Director of Manufacturing – Transformers

Position title: Director of Manufacturing – Transformers Location: Onsite, Indiantown, Florida (Mon–Fri) Reports to: CEO

Position overview The Director of Manufacturing – Transformers provides strategic leadership over all transformer production activities, from core manufacturing and winding through, final assembly, and QA/QC. This role drives operational excellence, safety, quality, cost control, and on-time delivery, partnering with Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, to meet current and future business needs. The Director will develop and execute the manufacturing roadmap, capital plan, and workforce strategy to scale production while maintaining the highest standards of performance, reliability, and compliance.
Key responsibilities
• Strategic leadership: Define and execute the end-to-end transformer manufacturing strategy, including capacity planning, process optimization, technology deployment, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Operational governance: Oversee all transformer production functions to ensure safe, efficient, compliant, and on-time manufacturing performance.
• Financial stewardship: Develop and manage the manufacturing budget; identify and implement cost-reduction initiatives and capital investments with measurable ROI.
• Quality and compliance: Partner with QA/QC to ensure transformers meet all specifications, standards (ISO and customer requirements), and regulatory obligations; own the corrective action and CAPA process.
• Supply chain collaboration: Align with Supply Chain, Stores, and Procurement to secure materials, manage lead times, and minimize production interruptions.
• People and leadership: Build, mentor, and retain a high-performance manufacturing leadership team; set clear objectives, develop talent, and foster a safe, inclusive, and results-driven culture.
• Production planning and scheduling: Translate demand forecasts into production plans, material requirements, and staffing strategies; optimize line layouts and bottleneck resolution.
• Process optimization: Standardize best practices across core manufacturing, winding, autoclave operations, assembly, and testing; deploy lean principles, S&OP alignment, and downtime reduction.
• Reliability and maintenance: Ensure preventive and predictive maintenance programs are in place to maximize equipment uptime and reliability.
• Risk management: Identify operational risks (supply, quality, safety, equipment) and implement mitigation strategies with contingency plans.
• Performance metrics: Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as OEE, yield, rework rate, on-time delivery, scrap, safety incidents, and cost per unit.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Lead continuous improvement projects with Engineering, QA, Supply Chain, and Customer Service to drive product quality and customer satisfaction.
• Governance and reporting: Provide regular updates to executive leadership on production performance, risks, and recovery plans; lead monthly reviews of production status and CAPA activities.
Required qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related field; or 12+ years of equivalent experience with demonstrated progression to senior leadership roles.
• 10+ years of experience in transformer manufacturing or a closely related electrical/electronic manufacturing environment, including hands-on experience with transformer assembly, winding, autoclave operations, testing, and QA/QC.
• Proven track record in leading transformer production at the director or senior manager level; experience scale-building and implementing large-scale process improvements.
• Strong leadership and people-management skills with demonstrated ability to develop and retain a high-performance team.
• Excellent strategic thinking, analytical, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Superior communication and stakeholder management skills; ability to engage with customers, suppliers, and cross-functional teams at all levels.
• Financial acumen: budget development and cost-control experience, with ROI-focused decision making.
• Commitment to safety, quality, and regulatory compliance; working knowledge of ISO standards relevant to transformer manufacturing.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with competing priorities.
Preferred qualifications
• Master’s degree in a related field or MBA.
• Experience implementing automation, digital manufacturing, or MES/ERP integrations in transformer production.
• Six sigma or Lean certification and a demonstrated record of sustained process improvement.
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and maintenance effectiveness
• On-time delivery and schedule adherence
• First-pass yield and defect rate (QA/QC performance)
• Production cost per unit and cost reduction milestones
• Inventory turns and material waste
• Safety metrics (TRIR/LTI)
• CAPA closure rate and quality containment time
• Employee engagement and turnover in the manufacturing organization
Working expectations
• Onsite presence in Indiantown, FL, with standard M-F business hours and strategic flexibility as needed for critical projects or plant emergencies.
• Travel as needed for supplier visits, customer meetings, and cross-site manufacturing coordination.