Plant Manager

Plant Manager - Charlotte, North Carolina

A privately held specialty manufacturing company in the Charlotte area is seeking a hands-on plant manager and operational leader to stabilize its plant, build scalable systems, and help prepare the business for its next stage of growth.

This is not a traditional plant leadership role focused solely on supervising production. The Plant Manager will serve as the senior operational leader for a specialized manufacturing business, with broad responsibility for production, production planning, quality, supply chain, inventory, maintenance, safety, continuous improvement, and team development.

Sales and new product development are led separately, but nearly everything inside the four walls of the operation will fall within this leader’s scope.

The Opportunity

Our client is an established, stable company in the specialty chemicals arena, but their plant has lost some focus over the past year, and the incoming Plant Manager will inherit an operation that needs stronger structure, operating discipline, and accountability. The immediate mandate is to bring stability to day-to-day manufacturing while building the processes, systems, and team capabilities required to support future growth. The ownership group would like to scale the company, and current operations limit that.

This role is well suited for an experienced Plant Manager, Operations Manager, or manufacturing leader who has successfully improved an operation and is ready to assume broader, general-management-level responsibility.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead all day-to-day manufacturing operations, with accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, and customer performance.

• Own production planning and scheduling, balancing customer demand, labor, equipment capacity, inventory, and material availability.

• Develop and implement an effective Sales and Operations Planning process during the first 12 months.

• Establish operating rhythms, performance metrics, standard work, and clear accountability throughout the plant.

• Identify and eliminate bottlenecks, improve throughput, reduce waste, and increase manufacturing reliability.

• Lead quality, supply chain, purchasing, inventory management, maintenance, and plant safety.

• Build, coach, and develop a small manufacturing team while remaining visible and engaged on the plant floor.

• Manage operating expenses and provide ownership with clear reporting on plant performance, risks, and priorities.

• Create the systems and organizational capabilities needed to support future growth.

What Success Looks Like

During the first year, the Plant Manager will be expected to:

• Build the cadence, stability, organization, and accountability to daily operations.

• Improve production planning, schedule adherence, and on-time delivery.

• Establish meaningful operational KPIs and a consistent management cadence.

• Implement a practical S&OP process that aligns customer demand, production capacity, materials, and inventory.

• Improve quality, productivity, workflow, and employee performance.

• Build a scalable operating foundation for the company’s future state.

Candidate Profile

The strongest candidates will bring:

• Progressive manufacturing leadership experience, including responsibility for plant or multi-functional operations.

• Demonstrated success stabilizing, improving, or transforming a manufacturing environment.

• Strong production planning, scheduling, and inventory-management capabilities.

• Experience implementing Lean manufacturing, continuous-improvement initiatives, and operating metrics.

• Practical knowledge of S&OP, demand planning, or integrated business-planning processes.

• The ability to move comfortably between strategic planning and hands-on problem-solving.

• Strong financial and business judgment, with an understanding of manufacturing costs and operational drivers.

• A leadership style that combines urgency, accountability, clear communication, and respect for employees.

• A bachelor’s degree in engineering, operations, manufacturing, supply chain, or a related field is preferred. Equivalent manufacturing leadership experience will be considered.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

This is an opportunity to do more than maintain an existing operation. The successful candidate will have the autonomy and visibility to shape how the business operates, work directly with ownership, and build the systems that support its future growth.

For the right operations leader, this is a chance to step into a broad, high-impact role that functions much like a General Manager position—without direct responsibility for sales or new product development.

If you would like to be considered for this role or would like to know more, consider applying today.