Senior Director of Operations

Senior Director Of Operations

At KMT Waterjet, a Shape Technologies Group (SHAPE) company, we're devoted to a single goal: delivering innovative manufacturing process solutions that propel our customers to success. SHAPE is a strategic ecosystem of companies, including Advanced Pressure Systems (APS), Flow International, Shape Process Automation, KMT Waterjet, H20 Jet, Aqua Dyne, Aquarese, Pro Jet System, and TOPS. Collectively, we provide an extensive portfolio of manufacturing process solutions to customers around the world.

Spanning 100 countries and a broad array of industries, SHAPE is expanding its reach through a growing number of direct and indirect channels. By partnering with our customers, we become integral to the successful design and manufacture of their next-generation products. We continually scour the globe for new, industry-leading technologies to add to our differentiated portfolio of offerings and grow our customer base.

Our vision is to become the preeminent advanced process solutions partner handling the highly engineered products of tomorrow.

In addition to training and career advancement opportunities, we offer competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401(k), paid time off, life insurance, paid disability insurance, education reimbursement, and more.

Shape Technologies Group - Baxter Springs is seeking a Senior Director of Operations to join our team. In this role, you will be the senior site leader responsible for the end-to-end performance of a large, complex manufacturing facility. This role has full accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people leadership, while driving operational stability, continuous improvement, and long-term capability development.

The Director is expected to operate as a general manager at the site level, translating enterprise strategy into disciplined execution, leading through strong systems and leaders, and ensuring predictable, scalable performance. This role requires a leader who is highly visible, data-driven, people-focused, and relentlessly execution oriented.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include but are not limited to the following:

• Own full site P&L execution and operational performance, including safety, quality, delivery, cost, inventory, and productivity.
• Serve as the senior site leader, setting clear expectations, decision rights, and accountability across all functions.
• Establish a culture of discipline, transparency, and performance ownership, aligned with enterprise operating principles.
• Act as primary escalation and decision authority for site-level operational issues.

• Champion a zero-incident safety culture and ensure full compliance with EHS, regulatory, and internal governance standards.
• Ensure robust quality systems are in place and consistently executed; drive prevention-based quality performance.
• Lead response to significant safety events, quality escapes, customer escalations, and audits.

• Translate demand plans into executable production strategies that meet customer service, cost, and inventory objectives.
• Ensure effective daily management systems (tiered meetings, KPIs, leader standard work) are rigorously applied.
• Stabilize operations through standard work, capacity planning, labor planning, and equipment reliability.
• Lead cross-functional problem-solving to address constraints in throughput, yield, downtime, labor stability, and material flow.

• Drive a structured continuous improvement roadmap focused on flow, efficiency, cost, and capability development.
• Ensure disciplined use of OpEx tools (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, TPM, structured problem solving).
• Balance short-term recovery actions with long-term structural improvements to sustain results.
• Lead capital investment prioritization and execution to support growth, resilience, and productivity.

• Build and develop a high-performing site leadership team with strong bench strength and succession plans.
• Coach leaders at all levels to improve decision-making, accountability, and people leadership effectiveness.
• Partner closely with HR to manage labor strategy, engagement, performance management, and workforce stability.
• Foster an environment of trust, inclusion, and employee engagement across hourly and salaried teams.

• Partner with Supply Chain, Engineering, Quality, Finance, and Commercial teams to ensure site alignment with enterprise priorities.
• Support enterprise initiatives related to footprint optimization, cost reduction, risk mitigation, and growth.
• Provide clear, fact-based communication to senior leadership on site performance, risks, and action plans.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrated ability to lead large, complex manufacturing operations with multi-shift work forces.
• Proven success driving measurable improvements in safety, quality, delivery/service, cost, and productivity metrics.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to manage operating budgets, capital expenditures, and operational trade-offs.
• Strong…