Plant Manager

1337 | Interim Plant Manager | USA

Area: Plant Management

Location: Atlanta Region, USA 🇺🇸

Duration: 6–12 months

Start: ASAP, April 2026

Type: Interim

About Our Client:

Our client is a long-established, family-owned German industrial manufacturer with a production footprint in the USA.

The business supplies industrial substrates to demanding end markets, including automotive and consumer products filtration.

The assignment has been triggered by a combination of underperformance, leadership pressure, and a major investment that has not delivered the expected profitability.

The US site has already been through expansion, including a larger plant setup and a significant production investment, but commercial and operational expectations have not been met.

Job Challenge:

• Acting as Interim Plant Manager, taking full operational responsibility for the US plant and serving as the senior on-site authority.
• Reporting into group leadership in Germany and working closely with headquarters stakeholders.
• Leading a continuous-process manufacturing operation with one main production line running 24/7 and a second, smaller line operating according to order levels.
• Converting an existing consultant-led turnaround roadmap into practical plant-level execution.
• Strengthening day-to-day operating discipline across production, technical, and site management teams.
• Driving early results in plant stabilisation, management alignment, performance visibility, and execution control during the first 3 to 6 months.
• Providing calm but firm leadership in a business where employees are already aware that outside advisors are involved and where internal anxiety is high.
• Creating effective alignment between German headquarters expectations and the realities of day-to-day plant leadership in the USA.

Manager Skills:

• Strong track record in plant turnaround, operational recovery, or crisis-stage manufacturing leadership.
• Experience in continuous-process industries such as converting, film, filtration, packaging, paper, or similar roll-based production environments.
• Confidence leading 24/7 operations with shift-based teams and clear frontline accountability.
• Ability to enter a tense site environment, establish credibility quickly, and create followership across both management and shopfloor populations.
• Strong execution discipline, with the ability to convert high-level recovery plans into action, ownership, and measurable progress.
• Enough personal authority to challenge underperformance while keeping the organisation focused and motivated.
• Comfort operating in a German-led business structure where the US plant and headquarters must stay tightly aligned.
• Cross-cultural sensitivity and communication strength, especially in navigating the realities of German headquarters leadership and US plant operations.
• A leadership style that combines operational toughness with clear communication and visible presence on site.

Key Requirements:

Requirement 01: Proven experience in plant crisis management, operational turnaround, and leading recovery in a live manufacturing environment

Requirement 02: Strong background in continuous-process or other 24/7 industrial manufacturing operations, with the authority to stabilise performance fast

Requirement 03: Must already have the legal right to work in the USA and be available for an on-site interim assignment in the Atlanta Region

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