Sr. Director of Plant Operations

About UTEX Industries: UTEX Industries is a leading manufacturer of engineered sealing solutions serving the oil and gas, industrial, and petrochemical markets. With a legacy of innovation and operational excellence, we take pride in our people, our products, and our purpose. Join a team that values safety, integrity, and continuous improvement.

Executive Brief:

UTEX is seeking a hands-on, transformational Sr. Director of Plant Operations to lead its largest and most strategically important manufacturing site. The plant produces precision seals and engineered components for demanding industrial applications across oil & gas, mining, water distribution, chemicals, and general industrial markets. Reporting to the SVP Operations, this role carries full accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, workforce capability, equipment reliability, capital execution, and sustained operational performance — while leading the site through the transformation to a disciplined, future-state operating model.

Success requires an executive-level leader who is equally comfortable on the shop floor and in front of senior leadership — someone who can assess the current state, define a clear future-state vision, and translate that vision into an executable roadmap that improves flow, discipline, and performance in a complex, high-mix manufacturing environment. This role requires a visible, hands-on leader who ensures stable day-to-day execution while building the systems, standards, organizational capability, and accountability needed to sustain operational excellence over the long term.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The site has a strong technical foundation, differentiated material and process capabilities, and significant opportunity to build a higher-performing, more disciplined operation. The Sr. Director will assess the current operating model, define the future-state vision, and lead the organization through the changes in process, systems, capability, and culture required to get there — driving measurable progress in safety, first-pass quality, on-time delivery, capacity utilization, labor productivity, scrap reduction, maintenance execution, and capital effectiveness along the way.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead all site operations, including production, quality, planning, maintenance, EHS, shipping, engineering, tooling, and support functions.

• Serve as the transformational leader for the site — assessing current operations, defining the future-state operating model, and leading the organization through the changes in process, systems, capability, and behavior required to achieve sustained operational excellence.

• Own plant performance results across safety, quality, delivery, cost, asset reliability, labor productivity, and customer service.

• Build and institutionalize a robust, integrated planning process — spanning demand, capacity, labor, materials, maintenance, and production scheduling — to improve production flow, schedule stability, throughput, and on-time delivery in a high-SKU, short-run manufacturing environment.

• Establish strong operational discipline and management routines, including performance metrics, tiered accountability, daily/weekly operating reviews, visual controls, standard work, escalation processes, and consistent follow-through.

• Strengthen the use of operational data and performance measures to identify trends, expose root causes, prioritize improvement opportunities, and drive fact-based decision-making throughout the plant.

• Strengthen quality performance through first-pass yield improvement, scrap/rework reduction, process control, and root cause analysis — building a sustainable continuous-improvement mindset in which problems are solved at the source, improvements are standardized, and performance expectations continuously rise.

• Develop and execute a comprehensive maintenance and asset reliability strategy that shifts the organization toward proactive, preventive maintenance — improving equipment availability, OEE, reducing unplanned downtime, extending asset life, and driving reliability-driven productivity.

• Develop a multi-year capital and facility improvement roadmap — addressing safety, quality, capacity, reliability, automation, process control, tooling, equipment, infrastructure, and workplace organization — to reduce manual dependency and process variation while improving productivity, data visibility, and long-term plant performance.

• Partner with Corporate Engineering to ensure capital projects are well executed from concept through closeout, including scope definition, technical justification, business case development, implementation, and benefits realization.

• Assess organizational capabilities and build the leadership structure, technical skills, and resources needed to deliver near-term performance while enabling longer-term transformation — including closing critical skill gaps and developing front-line leadership.

• Partner with the plant controller and FP&A to organize, present, and explain how the plant is performing operationally and financially.

• Partner with the HR function to cultivate, train, and retain talent.

IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

• Proven track record as a transformational manufacturing leader — successfully taking an operation from inconsistent or reactive execution to a disciplined, metrics-driven, high-performing environment, with measurable improvement in safety, quality, delivery, cost, people, and equipment performance.

• At least 12 years of progressive plant leadership experience in a technically complex manufacturing environment.

• Demonstrated success building or significantly improving production planning, maintenance and reliability, facility management, automation, process control, and operating management systems.

• Experience leading significant operational change while sustaining day-to-day performance — able to establish a clear vision, translate it into an executable roadmap, engage the workforce, and hold the organization accountable for measurable results.

• Molding experience is preferred, including compression, injection, transfer, rubber, plastic, elastomer, polymer, and/or engineered-material molding processes.

• Experience with high-mix, low-volume manufacturing, short production runs, complex routing, fast reprioritization, and labor-flexibility requirements.

• Demonstrated ability to manage capital projects, evaluate ROI, develop business cases, control scope/cost/schedule, and ensure operational adoption after startup.

• Financially adept leader able to manage budgets, understand cost drivers, and connect operational decisions to business outcomes.

LEADERSHIP STYLE

• Visible, hands-on, and credible on the shop floor; earns trust through presence, consistency, practical problem solving, and follow-through.

• Demonstrates outstanding listening skills and transforms “what is heard” into actionable items that improve plant morale and performance.

• Balances urgency with disciplined assessment; diagnoses before prescribing but moves quickly once priorities are clear. Demonstrates a bias for action without over-analyzing complex situations.

• Able to simplify complex operational issues, make decisions with imperfect information, and build alignment around clear actions and measurable outcomes.

• Builds a high-performance culture defined by clear expectations, ownership, accountability, urgency, and teamwork; demanding but fair, and develops leaders who reinforce these expectations and sustain continuous improvement throughout the organization.

Why UTEX?

We don’t just build products — we build careers.

• Competitive pay

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits

• 401(k) with company match

• Paid time off and holiday pay

• Career development and training opportunities

• A company culture rooted in respect, innovation, and collaboration

Equal Opportunity Employer:

UTEX Industries is an equal employment opportunity employer and shall make all employment-related decisions without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, creed, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, and/or any other status or condition protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Ready to take the next step in your career? Apply today and join a team where your hard work matters.