Plant Manager

Job description: The Plant Manager is accountable for the overall operating performance of the manufacturing complexone of the companys largest, most complex, and most visible operations. This role leads two manufacturing facilities, offsite warehouse and a customer servicebuilding, ensuring these operations consistently deliver safe, reliable, highquality, and costcompetitive products that support both internal and external customers. The Defiance complex is the sole producer of marbles, fiberglass pipe covers, and several critical OEM and performance material product lines, supplying multiple plants and external customers. The Plant Manager must sustain operational excellence while leading significant capital investments including furnace rebuilds, automation initiatives, and potential expansion projects. Success in this role is defined by the ability to improve safety performance, increase engagement, raise throughput, improve quality, strengthen financial results, and execute capital projects on time and on budgetall while leading a unionized workforce of 600+ hourly and 60+ salaried employees in a highly visible, multisite environment. Key Performance Outcomes The Plant Manager is expected to:- Safety & Environmental Performance- Achieve yearoveryear improvement in safety metrics, ensuring the Defiance complex meets or exceeds safety, health, and environmental commitments.- Maintain full regulatory compliance while reducing risk through proactive hazard identification, strong safety culture, and disciplined operating practices.- Operational Excellence- Improve plant productivity, throughput, yield, and uptime through disciplined execution of lean manufacturing and continuous improvement systems.- Ensure Defiance remains a reliable, highquality supplier to internal plants and external customers, improving customer satisfaction and reducing quality escapes.- Balance shortterm operational demands with longterm process stability and asset reliability.- People & Culture- Build and sustain an engaged, accountable, performancedriven culture aligned with values.- Develop leaders and succession pipelines by coaching, setting clear expectations, and holding leaders accountable for results.- Effectively lead within a union environment, maintainingproductive labor relations while driving performance.- Financial Performance- Deliver annual operating results against budget and forecast, including cost, working capital, and inventory performance.- Translate financial analysis into actionable operating decisionsthat improve profitability and asset efficiency.- Capital & Strategic Execution- Lead major capital programsincluding furnace rebuilds, automation, and capacity expansionsdelivering projects safely, on schedule, and within approved funding.- Improve plant efficiency and strategic flexibility through disciplined evaluation and execution of capital investments.- Systems, Governance & Reporting- Establish and maintain robust operating metrics, management routines, and reporting systems that drive accountability and continuous improvement.- Partner with senior leadership to align site execution with both nearterm business priorities and longrange strategic objectives.- External Leadership- Serve as the primary representative of for the Defiance complex with community stakeholders, regulatory agencies, customers, and corporate leadership. Why This Role Stands Out:- Enterprise Critical Leadership Role: Lead one of JMs largest, most complex, and most visible manufacturing complexes with direct impact on networkwide supply and performance.- True Scale and Accountability: Full responsibility for a multisite, capitalintensive operation with 600+ hourly and 60+ salaried employees, multiple unions, and diverse product lines.- Transformation Opportunity: Drive major capital investmentsincluding furnace rebuilds, automation, and potential expansionshaping the future of the plant, not just maintaining it.- High Visibility, High Impact: Significant interaction with senior leadership and corporate stakeholders; success here is highly visible and careeraccelerating.- Career Defining Challenge: Ideal for a proven plant leader seeking complexity, influence, and the chance to leave a lasting operational and cultural legacy. Qualifications & Leadership Capabilities- Bachelors degree required (engineering or technical related degreepreferred) with 12+ years of progressive manufacturing leadershipexperience, including 5+ years as a Plant Manager or equivalentsenior site leadership role.- Demonstrated success leading large, complex, multilinemanufacturing operations with union and salaried workforces.- Proven ability to deliver measurable improvements in safety, productivity, quality, cost, and employee engagement.- Strong financial acumen with experience managing P&L performance andcapital programs.- Deep knowledge of continuous improvement disciplines (Lean, Six Sigma, Kepner Tregoe, or similar).- Experience with environmental permitting, regulatory agencies, andsafety program leadership.- Strong technical and mechanical aptitude with the ability tochallenge and improve manufacturing systems.- Highly effective communicator and collaborator, capable ofinfluencing at all levels of the organization.- Demonstrated ability to set clear direction, prioritize competingdemands, and drive disciplined execution.- Willingness to travel periodically (1129 days per year).