Plant Leader in CHAMPLIN, Minnesota at States Manufacturing LLC

Job Summary:

We are seeking a Plant Leader to provide hands-on leadership for all production operations within the manufacturing facility. This role is responsible for driving safe, efficient, and high-quality manufacturing while ensuring production schedules, customer delivery commitments, and operational performance objectives are consistently achieved. The Plant Leader will lead the production organization, develop frontline leadership, drive accountability, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. This individual will work closely with Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, and other cross-functional teams to remove barriers to production and improve overall plant performance.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead all day-to-day production operations, ensuring the safe, efficient, and timely manufacture of products while meeting customer expectations for quality, cost, and delivery.
• Provide direct leadership, coaching, and development to production supervisors, team leads, and manufacturing employees. Foster a culture of accountability, teamwork, engagement, and continuous improvement.
• Serve as the primary operational leader for the facility, ensuring production resources, staffing, equipment, and materials are effectively aligned to meet daily and long-term production goals.
• Drive production performance through effective scheduling, labor planning, capacity management, and execution of manufacturing priorities.
• Partner closely with Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, Maintenance, and Planning to proactively resolve production issues, eliminate bottlenecks, and improve manufacturing flow.
• Champion Lean Manufacturing principles by identifying waste, improving standard work, implementing visual management, facilitating continuous improvement initiatives, and driving sustainable process improvements.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action efforts to improve safety, quality, productivity, and operational reliability.
• Monitor and drive key performance indicators (KPIs), including Safety, Productivity, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), First Pass Yield, Scrap, Labor Efficiency, On-Time Delivery, Schedule Attainment, and Inventory Accuracy.
• Ensure compliance with all safety, environmental, regulatory, and company policies while promoting a culture where safety is the highest priority.
• Collaborate with Human Resources on employee development, performance management, succession planning, and workforce planning to build a high-performing manufacturing organization.
• Participate in strategic planning, capital improvement projects, facility initiatives, and operational planning to support business growth and long-term manufacturing excellence.
• Establish clear expectations, communicate business objectives, and maintain a visible leadership presence on the production floor through daily engagement with employees.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, Operations Management, or related field (or equivalent experience for internal applicants)
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in manufacturing, operations, plant management, or a related industrial environment.
• Demonstrated success implementing lean practices in high-mix, low-volume environments
• Strong analytical, communication, and team-building abilities
• Knowledge of Lean tools (Kanban, SMED, 5S, Kaizen, A3)
• Ability to interpret data and make data-driven decisions.
• Experience working with ERP/MRP systems and manufacturing dashboards

Preferred:

• ISO experience
• Knowledge of ERP software, PDM software (Vantage, SharePoint)
• Six Sigma Green Belt is highly desirable

Skills and Competencies:

• Leadership & Team Development
• Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement
• Analytical & Data-Driven Decision Making
• Communication & Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Problem-Solving & Root-Cause Analysis
• Planning, Organization & Prioritization
• Change Management & Process Discipline
• Safety & Quality Focus
• Operational Excellence Mindset
• Ability to Drive Results in Fast-Paced Environments

#LI-TV1