About the role
Plant Operations Manager – Industrial Manufacturing
On-site, Fort Worth, TX
Our client is seeking an accomplished manufacturing leader to take ownership of a substantial industrial operation and bring greater predictability, financial discipline, and accountability to plant performance. This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for someone who knows how to run a complex manufacturing floor through the numbers, connecting customer demand, production capacity, labor, inventory, and financial expectations into one executable operating plan. The right leader will have the scale and credibility to guide a large workforce while giving senior leadership a clear, data-backed view of where the operation is headed.
This Role Offers:
- High visibility with corporate and executive leadership, with the ability to directly influence operational and financial performance.
- A hands-on leadership environment where decisions are driven by measurable results and reliable operating data.
- Opportunity to strengthen processes, develop manufacturing leaders, and create a more predictable operating rhythm across a complex production environment.
Focus:
- Take ownership of plant performance across production, labor utilization, materials, equipment availability, inventory, and financial results.
- Translate customer demand and revenue expectations into executable production schedules, balancing capacity, staffing, materials, equipment, and delivery requirements.
- Build and manage budgets and forecasts covering revenue, labor hours, earned hours, headcount, inventory, and other key operating requirements, then drive performance against those commitments.
- Use KPIs including forecast accuracy, percent deviation, labor performance, schedule attainment, inventory accuracy, and throughput to identify issues and guide operating decisions.
- Leverage ERP and shop floor data to understand actual manufacturing performance, strengthen inventory controls, improve cycle count accuracy, and address operational variances.
- Lead and develop a large plant organization, establishing clear expectations around safety, accountability, productivity, execution, and measurable results.
- Identify and resolve constraints involving labor, materials, equipment, or process flow before they jeopardize production schedules or financial commitments.
- Partner across commercial, engineering, supply chain, and corporate functions while providing senior leadership with clear reporting on plant performance, forecasts, risks, and corrective actions.
Skill Set:
- 10+ years of progressive manufacturing and operations experience, including significant responsibility leading a plant or similarly complex production operation.
- Proven success managing a sizable manufacturing workforce, ideally including responsibility for 100 or more employees.
- Experience with the financial and operational complexity associated with a manufacturing business of approximately $50 million or more in annual activity is preferred.
- Strong financial and analytical acumen, including budgeting, forecasting, revenue planning, labor hours, earned hours, headcount planning, variance analysis, and operational reporting.
- Demonstrated ability to create credible operating forecasts, build production schedules, and consistently manage actual results against financial and operational commitments.
- Hands-on experience using ERP and manufacturing data to improve production performance, inventory accuracy, cycle counting, labor utilization, and decision-making.
- Background in steel fabrication, structural steel, heavy steel products, fabricated building systems, oil and gas equipment, or another complex heavy manufacturing environment.
- Experience within AISC and/or ISO 9001 environments is highly preferred. A bachelor's degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, business, management, or a related discipline.
About Blue Signal:
Blue Signal is an award-winning, executive search firm specializing in various specialties. Our recruiters have a proven track record of placing top-tier talent across industry verticals, with deep expertise in numerous professional services. Learn more at bit.ly/46Gs4yS
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