A growing flexible packaging manufacturer is seeking an experienced Plant Director to lead all aspects of plant operations in a fast-paced, multi-shift manufacturing environment. This hands-on leadership role is responsible for driving safety, quality, productivity, delivery performance, employee development, operational excellence, and cost control.
The Plant Director will oversee daily manufacturing operations, lead through department managers and supervisors, and partner closely with Quality, Maintenance, Engineering, Planning, Supply Chain, Shipping, Human Resources, and senior leadership. The ideal candidate is a highly visible leader who thrives on the production floor, develops strong teams, and uses data-driven decision-making to improve plant performance and achieve business objectives.
Responsibilities:
Plant Operations & Production Leadership
- Lead daily plant operations across multiple production departments and shifts.
- Translate production schedules and customer requirements into clear operational plans.
- Ensure adequate staffing, materials, equipment, tooling, and technical support are available to meet production goals.
- Maintain a strong presence on the production floor and engage regularly with supervisors, operators, and department leaders.
- Coordinate responses to production challenges, equipment breakdowns, staffing issues, quality concerns, and material shortages.
- Drive accountability and ensure timely resolution of operational issues.
Safety, Quality & Compliance:
- Champion a strong safety culture and ensure compliance with all company safety standards and regulatory requirements.
- Enforce PPE, lockout/tagout, machine guarding, GMP, sanitation, and food safety practices.
- Partner with Quality and Safety teams to maintain audit readiness and address corrective actions.
- Lead root cause investigations and implement sustainable corrective and preventive actions.
- Ensure accurate operational documentation and recordkeeping.
Continuous Improvement & Performance Management:
- Develop and manage key performance indicators (KPIs) related to safety, quality, productivity, labor utilization, downtime, delivery performance, waste, and operating costs.
- Analyze operational data to identify trends, risks, and improvement opportunities.
- Lead continuous improvement initiatives that increase efficiency, reduce waste, improve reliability, and enhance throughput.
- Standardize best practices through SOPs, training programs, visual management tools, and operational routines.
- Monitor effectiveness of improvement efforts and sustain long-term results.
Leadership & Talent Development:
- Lead, mentor, and develop managers, supervisors, and frontline leaders.
- Establish clear expectations, performance standards, and accountability measures.
- Support recruitment, onboarding, workforce planning, employee engagement, and retention initiatives.
- Build succession plans and cross-training programs to strengthen organizational capability.
- Foster a culture of teamwork, communication, ownership, and continuous learning.
Financial & Cross-Functional Management:
- Manage labor productivity, overtime, waste, rework, downtime, and operational spending.
- Collaborate with Planning, Supply Chain, Engineering, and Maintenance to ensure production readiness and customer satisfaction.
- Support budgeting, forecasting, capital improvement projects, and cost reduction initiatives.
- Provide regular operational updates and performance reports to executive leadership.
Requirements:
- 7+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience.
- Minimum 3 years managing supervisors, managers, or multiple manufacturing departments.
- Proven success leading safety, quality, production, delivery, labor, and cost performance initiatives.
- Strong manufacturing operations background within a high-volume production environment.
- Experience implementing KPIs, performance metrics, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement programs.
- Knowledge of ERP, MRP, manufacturing reporting, maintenance, or production management systems.
- Strong leadership, communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to work fully on-site and maintain a significant presence throughout the manufacturing facility.
- Experience managing labor productivity, operational budgets, overtime, downtime, waste, and cost controls.
- Manufacturing industry experience is required.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Supply Chain, Business Administration, or a related field.
- Experience in flexible packaging, flexographic printing, converting, plastics, film, food packaging, or related manufacturing industries.
- Knowledge of printing, lamination, slitting, pouching, quality systems, and maintenance operations.
- Familiarity with SQF, GMP, HACCP, OSHA, FDA-regulated manufacturing, and food-contact packaging standards.
- Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or other continuous improvement certifications.
- Experience leading multi-shift manufacturing operations.
- Bilingual English/Spanish preferred.
Ideal Candidate Profile:
- Visible, hands-on manufacturing leader.
- Strong floor presence and operational awareness.
- Data-driven yet practical decision maker.
- Skilled in building accountability and developing leadership teams.
- Organized, structured, and process-oriented.
- Collaborative across departments and functions.
- Resilient under pressure and able to manage competing priorities.
- Financially minded with a strong understanding of labor, productivity, waste, downtime, and profitability drivers.
Location: North Bergen NJ
Salary: $250K