Plant Operations Manager - Custom Cabinetry & Architectural Millwork

NATIONWIDE SEARCH - RELOCATION TO LEBANON, MISSOURI

We are seeking an experienced Plant Operations Manager from anywhere in the United States who is willing to relocate to Lebanon, Missouri. This role is to oversee the day-to-day production operations of our custom cabinetry and architectural millwork manufacturing facility. Relocation assistance may be available for the right candidate.

This is a hands-on leadership position. We are looking for someone who understands how cabinetry and architectural millwork are actually built—from drawings and CNC programming through machining, assembly, finishing, quality control, shipping, and field installation.

The right candidate must be able to manage people, schedules, materials, quality, and deadlines while maintaining an organized and productive shop.

Required Experience & Qualifications

Cabinetry & Architectural Millwork Experience
Hands-on knowledge of custom cabinetry and architectural millwork is required. Candidate must understand cabinet and millwork construction methods, materials, hardware, finishing, assembly, and manufacturing processes.

CAD / CNC Programming Experience
Must be able to understand and review CAD/shop drawings and have experience with CNC programming and/or CNC-based cabinet and millwork manufacturing. Candidate should be capable of identifying drawing, machining, or programming issues before they become production problems.

Installation Knowledge
Must understand how cabinetry and architectural millwork are installed in the field, including field measurements, site conditions, hardware, installation sequencing, tolerances, and common installation challenges.

Employee Management
Proven ability to manage shop employees, assign responsibilities, establish expectations, hold employees accountable, resolve problems, and maintain a productive work environment.

Production Scheduling
Must be able to develop, manage, and maintain production schedules from approved drawings through CNC/machining, assembly, finishing, quality control, shipping, and installation.

Leadership & Employee Motivation
Must be able to lead by example and keep employees motivated, productive, and working together as a team while maintaining clear expectations and accountability.

Quality Control
Responsible for establishing and enforcing quality-control standards throughout the manufacturing process. Problems should be identified and corrected before products leave the shop, not discovered during installation.

Material & Purchasing Management
Must understand material requirements, inventory management, purchasing, vendor lead times, and hardware procurement. Responsible for ensuring required materials and hardware are available before a job is released into production.

Job Cost & Labor Awareness
Must understand how labor hours, overtime, material waste, mistakes, rework, and production efficiency affect the profitability of each job. Expected to identify areas where costs are exceeding expectations and take corrective action.

Problem-Solving & Decision-Making
Must be comfortable making timely decisions when dealing with drawing discrepancies, material shortages, machine problems, employee issues, scheduling conflicts, quality problems, or field/install issues.

Communication & Coordination
Must communicate effectively and coordinate workflow between design, engineering/CAD, production, finishing, shipping, installation, sales, project management, and ownership.

Deadline & Accountability Management
This position owns the production schedule. The Plant Operations Manager must know where every active job stands, what is on schedule, what is behind schedule, why it is behind, and what actions are required to get it back on track.

Process Improvement
Must continuously evaluate production processes and look for opportunities to improve shop flow, eliminate bottlenecks, reduce waste and rework, improve labor efficiency, and increase overall production capacity.

Key Responsibilities:

The Plant Operations Manager will oversee daily plant operations and will be responsible for:

• Managing and directing production employees
• Planning daily and weekly production priorities
• Maintaining the master production schedule
• Coordinating jobs from approved drawings through installation
• Reviewing manpower requirements and assigning labor appropriately
• Monitoring CNC/machining, assembly, finishing, QC, and shipping
• Ensuring materials and hardware are available before production begins
• Identifying production bottlenecks and implementing solutions
• Monitoring labor hours, overtime, waste, rework, and productivity
• Maintaining quality standards throughout the manufacturing process
• Coordinating with project managers, CAD/engineering, installers, sales, and ownership
• Holding employees accountable for productivity, quality, attendance, and performance
• Providing ownership with accurate information regarding production status, delays, labor requirements, and capacity

What We Are Looking For:

We are not looking for someone who simply supervises a shop.

We are looking for an experienced manufacturing leader who understands custom cabinetry and architectural millwork, can walk onto the production floor and recognize problems, can communicate with CAD/CNC personnel and installers, and can take ownership of getting projects completed correctly, efficiently, and on schedule.

The successful candidate will be organized, decisive, accountable, technically knowledgeable, and comfortable being held responsible for the performance of the plant.

Experience in custom cabinetry, architectural millwork, commercial casework, or a closely related manufacturing environment is required.

Compensation will be based on experience and qualifications.

Pay: $80,000.00 - $120,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Relocation assistance

Work Location: In person

Salary : $80,000 - $120,000