Director, Production Operations
Nordic Ware
- Saint Louis Park, MN
- $90,000-120,000 per year
- Permanent
- Full-time
- Provide leadership for all manufacturing operations, overseeing production managers and their departments to ensure production goals, efficiency, and company objectives are consistently met.
- Collaborate with senior leadership to develop and implement long- and short-term manufacturing plans, policies and procedures that support safety, quality, productivity, and on-time delivery.
- Partner with Human Resources and staffing agencies to ensure appropriate staffing levels aligned with projected production volumes.
- Hire, train, coach, and manage high-performing leaders in Production Operations, instilling a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
- Build and sustain collaborative, high-performing production teams by assessing talent, developing skills, and recognizing contributions to productivity, efficiency, and process improvement.
- Champion a positive, equitable workplace culture that enhances teamwork, morale, and employee retention.
- Support digital transformation throughout the manufacturing departments.
- Maintain operational oversight through analytics, reporting, staff meetings, and direct engagement to ensure workflow coordination, schedule adherence, and optimal use of resources.
- Analyze productivity, efficiency, and downtime data to drive data-informed improvements and regularly report performance to senior management.
- Lead timely resolution of manufacturing issues by guiding staff in identifying root causes and implementing corrective actions.
- Develop, document, and maintain standardized procedures for all production operations, including start-up and shut-down processes.
- Ensure a high level of performance is maintained based on company objectives, customer service, efficiency, scrap, labor costs, machine downtime, housekeeping, procedures/systems, etc.
- Partner with the Safety and Environmental Manager to ensure full compliance with OSHA regulations and maintain a safety-first culture.
- Work closely with Quality Control and department managers to ensure products meet established standards, troubleshoot quality issues, and support continuous quality improvement.
- Oversee documentation and training efforts to ensure operational consistency and staff development.
- Instill continuous improvement and cost savings into the Manufacturing culture using consistent processes supported by data analytics.
- Work collaboratively with Maintenance and Engineering on capital projects, equipment acquisition, repairs, renovations, and plant layout improvements.
- Represent the company professionally during customer audits and regulatory inspections.
- Perform other duties as assigned
- Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing, Business Administration, Operations Management, or a related field preferred
- 8+ years of experience in manufacturing, production, or operations.
- Proven track record in managing teams, meeting production targets and improving processes
- Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or Kaizen methodologies is preferred. Skilled in identifying inefficiencies and implementing process improvements.
- Excellent analytical, problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
- Experience in planning, executing, and overseeing production projects.
- Proficiency in using KPIs, dashboards, analytics tools, tier meetings and visual management boards.
- Familiarity with Microsoft Suite, ERP systems (e.g., Epicor, SAP, Oracle), production planning software, and quality control systems.
- Knowledge of OSHA regulations and other industry-specific safety standards.
- Strong organizational and time management skills required
- Must be able to commute locally for site visits or meetings, occasionally traveling out of town periodically for training or conferences
- Ability to move around the plant, functioning well in both an office environment and in various types of manufacturing environments. Includes daily work in an office on a computer.
- Ability to disseminate information so others can understand.
- Ability to understand information communicated by others.
- Ability to observe activity near and far with or without corrective lenses.
- Must have adequate field of vision, color vision, and depth perception.
- Ability to move up to 30 pounds occasionally.
- Ability to work in fluctuating temperature environments.
- High noise level: hearing protection required on the production floor.
- Exposure to airborne particles: eye protection required on the production floor.