Plant Manager

About the Role

Within the Kanyon Manufacturing platform, we own and operate a custom equipment manufacturer built on craftsmanship, trusted relationships, and engineer-to-order problem solving. We design, fabricate, assemble, and program highly customized equipment for customers who value responsiveness, quality, and execution.

This is not a traditional plant manager role. This role replaces the founder in everything but title.

The Operations Leader / Plant Manager will step into a business where much of the operational knowledge, customer trust, and day-to-day decision-making currently lives with the founder. Your job is to bring structure, accountability, and scalability—without breaking the culture that made the business successful.

You will lead production, improve quoting speed, strengthen accountability, reduce owner dependency, and help transition the company from a founder-led business into a scalable operating company.

The right person will not come in trying to change everything. They will listen first, earn trust, and improve what matters most.

Who You Are

A strong operator with high emotional intelligence. You understand that trust comes before change. You can walk into a loyal, relationship-driven business and know that credibility is earned, not announced. You listen first, learn the people, understand why things work the way they do, and then improve what needs to improve.

Accountable without arrogance. You hold high standards without making people feel like they are being replaced. You are respected because you are steady, competent, and fair—not because of your title.

Equally comfortable leading welders, engineers, and technical operators. You think like an operator and an owner at the same time. You care about production flow, quoting speed, customer relationships, and cash flow—not just what happens on the floor.

Convinced that structure should support culture, not destroy it.

Who You Are Not

This role is not a fit for someone who is:

· Overly corporate

· Inclined to lead with “how we did it at my last company”

· Trying to overhaul everything in the first 90 days

· Confusing authority with leadership

· Using fear to drive performance

· Needing constant visibility or control to feel effective

What You’ll Own

Production & Operations

· Lead daily plant operations, production flow, scheduling, throughput, and on-time delivery

· Improve production visibility so job status does not live in hallway conversations

· Strengthen accountability across the floor while preserving trust and team stability

· Build operational discipline through simple, repeatable systems the team will actually use

· Improve safety standards, documentation, and overall operational consistency

Quoting & Cash Flow

· Improve quoting speed and accuracy—the single biggest operational opportunity in the business

· Strengthen the quoting → engineering → invoicing handoff so progress payments are billed on time

· Improve inventory visibility, WIP discipline, and vendor accountability

· Partner with finance to improve collections discipline, working capital, and cost control

People Leadership

· Lead engineers, assemblers, and production coordination

· Create clear expectations, stronger coaching, and real accountability

· Build bench strength and reduce key-person dependency

· Protect the loyalty-first culture while raising operational standards

Transition & Knowledge Transfer

· Reduce dependency on the founder by absorbing and systematizing operational knowledge

· Help transition vendor relationships, customer expectations, quoting logic, and production decision-making

· Partner with Black Kanyon and Kanyon Manufacturing leadership for seamless system integration in the portfolio

· Help employees feel stability and confidence during ownership transition

What Success Looks Like

· You earn trust with the team first

· Quoting gets faster and production becomes more visible

· Progress payments are billed on time and cash flow improves

· Accountability becomes clearer without damaging culture

· Critical knowledge is documented and the business depends less on individuals

· The team feels stronger after the transition, not disrupted by it

Must-Haves

Leadership & Culture Fit

· Humble confidence

· High ownership

· Calm under pressure

· Strong communicator

· Practical problem solver

· Team-first mentality

· Naturally trusted by blue-collar and technical teams alike

· Ability to balance urgency with patience

· Experience leading through trust, not authority

Operational Experience

· Experience leading a custom, low-volume / high-mix, engineer-to-order manufacturing operation

· Strong background in fabrication, custom assembly, job shop, or similar manufacturing environments

· Proven ability to bring structure to informal operations and make it stick

· Comfortable building systems where few formal systems currently exist

· Experience leading skilled tradespeople in a hands-on production environment

Financial Awareness

· Understand how operations drives cash flow

· Comfortable reading a P&L and job-cost reporting

· Experience improving quoting, invoicing, inventory, vendor discipline, and working capital

· Strong partnership mindset with finance and leadership teams

Core Values Fit

The right candidate lives our core values:

· Grit — willing to do hard things, repeatedly

· Humbly Confident — strong enough to make decisions, secure enough to admit what they do not know

· Positive — solves problems instead of creating them

· Hungry — driven to make the business better every day

Nice to Have

· Welding, fabrication, electrical, or programming background

· Experience in an acquired or founder-led business transition

· Familiarity with EOS, Lean, or similar operating systems

Pay: $95,000.00 - $115,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person

Salary : $95,000 - $115,000