Operations / Plant Manager

Position Purpose

The person who will still be here in five years. Owns the operating plant, its people, its safety record, its cost and its output. Joins during commissioning so they own the plant they will run rather than inherit someone else's decisions.

Key Responsibilities

• Build the operating organization, including shift structure, crew composition, staffing levels and succession.
• Own safety, environmental and quality performance of the operating plant.
• Take care, custody and control of systems from commissioning and own production performance from first product.
• Develop and own the operating budget, unit cost model, and production and yield targets.
• Own standard operating procedures, batch records, shift handover discipline and operating discipline generally.
• Drive the operator and technician training and qualification program with the Training Coordinator to a competency based standard.
• Set the production plan and coordinate with supply chain on raw materials, utilities and finished product logistics.
• Lead continuous improvement in yield, reliability, energy and labor efficiency once steady state is reached.
• Represent the site to regulators, the community and company leadership.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering or a related technical discipline.
• Twelve or more years in chemical or biochemical manufacturing operations, including five or more years leading an operating site or major production unit.
• Direct experience through a plant startup, ideally on the operations side.
• Proven safety leadership in a hazardous process environment.
• Genuine people leadership capability, including building a shift organization from nothing.

Preferred Qualifications

• Fermentation, downstream purification or catalytic process experience.
• Process safety management leadership experience.
• Experience opening a new site in a rural labor market.