Director of Operations (manufacturing)
We are excited to partner with one of our best clients in Minnesota to identify their Director of Operations:
Landscape Structures is an incredible story; founded 40 years by a husband & wife passionate about getting kids outdoors and having fun doing it, they have quickly grown into the premier commercial playground manufacturer in the United States. Boasting over 4,500 completed projects across the world, they have over 850 employees and $350M+ in annual revenue. They have a phenomenal culture because their employees are also owners in the business; Landscape Structures is one of the largest ESOPs (employee-owned) organizations in the Midwest.
Headquartered in suburban Minneapolis, LSI has seen incredible year over year growth for the last decade, and isn’t slowing down any time soon (they have not only added a 3rd shift, but have purchased multiple buildings adjacent to their HQ to help facilitate their growth, and added over 100 employees last year alone).
Reporting to the Vice President of Operations, the Director of Operations is a leadership rotation position that has career upside at LSI. This person will lead around 125 employees through 6 managers on some of the most interesting work and buildings including CNC (multiple new machines), roto molding, sheet metal fab, recycled plastic/lumber, etc. Open due to their incredible growth over the last 5 years, this role is is responsible for analyzing, designing, and optimizing their facilities within the organization. This role involves collaboration with cross-functional teams to identify inefficiencies and implement process improvements that enhance the overall performance, safety, quality, cost, delivery, morale and the environment.
*** The position offers a very competitive base salary, annual bonus, and long-term incentive plan, in addition to strong benefits package. ***
*** This is primarily an on-site position given the nature of the work with a large team, though they offer a flexible work arrangement. ***
Responsibilities
- Manages resources through planning, direction and assignment in order to maximize efficiency in the most strategic and cost-effective way.
- Lead and support cross-functional teams, optimizing production workflows, maintaining quality and safety standards, and driving continuous improvement initiatives.
- Ensure consistently strong levels of performance in meeting operations, customer (internal and external) and quality requirements.
- Identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement.
- Analyzes manufacturing methods and processes in determining best solutions to problems, initiates needed changes to provide for continuous improvement and meet or exceed budgeted costs.
- Promotes employee involvement and fosters teamwork through effective communication and recognition to create an atmosphere of mutual trust and commitment to team goals.
- Works closely with the VP of Operations and other department heads on matters related to manufacturing operations and interacts formally and informally with production supervisors and other employees to achieve goals.
- Develop and set aggressive performance targets; maintain reports on key performance indicators (KPIs) and progress towards improvement goals. Assists in setting aggressive performance targets and challenging teams to consistently meet or exceed such goals.
- Lead initiatives aimed at process improvement, employing Lean and MDI methodologies/practices to enhance quality and reduce lead times.
- Work with various departments (e.g., production, quality, supply chain, product development, custom services, and sales) to ensure seamless integration of processes and alignment with strategic objectives.
- Advocate for the next internal customer and final customer.
- Maintain a strong focus on customer and rep needs and expectations, ensuring that value streams deliver high-quality products and services efficiently.
- Mentor and train team members on value stream management principles and continuous improvement practices.
- Mentor and train production supervisors, technicians, leads, and coordinators.
- Fosters a culture that embraces continuous improvement, empowers employees, lives our mission, vision, and values by providing development opportunities for individuals and teams.
- Maximizes the talents of employees by putting them in the right position to drive long term success for the individual, teams, and LSI.
- Create talent development strategies for the organization.
- Management Responsibilities o Provide leadership and employee development o Manages team performance; KPIs (quality, cost, delivery, safety, morale, and environment) o Ultimate responsibility for the work performed by direct reports o Ensure clarity regarding department goals
Desired Skills and Experience
- Bachelor’s Degree in operations, business management or equivalent level of experience required; Master’s degree/MBA preferred.
- At least 10 + years of experience in a manufacturing environment that is both labor and machine intensive.
- Experience with establishing foundational processes and accountability measures.
- Lean Manufacturing tools and quality improvement concepts experience.
- Experience interacting with customers.
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