Director of U.S. Operations - APC

To direct the operations, production, and engineering for APC’s U.S. Manufacturing systems by performing the following duties personally or through subordinate managers. JOB DUTIES: Responsible for overall direction, coordination, and evaluation of APC’s U.S. manufacturing facilities, collections systems, and engineering teams. Interact, visit, and communicate with various vendors regarding necessary changes to improve operations at APC plants. Direct operations, distribution, and warehousing in accordance with policies, principles and procedures established by APC. Confer with sales and representatives of associated industries to evaluate and promote growth and efficiency in APC operations. Develop plans for supply and efficient use of materials, machines, and employees. Review production costs and product quality, maximize yields, modify production and inventory control programs to maintain and enhance profitable operation of APC’s U.S. Operations. Research and assess the viability of new technologies to improve operations and bring new products capabilities on-line for APC plants and collections systems. Participate in strategic planning process by reviewing APC operations and recommend budgets for both raw material and capital expenditures. Work with plant management to submit necessary requests for capital investment in accordance with established budgets, process, and return-on-investment requirements; present capital investment projects to COO and as necessary to the APC Leadership Team. Interview, hire, train, plan, assign, direct work; appraise performance, reward and discipline employees, address complaints and resolve problems, and provide overall leadership to APC U.S. Plant Managers and associated personnel. Ensures all training is provided and relevant measurable objectives are set for all Plant Management teams at all manufacturing facilities. Mid-year and end of year reviews to be conducted for all U.S. Operations Management. Monitors and takes necessary action to ensure safe work conditions exist at all APC U.S. production facilities. Insure quality standards and bio-safety standards are met and exceeded for all products, plants, and collections sites. Monitor and improve capacity to meet the needs of the on-going business. Provide operational guidance for our 2 Canadian joint venture plants. JOB REQUIREMENTS: Knowledge of manufacturing, engineering, and operations principles and ability to apply those principles to production management function. Ability to effectively communicate and work with management, R&D, QA, Procurement, Sales and Customer Service as well as with customers and other business contacts. Ability to maintain and manage corporate confidential information as well as confidential customer information. Knowledge of organizational methods and the ability to manage multiple tasks/projects simultaneously. Ability to assist with special or ongoing projects as instructed by senior management. Ability to read, analyze, and interpret professional journals, technical procedures, or government guidelines. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from internal individuals/groups, suppliers, customers, and the public. Ability to analyze data and utilize lean and 6-sigma techniques to drive optimization and problem solving. Ability to think strategically and at the same time solve practical problems across a variety of situations. JOB QUALIFICATIONS: Education: Bachelor’s Degree desirable. BS or MBA in operation management and/or engineering preferred. Experience: 8-10 years’ experience required, 5 years production / plant management preferred. LGI’s foundation began in 1916 as the Lauridsen Creamery, selling butter, eggs and poultry to the local community. Although our headquarters in Ankeny, Iowa, is not far from the old creamery in Dedham, Iowa, the company is now worldwide with more than fifty manufacturing and sales locations in twenty countries and sales in more than sixty countries. Each company under the LGI umbrella is truly independent. They have the ability and the charge to be entrepreneurial, to seek out new markets, to develop new products and applications, and – above all - to discover new ways to add value through fractionation and novel application. What’s more, because some LGI companies have offices and presence around the world, all LGI companies benefit from their exposure to new markets, new products, new applications and new thinking.