Director of Operations

POSITION SUMMARY:
Reporting to the VP/GM, Xerxes, the Director, Operations is accountable for Operations Excellence in the realm of Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain, while fostering a culture of safety, quality, continuous improvement and lean manufacturing. 
Leading ~5 direct reports and up to 600 indirect reports, the incumbent will be accountable for manufacturing network execution and financial performance, as well as optimization of manufacturing processes, supply chain processes, inventory controls, and associated systems.  They oversee quality assurance and quality control processes necessary to delight customers, drive continuous improvement across processes/systems, and ensure continued adherence to regulatory and industry standards.  The position will develop and implement strategic objectives and KPIs, fostering a culture of excellence and accountability throughout the manufacturing network.
As the senior leader in Supply Chain, this role will have oversight to the Xerxes Logistics, Planning and Procurement departments and will be accountable for the development of the Xerxes supply chain strategy, including organizational design, process standardization, managing and creating 3rd party vendor relationships, negotiations (globally), and the mentorship of the Supply Chain team.  Their objective is to maintain a robust supply chain, strengthen business continuity, and reduce business risk and supporting lowest unit cost initiatives.  
The position will also provide oversight to modernization, expansion, optimization, and sourcing priorities through a focused partnership with the Director, Strategic Programs. They drive the diligence and planning process, developing comprehensive business case deliverables, including ROI objectives, budget and timeline.  

DUTIES:

Strategic Supply Chain, Continuous Improvement, Manufacturing and Quality Leadership
- Supply Chain:

• Oversees all procurement processes in support of direct and indirect goods and services, maintenance support, and other procurement activities as required, and execute the strategic procurement planEstablish a formal cost improvement / cost mitigation program with reporting aligned with the Finance organization.
• Accountable for tank planning performance across all tank manufacturing sites to maximize business profitability, while managing network capacity, customer mix, product mix, site resourcing and other plant constraints/variables.  
• Accountable for logistical operations pertaining to customer shipments across all tank manufacturing sites.  The position is responsible for the realization of profitable service operations, while meeting customer On-Time-Delivery (OTD) commitments.
• Establish and implement ongoing supplier KPIs for performance evaluation of the supply base.
• Responsible for supplier quality management program for Xerxes, with the objective of strengthening business continuity, reducing business risk and supporting lowest unit cost initiatives.
• Evolve the organization to optimize resource effectiveness across Procurement and Contracting in support of Enterprise wide Direct and Indirect procurement needs and standardization initiatives.
• Consults with executive leadership and other relevant stakeholders to align on priorities, coordinate activities and achieve objectives.   Develops and maintains critical vendor and stakeholder relationships required to support programs and projects.

- Manufacturing: 

• Directs manufacturing network to meet monthly/quarterly/annual production commitments and corresponding financial performance. Accountable for capacity and resource planning, consolidated operating expenses, inventory programs and maintenance programs.  
• Confirms operational financial metrics are in control.  Ensures assigned sites are reviewing and maintaining accurate standard costs, and managing fixed and variable costs to meet plan.  Understand variances and implement mitigation measures to minimize impact to profitability.  Reviews and evaluates operating results of plants regularly, comparing against established budgets, targets and objectives.  Escalates out of control conditions and implements recovery plans with urgency to enhance outcomes.  Systematically reports results to senior leadership
• Provide leadership, mentoring and performance management to the Operations Leadership team.  Responsible for talent management, ensuring strong site leadership resources are in place.  
• Working with Manufacturing Technology & Automation Group (and other stakeholders as appropriate), formulate and prioritize strategic programs (CAPEX, OPEX) to achieve business objectives.  Manage site leadership teams to plan and execute programs.  Ensure projects are correctly scoped, appropriately resourced and delivered on time.  Actively communicates with business leadership on developments, escalations and risk management.  

