Vice President of Production and Engineering

Position Summary

As Vice President of Production and Engineering at American Welding & Gas, you provide executive leadership over all production, fill plant, specialty gas manufacturing, and engineering functions enterprise-wide. You drive production strategy, engineering innovation, capital planning, asset reliability, regulatory compliance, and operational scalability across multi‑site facilities, ensuring alignment between capacity, quality, cost performance, and corporate growth objectives. As a member of the executive leadership team, you lead Plant Managers and Engineering leaders while advancing automation, standardization, and continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen operational discipline and support sustainable, profitable growth.

• Provide executive oversight for all fill plants, specialty gas production facilities, and engineering functions.
• Ensure consistent execution of company policies, production standards, safety requirements, and quality controls.
• Develop and implement enterprise production and engineering strategies aligned with corporate objectives.
• Standardize production processes, engineering specifications, and asset management practices.
• Frequent travel to production and plant locations is required.

• Maintain enterprise‑level oversight of production performance and cost structure.
• Develop and manage capital expenditure plans for plant expansion, automation, and equipment modernization.
• Analyze KPIs including throughput, downtime, asset utilization, labor efficiency, and quality metrics.
• Implement corrective actions to improve cost control, production output, and capital ROI.

• Champion AWG’s safety culture within all production and engineering environments.
• Ensure compliance with OSHA, DOT, CGMP, NFPA, FDA (as applicable), and company policies.
• Oversee plant audits, regulatory inspections, and engineering compliance initiatives.
• Drive continuous improvement in risk mitigation, quality assurance, and operational safety.

• Lead and develop Plant Managers, Engineering Managers, and technical leadership teams.
• Support succession planning and technical skill development initiatives.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence.
• Strengthen onboarding and training programs for plant and engineering personnel.

• Identify opportunities to improve plant efficiency, automation, and engineering performance.
• Lead lean initiatives, process optimization efforts, and infrastructure improvements.
• Oversee preventative maintenance strategy and asset reliability programs.
• Support production planning for expansion, acquisitions, and facility integrations.

• Partner with Sales leadership to align production capacity with demand forecasts.
• Collaborate with Finance to ensure cost discipline and margin integrity.
• Support corporate strategy, capital allocation, and long‑term growth planning.
• Work closely with Supply Chain and Distribution to optimize production flow and logistics integration.

• Proven ability to lead geographically dispersed plant and engineering teams.
• Strong financial acumen with capital planning and cost optimization experience.
• Demonstrated success driving measurable production efficiency and asset reliability improvements.

• Working knowledge of OSHA, DOT, CGMP, NFPA, and industry compliance requirements.
• Understanding of plant performance metrics, asset management, and preventative maintenance systems.
• Proficiency in ERP, production reporting systems, and operational analytics platforms.

• 10+ years of progressive production and/or engineering leadership experience.
• 5+ years in senior multi‑site production, manufacturing, or plant leadership roles.
• Experience in industrial gases, chemical processing, regulated manufacturing, or industrial distribution strongly preferred.
• Experience leading large‑scale plant expansions or automation initiatives.
• Background in lean manufacturing, Six…