Vice President of Operations

About Pierce Pacific
Since 1931, Pierce Pacific has designed, engineered, manufactured, and supported customized heavy equipment attachments for some of the most demanding applications in heavy industry including forestry, mining, demolition, material handling, and more. Our team of professional designers and engineers includes specialists in hydraulics, electrical and control systems, mechanical design and structures.

We've built our reputation the same way for nearly a century: reliable products, rigorous standards, and standing behind our work long after delivery. "Pierce Built, Pierce Backed" isn't a marketing line. It's how we operate.
We're looking for a Vice President of Operations who brings that same standard to the shop floor.

Role Summary
This is a senior leadership position with full accountability for manufacturing operations at our Portland facility, a $30 million revenue business producing highly engineered, custom-built equipment. You'll own, production control, purchasing, engineering, operations, and environmental health and safety, and you'll report directly to the CEO.

The ideal candidate is a visible, hands-on leader who sets high standards for safety, accountability, and performance. This person brings strong business judgment, a disciplined approach to lean operations, credibility with technical and production teams, and the ability to translate strategy into measurable operational and financial results. Success in this role means building a safety-first culture, advancing lean manufacturing, delivering on time, and driving sustainable margin expansion

What You'll Be Responsible For

• Leading day-to-day manufacturing operations, including production, production control, scheduling, purchasing, engineering support, maintenance coordination, and environmental health and safety. 
• Building and maintain a safety-first culture that ensures compliance with company policies and all applicable regulatory requirements while reducing risk, incidents, and near misses. 
• Driving lean manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives across the business, including waste reduction, flow improvement, standard work, process standardization, visual management, root cause problem-solving, and productivity improvement. 
• Owning operational performance metrics for safety, quality, delivery, inventory, labor efficiency, scrap, productivity, and cost, and implement actions that improve results. 
• Partnering with finance and commercial leadership to improve gross margins through labor efficiency, material cost control, sourcing discipline, throughput improvement, pricing support, and reduced rework and warranty exposure. 
• Overseeing production control processes to align capacity, materials, labor, and schedules with customer demand and revenue objectives. 
• Leading purchasing and supplier performance efforts to improve cost, quality, delivery, and supply continuity while supporting strategic sourcing and inventory optimization. 
• Partnering with engineering to support manufacturability, product quality, design for production, new product introduction, and timely resolution of technical issues affecting operations. 
• Developing and managing operating budgets, capital expenditure plans, staffing plans, and operational forecasts that support business goals and return on investment. 
• Building, coaching, and developing a high-performing operations organization with clear accountability, strong communication, and succession planning. 
• Providing timely and accurate reporting to executive leadership on plant performance, key risks, improvement initiatives, and progress against financial and operational goals. 

Key Performance Priorities

• Improve safety performance and strengthen compliance through proactive leadership, training, and accountability.
• Increase plant throughput and on-time delivery while reducing lead times and schedule disruption.
• Drive year-over-year margin improvement through labor productivity, material cost reduction, inventory control, and waste elimination.
• Elevate and expand lean systems and management routines that create sustainable operational discipline and continuous improvement.
• Improve cross-functional coordination among operations, purchasing, engineering, and finance to support profitable growth.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 10 or more years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience, including ownership of multi-functional operations in an industrial or heavy equipment environment.
• Demonstrated results across production, production control, purchasing, engineering coordination, and EHS in a manufacturing setting.
• Strong working knowledge of lean manufacturing, continuous improvement methods, operational KPI management, and problem-solving.
• A track record of improving margins through cost control, labor productivity, sourcing discipline, and operational execution.
• Strong financial acumen, including budgeting, capital planning, labor and overhead management, inventory performance.
• The ability to lead effectively at every level, from the shop floor to the executive table.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MBA, M.S. in Engineering, or related)
• Experience in heavy equipment attachments, construction, agricultural, or adjacent capital equipment industries
• Experience with ERP-driven planning, scheduling, and materials management systems preferred
• Formal lean / Six Sigma certification or training

Why Pierce Pacific
Your expertise will have a direct impact here, on the people, the product, and the bottom line. We're a growing organization that invests in the people who invest in us, with competitive compensation, profit sharing, medical, dental, and vision benefits, a 401(k) with company match, PTO, and observed holidays.

If you've built lean operations, earned credibility on the shop floor, and want to do meaningful work for a company with 90 years of proof behind it, we'd like to talk.

Benefits

• 401(k) with matching
• Medical, dental, vision insurance
• Short- and Long-term disability insurance
• Life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Flexible spending accounts
• Generous Paid Time Off 
• Observed holidays
• Employee discounts

Pierce Pacific Manufacturing is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and employment process. If you need an accommodation, please contact us at [email protected] or (503) 808-9110.