Director of Manufacturing

SUMMARY:

Driven by tremendous growth, a family-owned privately held manufacturing company located in the northern suburbs of Chicago has an immediate opening for a Director of Manufacturing. This individual will be a key partner, helping prepare the organization for future opportunities and growth.

The successful candidate will demonstrate that they are a system thinker who can think innovatively and institutionalize behaviors that result in delighted customers. The expectation is a forward-thinking approach to introducing and enhancing operating standard operating procedures with a mindset that drives continuous improvement in processes, quality, and customer satisfaction while creating a positive atmosphere that encourages others and produces results, providing and contributing to decision-making by facilitating the calculation of associated manufacturing, labor, and overhead costs while identifying, implementing, and reporting appropriate KPIs. This position will work directly with the corporate leadership team overseeing the Manufacturing Management and Engineering processes throughout the organization. This role will report to the Vice President of Operations.

Responsibilities:

• Provides strong leadership in recruiting, training, and developing leading Manufacturing talent, ensuring the team's high performance and productivity levels.
• Models and instills a commitment to company values, creates, and promotes a positive and supportive work environment, and fosters teamwork within the purchasing team and across departments.
• Creates a culture of continuous improvement for processes, systems, data, training, and people.
• Champions safety, security, and housekeeping principles at the company always.
• Interface regularly with the Engineering, Supply Chain, Customer Service, and Sales groups to meet or exceed production schedule and quality demands.
• Craft a strategy and execution plan to move manufacturing operations into a Lean organization structure.
• Establishes and implements best practices, processes, and procedures for the manufacturing team and ensures the team meets or exceeds critical targets with an emphasis on efficiency, accurate cost capture, and resource utilization.
• Develops manufacturing strategies for new and current product lines.
• Makes recommendations and helps qualify during the selection of suppliers.
• Work with Supply Chain and Engineering to ensure suppliers meet or exceed defined performance metrics and analyze and mitigate supplier risk as well as enhance working relationships and processes with contract manufacturers.
• Analyzes and evaluates manufacturing cost structure for overall value and fit for Incredible Technologies.
• Identifies and investigates the company’s current and potential manufacturing needs. Proactively develops competitive solutions and proposals to address needs. Builds and maintains strong internal relationships to ensure needs are understood and met.
• Collaborates and partners with cross-functional teams to facilitate optimal solutions for design and/or production challenges.
• Provides robust analysis and reporting of manufacturing quality, cost, delivery, and key manufacturing metrics.
• Stays abreast of new and evolving market trends, best practices, and industry-specific information. Monitors and analyzes trends related to manufacturing in the consumer products industry.
• Provides thought leadership, insights, and recommendations for optimizing manufacturing management processes.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Skills and Competencies:

• Bi-lingual (English/Spanish) – Fluent in speaking and writing is required.
• Preferred Certifications: SCM or APICS, Six Sigma Black Belt, Lean Management.
• Demonstrated experience executing organizational vision and strategy.
• Proven ability to develop and implement a strategic Manufacturing roadmap to build and achieve a best-in-class lean manufacturing organization.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, inspire, and motivate Manufacturing teams to accomplish goals effectively and efficiently.
• Proven experience building and improving processes and promoting quality.
• Superior process design skills and a proven track record of successfully designing processes for quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.
• Deep understanding of Manufacturing principles and processes, including cost calculation and application, scheduling, waste reduction, manual assembly, material movement
• Knowledge/Experience in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering disciplines.
• Advanced knowledge of materials management systems and processes.
• Ability to analyze bills of materials, master schedules, and excess and obsolete inventory reports collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information and trends.
• Ability to read and understand prints, engineering drawings, and specifications.
• Excellent project management skills, with the ability to work to deadlines and successfully lead multiple initiatives.
• Strong understanding of lean management and continuous improvement best practices, principles, and methodologies.
• Familiarity with compliance and audit standards relative to Manufacturing.
• Flexible and enthusiastic approach to work assignments and new development opportunities,
• Strong interpersonal skills; capable of building relationships with many internal stakeholders and suppliers. Able to effectively partner with cross-functional teams to coordinate activities and accomplish goals.
• Ability to maintain steady leadership throughout challenging deadlines, shifting priorities, and evolving requirements.
• Familiarity with Quality Management and Quality Management Systems.

Personal Attributes:

• Hands-on participant on a day-to-day basis while managing short-term and long-term strategic projects.
• Leadership skills with the ability to delegate, motivate, and inspire team members.
• Ability to inspire confidence and create trust with staff across functional departments.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
• High learning and adaptability to new technology, including business intelligence and Data Visualization tools.
• Solid business acumen, management, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• Willing to hire great people, reward, advance high performers, and correct and terminate underperformers.
• Enthusiastic and excited about the company, products, industry, and people
• Manages their own personal and professional network to expand their knowledge and relationship base.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree or higher (or equivalent experience) in Materials Management, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Engineering, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in Manufacturing operations leadership
• 5+ years of experience leading a team of manufacturing professionals.
• 5+ Years of Demonstrated ability to manage complex operations across multiple product lines and sites required.
• Able to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific, technical, financial, and legal documents.
• Proven results through the application of Lean and/or Six Sigma methods
• Proficiency in Manufacturing Resource Planning and Manufacturing Execution Systems such as Oracle or SAP
• Proficiency in Product Lifecycle Management tools and Design Control

Key Initiatives:

• Establish and lead a robust SOP process, coordinating with Engineering, Supply Chain, Customer Service, and Finance to evolve the existing process into one that supports the agile nature of the business and is documented in both English and Spanish.
• Clean up existing BOMs and Routings within the Oracle EBS ERP system to ensure correct components and labor costs are being captured.
• This individual must coach and mentor the team to become more proactive and professional. Develop more robust Manufacturing strategies.

More Important Details:

• The client offers a tremendously comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, generous 401k match with immediate eligibility, life insurance, tuition assistance, flexible work hours, and paid time off.
• Casual work environment.