Senior Director of Operations – Indianapolis Build the Operation. Lead the Team. Drive Performance. Position Summary Steel & O’Brien Manufacturing, a manufacturer of stainless-steel flow-control components for the Data Center Cooling (DCC) market, is seeking a Senior Director of Operations to lead the startup, scale-up, and ongoing performance of our Indianapolis facility. Reporting to the Vice President of Operations, this leader will own site performance across safety, quality, delivery, cost, capacity, and customer demand. The role oversees assembly, fabrication and welding, machining, polishing, warehouse, and related operations while leading the Production Manager and other salaried site leaders. This is a hands-on leadership opportunity to build a high-performing operation from startup through full-scale production. What You’ll Do Facility Startup & Operations - Lead the Indianapolis facility from equipment installation and startup through production ramp and stable operations.
- Develop and execute launch plans covering staffing, training, equipment readiness, material flow, standard work, and production controls.
- Translate customer demand into capacity, labor, equipment, floor-space, and operating requirements.
- Identify startup risks and lead corrective and recovery plans to protect customer commitments.
- Own daily manufacturing execution across assembly, fabrication/welding, machining, polishing, finishing, warehouse, and related functions.
- Align labor, materials, tooling, maintenance, Quality, and Engineering resources to meet production schedules and customer commitments.
Operational Excellence - Drive Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost (SQDC) performance and accountability.
- Establish KPIs and standards for throughput, cycle time, schedule attainment, labor efficiency, scrap, rework, and on-time delivery.
- Implement tiered daily management, capacity planning, constraint reviews, standard work, and recovery actions.
- Lead corrective and preventive actions for quality, productivity, safety, and delivery issues.
- Drive Lean and continuous improvement while supporting new product introductions, manufacturing transfers, and other DCC network initiatives.
- Partner with Supply Chain, Planning, Engineering, Quality, EHS, Maintenance, HR, Finance, and Sales.
Safety & Quality - Ensure operations meet company, customer, regulatory, EHS, and quality requirements.
- Partner with EHS and Quality on training, audits, investigations, corrective actions, and process controls.
- Ensure fabrication processes meet specifications, inspection requirements, weld qualifications, and quality-system standards.
- Maintain a strong production-floor presence and drive timely containment and resolution of safety and quality concerns.
People Leadership - Lead and develop managers, supervisors, technical professionals, and production teams.
- Directly manage the Production Manager and other assigned site leaders, with broader responsibility through indirect reports.
- Partner with HR on staffing, organizational structure, performance management, succession planning, cross-training, and leadership development.
- Build a culture of accountability while clearly communicating priorities, performance, risks, and recovery plans.
Financial & Resource Management - Manage operating budgets, labor plans, capital requests, and cost-improvement initiatives.
- Evaluate equipment, automation, tooling, and facility investments.
- Partner with Finance and Supply Chain on forecasts, inventory, conversion costs, variances, and business cases.
How Success Is Measured - Performance will be measured against operating-plan and facility-ramp targets, including:
- Facility startup and ramp execution
- Safety and quality performance
- Production schedule attainment and on-time delivery
- Capacity, throughput, and labor productivity
- Budget, cost, and productivity performance
Inventory and operational discipline - Team development, staffing, retention, and succession
- New product introductions and manufacturing transfers
- Continuous improvement and sustained process gains
What You Bring - Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business, Supply Chain, or related field required; master’s preferred.
- 10+ years of progressive manufacturing or operations experience with significant leadership of managers and multi-level teams.
- Proven success launching, expanding, or turning around a manufacturing operation while meeting customer and financial commitments.
- Significant experience in metal fabrication, welding, assembly, or comparable engineered manufacturing; stainless steel and DCC experience preferred.
- Strong knowledge of production planning, capacity analysis, Lean manufacturing, standard work, structured problem-solving, and performance management.
- Experience with ERP systems and operational dashboards; Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Power BI preferred.
- Working knowledge of manufacturing quality systems, safety requirements, and equipment/process validation.
- Strong financial, leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
- Lean, Six Sigma, PMP, or supply-chain certification is a plus.
Culture We value clear communication, collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement. This leader will model our values of Integrity, Trust, Creativity & Courage, Teamwork, and Excellence. Working Conditions - Fast-paced startup and manufacturing environment with regular production-floor presence.
- Exposure to noise, moving equipment, fabrication processes, and varying temperatures.
- Requires standing, walking, sitting, and computer use for extended periods.
- Occasional lifting up to 25 lbs.
- Travel to company, customer, or supplier locations up to approximately 25%.
Attendance Requirements: Attendance on a regular, consistent basis is mandatory. Accommodations: Essential functions of this position may include lifting, reaching, bending, stooping, twisting, kneeling, crouching, carrying objects, ascending or descending stairs, and commuting to the work location. If you are an individual with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to perform the essential job functions under the Americans with Disabilities Act or other state or federal law, you may request an accommodation below. Accommodations requested:
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