Job Description

Director North America Operations - Manufacturing

Location: Addison, IL onsite

Reports to: General Manager

Team: Leads a team of approximately 15 across production, warehouse, machining, and skilled trades including machinists, machine builders, electricians, and quality inspection

Scope: Manufacturing, production planning, inventory management, quality, and project execution for North America

The Director, North America Operations serves as the single point of accountability for manufacturing and operational performance across North America. This role spans production, planning, inventory management, quality, and project execution, ensuring these functions are aligned to meet customer commitments, support business growth, and achieve financial objectives.

The Director leads the execution of customer orders, custom machine builds, and new product introductions while driving operational efficiency, on-time delivery, product quality, workforce development, and profitability. This is a hands-on leadership role in a lean organization; the Director is expected to be on the floor and directly engaged in daily execution rather than managing exclusively through others.

The Opportunity

Consolidating two operations into a single new state-of-the-art facility. The Director will lead this transition while custom machine builds, customer orders, and new product introductions continue to run in parallel, and will lead the eventual move from a single weekday shift to a two-shift operation once the facilities are combined.

The operation is well staffed with strong machinists and capable leaders in place. The opportunity is in scheduling and labor planning. Success in this role means establishing a predictable production rhythm, disciplined scheduling, deliberate labor allocation, and forward-looking capacity planning.

Key Responsibilities

Operations Leadership

Lead all manufacturing and operational functions, including machining, assembly, production planning, inventory control, logistics, and facilities. Develop and execute operational strategies, establish key performance metrics, and drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance productivity, quality, delivery performance, and customer satisfaction. Foster strong alignment across Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Project Management, Sales, and Service.

Scheduling, Labor Planning & Project Execution

Own production scheduling, resource planning, inventory management, and material availability to ensure efficient execution of customer orders, custom machine builds, and new product introductions. Establish disciplined labor planning and capacity management practices. Coordinate priorities across multiple projects and product lines while proactively addressing capacity constraints, operational bottlenecks, supplier risks, and forecast requirements to maintain delivery commitments.

Facility Consolidation & Shift Expansion

Lead the operational side of the consolidation into the new facility, including equipment moves, layout and workflow design, and sequencing of the transition to protect delivery performance throughout. Plan and execute the expansion from a single weekday shift to a two-shift operation, including staffing, supervision coverage, and shift handoff practices.

Quality, Continuous Improvement & Financial Performance

Ensure compliance with customer requirements, quality standards, and internal procedures while using operational metrics and data-driven decision making to improve throughput, productivity, quality, and delivery performance. Lead Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Six Sigma, and root-cause problem-solving initiatives. Manage operational budgets, labor utilization, manufacturing costs, capital investments, and performance metrics to support gross margin improvement.

Leadership & Organizational Development

Build, lead, and develop a high-performing operations team by driving accountability, collaboration, continuous learning, and safety. Develop organizational capabilities, succession plans, and workforce strategies while supporting talent acquisition, employee engagement, and leadership development.

Health, Safety & Compliance

Champion a culture of safety and operational discipline by ensuring compliance with OSHA, environmental regulations, company policies, and industry standards. Lead initiatives that promote workplace safety, risk reduction, and environmental stewardship across all operations.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Manufacturing, Business, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive manufacturing and operations leadership experience, including responsibility for production, planning, inventory, supply chain, and workforce management.
• Manufacturing operations leadership in machine tool, engineered-to-order, custom machine build, capital equipment, or automation environments.
• Demonstrated strength in production scheduling and labor planning.
• Strong command of Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Six Sigma, ERP/MRP systems, inventory management, and manufacturing financials.
• Highly organized and a strong multitasker, comfortable operating hands-on in a lean organization.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Plant startup, facility relocation, or site consolidation experience.
• Experience scaling an operation from one shift to two.
• Integration experience supporting acquisitions.