Plant Manager

Build your Career with an Industry Leader

Headquartered in Cincinnati, LSI is a publicly held company traded over the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol LYTS. The company manufactures advanced lighting, graphics, and display solutions across strategic vertical markets. The company’s American-made products, which include non-residential indoor and outdoor lighting, print graphics, digital graphics, refrigerated and custom displays, help create value for customer brands and enhance the consumer experience. LSI also provides comprehensive project management services in support of large-scale product rollouts. The company employs approximately 3,000 people at 23 manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Canada. Additional information about LSI is available at www.lsicorp.com

We are looking for a Plant Manager to support our team in Columbus, Ohio.

Position Summary

The Plant Manager is responsible for leading all daily operations of our manufacturing facilities and ensuring excellence in safety, quality, delivery, productivity, cost control, and customer satisfaction. This role provides strategic and operational leadership across Production, Materials, Planning, Quality, Engineering, Maintenance, and supporting operational functions.

The successful candidate will possess strong leadership experience within electronics manufacturing, PCB assembly, contract manufacturing, or a similarly complex, high-mix manufacturing environment. This individual must effectively balance customer requirements, engineering changes, material constraints, production priorities, and delivery commitments while driving operational excellence.

The Plant Manager is accountable for maintaining compliance with the company's ISO 9001 Quality Management System and all applicable OSHA regulations while fostering a culture of Continuous Improvement, accountability, and employee engagement.

Essential Responsibilities

Plant Leadership & Operations

• Provide overall leadership and direction for all manufacturing operations.
• Establish and communicate priorities aligned with Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Customer Satisfaction.
• Develop and lead supervisors, group leaders, and operational staff.
• Set performance expectations and maintain accountability at all organizational levels.
• Promote a culture of ownership, teamwork, continuous improvement, and customer focus.
• Conduct regular operational reviews and plant communication meetings.
• Ensure appropriate staffing, training, and resource allocation to meet business objectives.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for significant operational issues.
• Foster employee engagement, accountability, teamwork, and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Ensure effective workforce planning, succession development, and talent retention strategies.

Production Management

• Direct all manufacturing activities to ensure customer requirements and production schedules are achieved.
• Ensure production plans are realistic, executable, and aligned with available resources.
• Monitor daily production performance and implement corrective actions as necessary.
• Identify and eliminate bottlenecks impacting throughput and efficiency.
• Optimize labor utilization, equipment performance, floor space, and manufacturing capacity.
• Establish and manage operational performance metrics.
• Drive improvements in productivity, throughput, labor efficiency, and equipment utilization.

Electronics Manufacturing Operations

Oversee manufacturing activities including:

• SMT and PCB Assembly
• Through-Hole Assembly
• PCB Inspection and Testing
• Cable and Wire Harness Assembly
• Box Build and System Integration
• Final Assembly and Functional Testing
• Material Kitting and Handling
• Rework and Repair Operations
• Packaging and Shipping

Additional responsibilities include:

• Partnering with Engineering, Continuous Improvement, and Quality teams to resolve manufacturing challenges.
• Ensuring engineering changes and product revisions are accurately implemented throughout production.
• Supporting New Product Introduction (NPI) and manufacturing readiness activities.

Materials, Planning & Supply Chain

• Collaborate with Business Managers and Supply Chain personnel to ensure material availability.
• Align production priorities with customer demand and inventory requirements.
• Coordinate with Planning and Customer Service teams regarding delivery commitments.
• Support inventory accuracy, inventory turns, and overall supply chain performance.

Quality Management

• Ensure compliance with the ISO 9001 Quality Management System.
• Promote a quality-first culture throughout the organization.
• Work closely with Quality leadership to monitor customer complaints, defects, corrective actions, and performance metrics.
• Drive root cause analysis and implementation of corrective and preventive actions.
• Support customer, regulatory, and ISO audits.
• Ensure adherence to documented procedures, work instructions, and quality standards.

Safety & Regulatory Compliance

• Maintain compliance with OSHA requirements and company safety policies.
• Foster a proactive safety culture throughout the facility.
• Ensure employees receive appropriate safety training and support.
• Lead investigations of workplace incidents and implement corrective actions.
• Identify and eliminate workplace hazards to reduce risk and improve employee safety.

