Director of Manufacturing in Rice, Minnesota at Virnig Manufacturing, Inc.

The Director of Manufacturing provides strategic and operational leadership for manufacturing operations across multiple facilities in various states. This position is accountable for driving consistent performance in safety, quality, delivery, productivity, labor efficiency, and cost while building strong operational leadership and scalable processes across the organization. The Director develops and executes operational strategies aligned with the company’s mission, vision, and business objectives and partners closely with Engineering, Supply Chain, Sales, Finance, and People/HR to align manufacturing capacity and resources with company priorities and customer demand. This position is also responsible for developing operations leaders and cultivating a high-performing, collaborative, and accountable workplace culture.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary: $135,000 – $155,000 annually, depending on qualifications, experience, and demonstrated leadership capabilities.

Benefits Package Includes:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with employer match
• Generous PTO including vacation and paid holidays
• Short- and long-term disability coverage
• Life insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Opportunities for growth and development
• Bonus opportunity

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for manufacturing operations across all company facilities, establishing consistent expectations, priorities, and accountability for safety, quality, delivery, productivity, labor efficiency, and cost.
• Partner closely with Manufacturing Engineering and Design Engineering to ensure manufacturability, effective execution of design intent, resolution of production issues, and successful implementation of process improvements.
• Establish clear operational and production quality expectations and hold site leadership accountable for achieving established safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and cost objectives.
• Ensure that plant management and production employees maintain compliance with ISO standards and other quality systems.
• Ensure timely, high-quality product delivery by coordinating production capacity, resources, staffing, and priorities across facilities to align manufacturing output with customer demand.
• Define expectations and accountability for RMA and rework processes to meet customer quality and delivery expectations in coordination with Engineering, Customer Success, Planning, and Supply Chain.
• Oversee the development and maintenance of robust training and cross-training programs for production employees to build workforce flexibility, support succession planning, and ensure adherence to work instructions, quality standards, safety requirements, and productivity expectations.
• Partner closely with Supply Chain, Logistics, Inventory, and Fulfillment to ensure end-to-end operational alignment and readiness.
• Serve as a strategic operations partner to Sales, Engineering, Supply Chain, Finance, and other organizational functions to align operational capabilities with business priorities and customer requirements.
• Drive successful implementation of engineering changes and new product introductions through collaboration with Design Engineering, Production Control, Manufacturing Engineering, and Supply Chain.
• Establish, monitor, and drive improvement against key operational performance indicators, including safety, quality, on-time delivery, productivity, labor efficiency, overtime, scrap/rework, capacity utilization, and manufacturing cost. Use performance data, cost tracking, and variance analysis to identify trends, address performance gaps, and drive continuous improvement
• Provide leadership, oversight, and accountability for workplace safety performance and compliance across all manufacturing sites, ensuring alignment with OSHA requirements and internal safety policies and procedures.
• Build organizational bench strength by coaching, mentoring, developing, and evaluating Plant Managers and other operations leaders and identifying high-potential talent for future leadership roles.
• Evaluate and recommend changes to the operations organizational structure, leadership capacity, and staffing model to support company growth, operational effectiveness, and strategic objectives.
• Oversee departmental budgets, capital expenditures, and resource planning to support company growth and cost efficiency.
• Lead production capacity and workforce planning across facilities, partnering with site leadership and People/HR to evaluate staffing levels, skills, overtime, scheduling, labor utilization, and future workforce needs.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on standard work, operational efficiency, waste reduction, throughput, quality, labor productivity, and cost improvement across manufacturing locations.
• Establish consistent operating practices, performance expectations, and management routines across manufacturing locations while recognizing appropriate site-specific operational needs.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, open communication, continuous improvement, and employee engagement where concerns and improvement opportunities can be raised and addressed constructively.
• Oversee departmental budgets, capital expenditures, and resource planning to support company growth and cost efficiency.
• Regular travel between company manufacturing facilities is required.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Operations Management, Engineering, Business, or a related field preferred; equivalent combination of education and relevant manufacturing leadership experience will be considered.
• 8-10 years of progressive manufacturing operations leadership experience, including experience leading plant management or comparable operations leaders. Multi-site manufacturing leadership experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience driving measurable improvements in safety, quality, delivery, productivity, labor efficiency, and manufacturing cost.
• Experience with ERP/MRP systems, production planning, capacity management, and manufacturing performance metrics preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of production systems, quality standards, and lean manufacturing principles.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office software, including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
• Knowledge of skid steer and excavator attachments is a plus.

Skills:

• Leadership & Accountability: Strong leadership skills with the ability to establish clear expectations, develop leaders, address performance issues, and create accountability across multiple locations.
• Continuous Improvement: Strong understanding of Lean manufacturing, standard work, root-cause problem solving, waste reduction, and process improvement.
• Collaboration & Influence: Ability to build productive relationships and work effectively across Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Sales, Finance, People/HR, and other functions.
• Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate expectations, priorities, performance, and organizational changes effectively across all levels of the organization.
• Change Leadership: Ability to lead teams effectively through growth, organizational change, process improvement, and evolving business requirements.
• Conflict Resolution: Ability to address difficult issues promptly and constructively while maintaining accountability and productive working relationships.

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Ability to move about between offices and attend meetings which may include ascending or descending stairs.
• Ability to regularly work in and move throughout manufacturing environments, including production areas.
• Ability to travel regularly between company facilities, including overnight travel as business needs require.
• Hearing and speech ability to communicate effectively in person and over the phone using the English language.
• Ability to use hands and fingers to operate standard office equipment such as a computer keyboard, mouse, telephone, copier, and printer with precision and efficiency.

Work Environment

This position operates in both office and manufacturing environments. Regular interaction with production personnel and manufacturing processes is required. Occasional time spent in the shop testing, evaluating, and supporting products may be necessary.

VIRNIG MANUFACTURING IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, familial status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, disability, military service, veteran status, gender identity, status with regard to public assistance, or any other class protected by law. The company provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with known disabilities, unless doing so would cause undue hardship for the Company.