Senior Operations Manager

Are you an experienced manufacturing leader with a background in resins, polymers, coatings, or specialty chemicals? Do you have the leadership skills to oversee multiple manufacturing operations while driving safety, operational excellence, and long-term growth?

An industry-leading global manufacturer is seeking a Senior Operations Manager/Plant Manager to oversee multiple manufacturing plants located on a single production site. This is a senior leadership opportunity with responsibility for chemical and polymer operations, ensuring each facility delivers world-class performance across safety, quality, productivity, cost, and customer delivery.

Reporting to the Director of Plant Management, you will provide both strategic and operational leadership across manufacturing, engineering, and continuous improvement, helping shape the site's future through capital investment, process optimization, and talent development.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership for multiple manufacturing plants operating within a single production site.
• Develop and implement long-term operational strategies that support business growth, capacity expansion, and operational excellence.
• Lead site-wide manufacturing activities to consistently achieve safety, quality, production, cost, and delivery objectives across all plants.
• Partner with senior leadership on manufacturing strategy, capital investment planning, workforce planning, and new product introductions.
• Oversee major capital projects, process modernization initiatives, and future site expansion plans.
• Lead production, process engineering, maintenance, and operational teams, providing technical guidance, coaching, and clear direction.
• Establish KPIs and performance metrics that improve visibility, accountability, and performance across the entire site.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on process optimization, yield improvement, waste reduction, and operational efficiency.
• Support troubleshooting of complex manufacturing, quality, and equipment issues using structured, data-driven methodologies.
• Lead operations within a unionized manufacturing environment while maintaining positive labour relations and compliance with collective bargaining agreements.
• Champion a strong safety culture, ensuring compliance with OSHA, EPA, PSM, and all applicable environmental, health, and safety regulations.
• Work closely with Quality teams to ensure compliance with quality systems, customer requirements, audits, and corrective action programmes.
• Develop future leaders through coaching, succession planning, and building strong operational and engineering talent pipelines.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Industrial Engineering, or another relevant technical discipline.
• Master's degree or MBA is advantageous.
• 10+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience within resins, polymers, coatings, or specialty chemical manufacturing.
• At least 5 years of senior leadership experience managing operations within a unionized manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated success leading large, complex manufacturing operations across multiple production units or plants.
• Strong experience managing production, engineering, maintenance, and continuous improvement teams.
• Excellent knowledge of Process Safety Management (PSM), OSHA, EPA, EHS regulations, and quality management systems.
• Experience with resin polymerization, compounding, or electrocoat manufacturing is highly desirable.
• Proven ability to deliver operational improvements through Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or Continuous Improvement methodologies.
• Experience leading plant expansions, capacity increases, technology upgrades, or major capital projects.
• Strong commercial awareness with excellent analytical, leadership, and decision-making skills.

What's on Offer

• Competitive salary of $140,000 – $180,000
• Performance bonus
• Comprehensive benefits package
• Opportunity to lead multiple manufacturing plants within a major specialty chemicals production site
• Significant influence over future site growth, operational strategy, and capital investment
• Excellent long-term career progression within a global manufacturing organisation

If you're an accomplished manufacturing leader looking to take ownership of a multi-plant operation and drive operational excellence across a large, technically advanced manufacturing site, we'd love to hear from you.