Plant Operations Manager

Required Skills & Experience

At least five years of plant, production, or manufacturing operations management experience. Experience leading a workforce of approximately 120 or more hourly manufacturing employees. Strong knowledge of Lean manufacturing, 5S, Standard Work, takt time, and continuous improvement. Proven success improving throughput, quality, labor efficiency, and production performance. Experience using an ERP system in a manufacturing environment. Ability to coach and develop supervisors, team leaders, and production employees. Strong communication, organization, and problem-solving skills. Hands-on leadership style with a willingness to remain active on the production floor. Ability to work on-site in Thomasville, North Carolina.

Nice to Have Skills & Experience

Experience within truck body, automotive, commercial vehicle, fabrication, assembly, or mixed-model manufacturing. Experience with Jobscope ERP. Experience managing industrial engineers or process improvement professionals. Background implementing plant-wide Lean or operational excellence programs. Experience supporting a manufacturing operation through growth or cultural transformation.

Job Description

Insight Global is seeking an experienced Plant Operations Manager to support a truck body manufacturing company in Thomasville, North Carolina. This individual will oversee daily manufacturing operations and be responsible for improving safety, quality, production efficiency, labor performance, and on-time delivery.

The Plant Operations Manager will lead an hourly workforce of approximately 120 to 150 employees while partnering closely with supervisors, team leads, industrial engineers, Quality, Engineering, and Human Resources. This is a highly hands-on leadership role that requires consistent engagement on the production floor.

The ideal candidate has a strong background in Lean or mixed-model manufacturing and has demonstrated measurable improvements in throughput, takt time, first-pass yield, overtime, and labor efficiency.

Responsibilities

Direct daily production activities across multiple manufacturing departments. Lead an hourly workforce of approximately 120 to 150 employees. Manage and develop supervisors, team leaders, production employees, and a small team of industrial engineers. Lead daily production meetings and review safety, quality, delivery, cost, and labor metrics. Ensure production schedules, takt time requirements, and weekly output goals are achieved. Drive Lean manufacturing, 5S, Standard Work, waste elimination, and continuous improvement initiatives. Identify production bottlenecks and re-engineer workflows to improve efficiency. Reduce overtime, rework, material waste, and production delays. Partner with Quality and Engineering on root cause analysis and corrective actions. Document, standardize, and maintain manufacturing processes and SOPs. Utilize the Jobscope ERP system to improve production visibility, planning, and process compliance. Train and coach supervisors and team leaders on leadership, safety, accountability, and process discipline. Conduct regular safety, housekeeping, and production-floor audits. Build a clean, organized, accountable, and high-performing manufacturing culture. Support staffing, onboarding, employee development, and performance evaluations. Help the facility achieve a target production rate of approximately 40 vans and 10 flatbeds per week.