Continuous Improvement

• Champion Continuous Improvement initiatives and operational excellence programs.
• Apply Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, 5S, and other improvement methodologies.
• Establish measurable improvement objectives and project plans.
• Reduce waste, scrap, rework, downtime, overtime, and non-value-added activity.
• Improve workflow, plant layout, and facility utilization.
• Encourage employee participation in improvement initiatives.

Financial & Cost Management

• Manage plant operating expenses within approved budgets.
• Monitor labor costs, overtime, scrap, rework, inventory, and other manufacturing expenses.
• Identify opportunities to reduce operating costs while maintaining quality and delivery standards.
• Support annual budgeting, forecasting, and capacity planning processes.
• Analyze financial performance and implement corrective actions when needed.
• Assist with quoting and pricing activities by providing manufacturing cost and capacity information.
• Evaluate and prioritize capital investments that improve plant performance and capacity.

Customer & Business Support

• Maintain a strong commitment to customer satisfaction and delivery performance.
• Participate in customer meetings involving operational performance and strategic initiatives.
• Provide accurate information regarding production status, capacity, quality, and delivery.
• Ensure customer concerns are addressed promptly and effectively.
• Partner with Sales, Engineering, Quality, and Customer Service to support successful program launches and ongoing customer relationships.

Maintenance & Facility Management

• Ensure facility infrastructure and manufacturing equipment are maintained to support operational requirements.
• Establish and monitor preventive maintenance programs.
• Minimize equipment downtime and maximize operational reliability.
• Support capital equipment purchases, upgrades, and facility improvements.
• Maintain a clean, organized, and professional manufacturing environment.
• Ensure compliance with facility, environmental, and utility requirements.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The Plant Manager will be evaluated on performance metrics including:

• Safety Performance
• On-Time Delivery (OTD)
• First Pass Yield (FPY), Scrap, and Rework
• Defects / PPM Performance
• Labor Efficiency and Productivity
• Productivity
• Production Throughput
• Equipment Downtime
• Inventory Accuracy and Turns
• Overtime Utilization
• Customer Complaints
• Employee Retention and Turnover

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing, Engineering, Operations, Business, Supply Chain, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of 7 years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience.
• Demonstrated success managing a manufacturing facility, plant, or major operational area.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong knowledge of production planning, materials management, quality systems, engineering support, and manufacturing processes.
• Experience working within an ISO 9001-certified environment.
• Working knowledge of OSHA regulations and manufacturing safety practices.
• Experience utilizing ERP/MRP systems.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing KPIs, cost management, and financial performance.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Electronics manufacturing, PCB assembly, or contract manufacturing experience.
• Experience in high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environments.
• Knowledge of SMT manufacturing processes.
• Box Build and System Integration experience.
• Experience with customer-specific manufacturing requirements.
• Lean Manufacturing and/or Six Sigma training or certification.
• APICS/ASCM, CPIM, CSCP, or related certification.
• Experience leading ISO audits.
• ERP/MRP implementation or optimization experience.
• Capital planning and facility expansion experience.
• New Product Introduction (NPI) experience.

Leadership Competencies

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• Strong Leadership Presence
• Accountability and Ownership
• Strategic Thinking
• Sound Decision-Making
• Operational Excellence
• Effective Prioritization
• Data-Driven Problem Solving
• Employee Development and Coaching
• Excellent Communication Skills
• Customer Focus
• Financial Acumen
• Continuous Improvement Mindset
• Adaptability and Change Leadership

Work Environment

This position is primarily based within a manufacturing facility and requires frequent interaction with production personnel, supervisors, engineers, quality professionals, materials and planning teams, customers, suppliers, and company leadership.

The Plant Manager must be comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-mix manufacturing environment and respond effectively to changing customer requirements, production challenges, material shortages, quality concerns, and delivery demands.

Compliance with all company safety policies and applicable OSHA requirements is required at all times.

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Paid time off

EEOC

LSI is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. LSI is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.