Senior Vice President Operations

About the Role

We are collaborating with a leading global industrial manufacturing company (private equity backed) to recruit a seasoned Senior Vice President of Global Operations. This top executive will oversee the development and implementation of operational strategies across multiple production sites worldwide. Their mandate includes driving operational excellence, enhancing profitability, and supporting growth initiatives such as acquisitions and integration efforts. Reporting directly to the CEO, the role requires leadership of a skilled operations team and strategic input on capital investments, continuous improvement, and business transformation.

Primary Responsibilities

• Oversee manufacturing operations across various domestic and international plants.
• Assess current manufacturing footprint and formulate strategies to boost efficiency, productivity, and EBITDA outcomes.
• Develop and implement operations strategies aligned with growth, profitability, and customer satisfaction targets.
• Establish and track operational KPIs to enhance accountability and performance at all locations.
• Promote a safety-first culture complying with environmental, health, and safety standards, targeting zero incidents.
• Foster quality improvement through solid systems, continuous enhancements, and minimizing customer complaints and waste.
• Collaborate with Engineering and executive leadership to prioritize capital projects and optimize resource deployment.
• Leverage strong financial insight to guide investment, operational planning, and resource allocation.
• Lead major operational projects ensuring they meet deadlines, budgets, and quality benchmarks.
• Introduce best practice project management and continuous improvement methods across manufacturing facilities.
• Support due diligence, integration, and optimization in acquisitions.
• Build and mentor high-performing operational leadership teams, cultivating accountability, collaboration, and learning.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate has a robust background in executive operations leadership within complex, multi-site manufacturing settings. They combine strategic outlook with hands-on management and have a record of driving measurable operational and financial gains. Comfortable in dynamic environments, they excel at leading change, growing talent, and achieving operational excellence.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related technical field; Master's preferred.
• Extensive senior leadership experience in multi-site manufacturing, at Vice President, COO, or equivalent level.
• Accountability for operational P&L in large industrial manufacturing settings.
• Proven leadership of geographically dispersed manufacturing operations.
• Strong financial skills to assess business cases, ROI, and cost management.
• Success in driving operational excellence, continuous improvement, and productivity initiatives.
• Experience implementing manufacturing KPIs and performance systems.
• Solid background in Environmental, Health & Safety leadership and compliance.
• Experience managing capital investments and major projects.
• Proven ability to lead large teams through growth, transformation, or change.
• Industry experience in industrial/process manufacturing, chemicals, minerals, or heavy manufacturing preferred.
• Experience with M&A activities, operational integration, and plant footprint optimization advantageous.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder engagement, and executive leadership skills.

Travel Requirements

Approximately 50% travel across North American manufacturing sites is expected. The initial onboarding phase involves extensive site visits to fully understand operations and teams.