Description
Plan, direct, and control all operations of a manufacturing plant, aligning people, processes, and resources to safely deliver products on time and to cost, quality, and volume targets.
- • Direct all plant production, maintenance, quality, and logistics activities.
- • Develop and manage plant budgets; approve capital and operating expenditures.
- • Approve production schedules, staffing plans, and work assignments to meet demand.
- • Monitor operations and lead cross-functional teams to resolve bottlenecks and downtime.
- • Recruit, train, coach, evaluate, and, when necessary, discipline plant personnel.
- • Implement inventory management and cost control programs to meet targets.
- • Track KPIs and maintain accurate production, labor, and compliance records.
- • Ensure product quality standards; oversee in-process testing and final release.
- • Implement production tracking/MES and analyze OEE, scrap, and yield to detect issues.
- • Collaborate with Engineering and R&D on process changes, new product introductions, and scale-up.
- • Oversee preventive and predictive maintenance, reliability efforts, and capital projects.
- • Stay current on manufacturing, safety, and quality best practices and technologies.
- • Coordinate with Procurement to secure materials, manage suppliers, and negotiate plant services.
- • Lead EHS programs, audits, and corrective actions to meet regulatory and company standards.
- • Establish, update, and enforce SOPs, work instructions, and standard work.
- • Implement emergency response, incident investigation, and business continuity procedures.
- • Maintain OSHA, EPA, and other compliance records and reporting.
- • Manage site permits, inspections, and renewals; monitor regulatory changes.
- • Drive continuous improvement (Lean/Six Sigma) to improve safety, cost, quality, and throughput.
- • Prepare and present plant performance reviews and improvement plans to leadership.
- • Lead and develop supervisors, engineers, and hourly teams to build a high-performance culture.
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
