Plant Manager

Position

Purpose:

This role is a turnaround leadership mandate, not an optimization assignment.

The Plant Manager is the senior operational leader with full accountability for stabilizing, rebuilding, and institutionalizing performance in a low-volume / high-mix, highly regulated plastics manufacturing environment. The successful candidate will lead recovery from operational instability, rebuild customer and regulatory confidence, reset leadership expectations, and install durable systems that work under real-world complexity.

This is a hands-on, leader-as-operator role. The Plant Manager is expected to be present on the floor, directly involved in customer recovery, regulatory readiness, and leadership decisions. Success requires calm under pressure, high standards without drama, structured pragmatism, and the resilience to build from a low base.

Essential Duties and responsibilities

Turnaround & Operational Leadership

• Lead operational stabilization efforts to stop daily disruption, restore control, andre-establish predictability in safety, quality, delivery, and cost.
• Own overall plant performance, including throughput, labor efficiency, scrap reduction, inventory, and total cost structure.
• Apply pragmatic production control and capacity planning suitable for non-linear,high-mixmanufacturing.
• Diagnose and correct breakdowns in flow, ownership, decision rights, and execution before introducing additional tools or systems.

Safety, Quality & Regulatory Excellence

• Establish and sustain a disciplined safety culture; ensure compliance with all environmental, health, and safety requirements.
• Lead regulatory, customer, and internal audits; maintain anaudit-readyposture without production heroics.
• Rebuild documentation discipline, SOP adherence, training systems, and change control while maintaining operational continuity.
• Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations, including ITAR / EAR requirements.

Customer Recovery & Escalation Management

• Personally lead customer recovery efforts when required, including escalation calls, containment plans, root cause communication, and confidence rebuilding.
• Balance transparency with credibility-addressing issues directly withoutover-promising or deflecting accountability.
• Support business development through customer engagement, facility visits, and technical credibility.

Lean, Systems & Process Repair

• Deploy and sustain the Vaupell Lean Manufacturing System (VLMS) in a way that supports complex,high-mixflows.
• Use disciplinedproblem-solvingmethods to identify root causes across process, behavior, training, and system design.
• Stabilize ERP/MRP execution in environments with imperfect data and incomplete process maturity.
• Implement visual management, scheduling, and performance tracking adapted for complexity rather than volume.

People Leadership & Culture Reset

• Reset leadership expectations through clear standards, consistent follow-through, and direct feedback.
• Rebuild weak or fatigued management layers through coaching, development, role changes, or exits as required.
• Hold leaders accountable without drama-firm, fair, and timely.
• Build trust with frontline employees through visible presence, listening before prescribing, and consistency between words and actions.
• Develop successors and future leaders through intentional coaching, stretch assignments, and talent triage.

Leadership Behaviors

• Calm Under Fire:
  Remains steady and decisive under pressure;de-escalatessituations without minimizing reality.
• Structured Pragmatism:
  Imposes enough structure to regain control without unnecessary bureaucracy.
• High Standards Without Drama:
  Sets expectations early and addresses performance issues directly and respectfully.
• Builder Mindset:
  Enjoys rebuilding systems, leaders, and culture; stays long enough to institutionalize change.
• Credible With the Floor:
  Routinely spends meaningful, structured time on the production floor-not symbolicwalk-throughs.
• Drive for Results & Problem Solving:
  Uses data, logic, and disciplined execution to deliver sustained outcomes.
• Ensures compliance with all Vaupell policies, procedures, and safety practices.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Job Qualifications / Requirements

Required Experience

• 10-15+ years of leadership experience in regulated manufacturing (medical device, aerospace, or defense preferred).
• Demonstrated success in at least one full plant or business turnaround (recovery through sustained performance).
• Leadership of 100-400+ employees in complex,low-volume/high-mixenvironments.
• Direct accountability for one or more of the following:

• P&L or full operational KPI ownership
• Customer escalations and recovery
• Regulatory and customer audits

• Proven experienceinheriting burned-outteams.

Strongly Preferred

• Plastics manufacturing experience (injection molding, extrusion, compounding, tooling).
• Exposure to tight traceability, validation, and documentation requirements (AS9100 or equivalent).

Compliance Requirement

• Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident) to comply…