- Quality & Continuous Improvement:

• Accountable for quality performance of assigned manufacturing sites.  Ensures robust systems, metrics and monitoring programs are established and in control. Reviews and evaluates operating results of plants regularly, comparing against targets and objectives.  Works collaboratively with supply chain and product engineering to assess and manage suppliers to ensure delivered quality meets expectations and risk is minimized.  Escalates out of control conditions and implements recovery plans with urgency to enhance outcomes.  Systematically reports results to senior leadership.
• Accountable for CI maturity across tank manufacturing sites with focus on process design and capability, systems, tools and automation.  Promote continuous improvement mindset, the adoption of best practices and drive intelligent standardization across manufacturing sites.  Surface pain points and opportunities from functional team and broader organization.   Report on quality metrics, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives to executive leadership.
• Formulate and prioritize strategic CI programs (CAPEX, OPEX) to achieve business objectives.   Ensure projects are correctly scoped, appropriately resourced and delivered on time.  

 
Human Capital 

• Lead, inspire, mentor, and motivate employees to drive optimal performance and maintain strong morale
• As a hands-on coach for direct reports, in coordination with Human Resources, identify and develop the capability and skill set of direct reports to achieve business results. Manage performance and encourage development activities, providing feedback and guidance.
• Governance and Compliance
• Accountable for operational governance, maintaining robust systems, key performance indicator (KPI) dashboards, and other scorecards as necessary. Ensures  operational leaders are actively monitoring/measuring performance with deviations from target and unfavorable trends escalated and actioned with correct urgency. 
• Ensure technical information and other relevant domain knowledge deliverables are captured, organized, and retained to ensure business continuity.  Complete postmortem on projects as required to evaluate deliverables, budget/timeline performance and ensure planned project benefits and ROI is achieved.
• Accountable for capital expenditure governance for Xerxes, consolidating contributions across all businesses/functions and reviewing monthly to ensure congruence with business plan.  Support CAPEX reporting to satisfy requirements for monthly, quarterly and other ad hoc requests from ELT, Mattr leadership and Board of Directors.    
• Work with appropriate stakeholders to drive compliance with HSE, labor, regulatory, insurance and other governance requirements. Support compliance required to maintain or secure critical certifications for the business .  Support development of relevant standards, procedures and policies.  Lead and/or participate in relevant audits as appropriate.  Support technology partnerships as assigned.

HSE Leadership

• Serves as HSE leader for organization, responsible for driving Mattr’s Incident & Injury Free (IIF) philosophy, with focus on identifying and eliminating risk across the organization.   Encourages a safety-first mindset and leading safety behaviors by actively engaging team members, contractors, partners, suppliers and other stakeholders. 
• Ensures team members are following HSE standards and/or best practices.  Responsible for ensuring team members are fully trained and competent to execute activities across assigned functions.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Minimum 15 years of manufacturing leadership experience, with track record of process optimization and productivity transformations 
• Holding a Bachelor's Degree or equivalent preferably in supply chain or engineering. 
• Holding Master's Degree in Business Administration - preferred. 
• Strong practical experience with Lean, Six Sigma, JIT, TQM, Kaizen, DDMRP and other related methodologies
• Expertise in operations management, process improvement, supply chain optimization
• Strong financial acumen 
• Proficiency in manufacturing and supply chain management software and tools, such as ERP/MRP systems, inventory management software, and demand planning tools.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret and make data driven decisions
• Chartered designation an asset (Engineering, Project Management, Supply Chain, Lean Manufacturing)
• Strong leadership and team management capabilities. Leadership experience with multi-functional teams.  Strong mentoring capabilities. Ability to lead, drive and inspire required change in the organization to execute on strategic direction.  
• Superior business and engineering acumen, planning/organizing, strategic thinking, communication and presentation skills.  Ability to work and collaborate effectively with executives and functional leaders to influence change and improve performance. 
• Strong knowledge of Lean manufacturing principles and Operations Management (theory and practical systems), supply chain management/procurement, project management principles.  Continuous improvement mindset which aims to challenge status quo.
   

Xerxes, a division of Mattr is the largest manufacturer of underground fiberglass storage tanks in the world. With nearly 40 years of direct industry expertise, we are recognized as both a leading innovator and a trusted brand. We are always looking to add great people to the Mattr family, people whose skills and goals match our mission and values. If you are looking for an opportunity to work in a dynamic team environment where integrity and passion drives operational excellence, Mattr is for you!

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. We thank all applicants for their interest, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted. All recruiting activities are managed via our applicant tracking system. Please apply online to be considered for this opportunity.

Mattr is an equal opportunity employer.