Director of Manufacturing

Company Overview Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM), headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (BSEMEA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, operate collectively as a “Bridgestone West” strategic region. This region services the strategic business needs of teams across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. BSAM and BSEMEA are subsidiaries of Bridgestone Corporation, globally headquartered in Japan. Bridgestone and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand products and solutions to address the needs of a broad range of customers and industries.

Job Category Production & Skilled Trades Position Summary We’re looking for a Director of Manufacturing to lead our daily retread operations in Mayodan, North Carolina. This leader will focus on delivering strong results across safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity while partnering closely with Production, Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Safety, and Logistics.

The role is based at 802 S Ayersville Rd, Mayodan, NC 27027, and relocation assistance is available for the right candidate.

Responsibilities Safety and Teammate Well-Being:
Lead a proactive, teammate-centered safety culture with the goal of an accident- and incident-free workplace. Ensure compliance with OSHA requirements and company safety standards; provide visible leadership, timely corrective action, and effective risk reduction. Support Ease and Empowerment by creating a respectful workplace where teammates have the knowledge, authority, and confidence to identify hazards and improve work.

Strategy and KPI Execution:
Develop and execute the manufacturing strategy in alignment with Bridgestone objectives. Translate business priorities into measurable goals for safety, quality, delivery, cost, people, sustainability, and asset performance; use disciplined performance reviews to ensure accountability and timely countermeasures.

Continuous Improvement and Efficiency:
Champion Lean manufacturing, problem solving, standard work, visual management, and waste reduction. Improve throughput, cycle time, labor productivity, equipment effectiveness, and process capability while maintaining safety and quality. Advance the E8 value of Efficiency by maximizing productivity and Economy by strengthening the economic value of operations.

Quality and Regulatory Compliance:
Ensure aircraft tires and retread processes consistently meet customer, product, and process requirements. Maintain effective quality systems and compliance with applicable FAA, EASA, ISO, environmental, and other governmental or industry requirements. Foster a culture of prevention, traceability, disciplined change control, and rapid root-cause correction that supports safe and reliable aircraft operations.

Financial and Resource Stewardship:
Develop and manage operating and capital budgets; control manufacturing costs; optimize labor, materials, energy, inventory, and maintenance resources; and use financial and operational data to improve profitability. Build business cases and prioritize investments based on safety, compliance, customer value, risk, capacity, and return.

People and Organization Leadership:
Build organizational capability through workforce planning, selection, onboarding, training, coaching, performance management, succession planning, and leadership development. Set clear expectations and create an inclusive, accountable culture that values teammate dignity, engagement, collaboration, and continuous learning, reinforcing Empowerment and Emotion.

Cross-Functional and Customer

Collaboration:

Partner with Logistics, Supply Chain, Procurement, Commercial, Finance, Human Resources, and…