints, owns OEE results for Compounding and Packaging, develops tracking system, and monitors the cycle times are in line with standards or improved.
• Monitors, develops, provides feedback, and proposes changes to the Manufacturing Operations organization, determining responsibilities of assigned organization and staff positions to accomplish business objectives within budget expectations.
• Trains and ensures all assigned employees are aware of and comply with company, government, and customer policies, procedures, and regulations. Identifies training gaps, risk and opportunities and establishes cross training to mitigate those risks and keep key employees engaged and motivated.
• Monitor daily production and notify the COO/ VP of Operations and/or President of immediate concerns.
• Will oversee any employee issues or concerns to ensure proper protocol is utilized by company policy.
• Function as the Lean Champion for the site, working with Continuous Improvement and Industrial Engineering to develop a kaizen cadence plan by area for the site and keep track of waste elimination activities and impact to the bottom line.
• Develops and document standard work on key manufacturing processes with the intention to set performance standards (run to standard culture), monitor compliance, closing gaps when required on critical process included but not limited to: Daily Direction Setting, 5s, RCA, Team Huddle, Training matrix, Strive program, Scheduling, visual management.
• Own end‑to‑end manufacturing execution to ensure all customer orders are produced and delivered on time, in full, and to quality standards. Establish performance targets for throughput, capacity utilization, and on‑time delivery (OTD), and drive corrective actions to address variances.
• Lead production planning and scheduling activities to align demand, capacity, materials, and labor resources. Partner with Customer Services, Business Development,, Quality, and Procurement to balance customer commitments with operational capabilities and inventory objective.
• Other duties may be assigned.

Essential Skills and Qualifications:

• Master's degree (M.A.) or equivalent in a relevant field; OR 4-10 years of demonstrably successful experience in a related field.
• Proven track record of leadership and achievement in a scientific or technical environment
• Deep understanding of scientific and technical principles relevant to industry
• Ability to analyze and interpret complex technical data (journals, reports, legal documents)
• Proficiency in applying advanced mathematical concepts (exponents, logarithms, etc.) for data analysis and problem-solving
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for clear and concise explanations of technical concepts to diverse audiences (scientific teams, regulators, clients)
• Proven ability to lead, motivate, and develop high-performing teams
• Experience in the full employee lifecycle (recruitment, hiring, training, performance management)
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills with a data-driven approach
• Understanding of relevant industry regulations and their impact on departmental operations
• Proficiency in word processing software and other relevant programs

Preferred Skills and Qualifications:

• Ability to write compelling presentations and publishable articles adhering to style guides
• Experience with statistical analysis techniques (frequency distribution, test reliability, etc.)
• Ability to define problems, collect and analyze data, and draw sound conclusions (This could be essential depending on the organization's emphasis on data-driven strategy, but often falls under preferred if the candidate already demonstrates strong problem-solving skills.)