Director of Operations

Capstone Search Advisors; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Capstone Search Advisors seeks a Director of Operations to lead strategic and hands-on manufacturing operations in an Engineer-to-Order environment. You will drive Lean, VOC culture, and cross-functional teamwork to deliver high-quality, customized solutions on time and within cost targets.

The role demands a results-oriented leader who builds high-performing teams, eliminates waste, and translates customer needs into measurable operational requirements while advancing continuous improvement

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required or equivalent experience.
• 8–12+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience.
• Experience in Engineer-to-Order, project-based or high-mix, low-volume environments.
• Proven Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement experience with measurable results.
• Strong Voice of the Customer experience translating customer needs into operational priorities.
• Proven track record improving on-time delivery, lead time, quality, productivity, and customer satisfaction.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the operations strategy aligned with business objectives and financial goals.
• Lead manufacturing operations to meet safety, quality, delivery, and cost targets.
• Oversee production planning, scheduling, procurement, and quality across functions.
• Translate customer requirements into measurable operational requirements.
• Lead cross-functional root-cause analysis and corrective actions for issues.
• Drive Lean and continuous improvement across ETO order execution.

Skills

Lean manufacturing

Voice of the Customer

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic thinking

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, or related discipline

Job description

The Director of Operations provides strategic and hands-on leadership across manufacturing operations in an Engineer-to-Order (ETO) environment, ensuring the organization consistently delivers high-quality, customized solutions that meet customer expectations for quality, cost, delivery, performance, and service.

This role is responsible for driving operational excellence through Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and a strong Voice of the Customer (VOC) culture. The Director will lead cross-functional teams to improve the entire order execution process - from engineering and project planning through procurement, manufacturing, testing, and shipment, while eliminating waste, reducing lead times, improving productivity, and increasing customer satisfaction.

A key priority is translating customer needs and expectations into measurable operational requirements, aligning internal processes to deliver on those commitments, and using customer feedback and operational data to identify and implement sustainable improvements.

The ideal candidate is a results-oriented operations leader who combines strategic thinking with a strong shop-floor presence, develops high-performing teams, challenges the status quo, and builds a culture of accountability, problem-solving, and customer-focused continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Operations Leadership

• Develop and execute the operations strategy in alignment with business objectives, customer requirements, and financial goals.
• Lead manufacturing operations to achieve performance targets for safety, quality, on-time delivery, productivity, cost, and customer satisfaction.
• Establish clear operational priorities, performance expectations, accountability systems, and management routines.
• Oversee production planning and scheduling, manufacturing, materials coordination, quality, and other operational functions as assigned.
• Align operational capacity, workforce capabilities, equipment, and processes with the demands of a high-mix, low-volume, customized manufacturing environment.
• Partner with executive leadership, Sales, Engineering, Supply Chain and Program Management to support business growth, improve profitability, and strengthen customer relationships.
• Identify and address systemic barriers that prevent the organization from meeting customer commitments.

Voice of the Customer (VOC) and Customer Experience

• Champion a Voice of the Customer culture that places customer requirements, expectations, and business outcomes at the center of operational decision-making.
• Partner with Sales, Customer Service, Program Management, and Engineering to understand customer needs and translate them into clear, measurable operational requirements.
• Establish effective processes for gathering, analyzing, prioritizing, and acting on customer feedback, including surveys, customer meetings, complaints, warranty issues, and post-delivery reviews.
• Ensure customer-critical requirements are clearly communicated and understood across Engineering, Planning, Procurement, Production, Quality, and Shipping.
• Connect customer expectations to internal performance measures, including delivery reliability, product quality, responsiveness, documentation accuracy, and overall order execution.
• Lead cross-functional root-cause analysis and corrective actions for customer complaints, missed commitments, product nonconformances, and recurring service issues.
• Collaborate with commercial and technical teams to proactively communicate project risks, schedule changes, technical concerns, and recovery plans.
• Develop closed-loop feedback processes to verify that corrective actions resolve customer concerns and prevent recurrence.
• Identify opportunities to improve the end-to-end customer experience, reduce customer effort, and strengthen long-term customer relationships.
• Use VOC insights to prioritize Lean and continuous improvement initiatives based on customer impact and business value.

Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement

• Lead the development and execution of a Lean operating system that promotes continuous improvement, employee engagement, and measurable business results.
• Champion Lean principles and methodologies, including value stream mapping, 5S, visual management, standard work, root-cause analysis, waste elimination, and flow improvement.
• Apply Lean principles appropriately to the variability of ETO manufacturing, improving flow and predictability without compromising customization, engineering integrity, or quality.
• Identify and eliminate non-value-added activities, bottlenecks, excessive work-in-process, rework, waiting time, unnecessary movement, and other sources of waste.
• Establish structured problem-solving practices using methodologies such as PDCA, A3 thinking, 5 Whys, and fishbone analysis.

ETO Order Execution and Cross-Functional Integration

• Oversee the flow of work from order acceptance and engineering release through procurement, manufacturing, inspection, testing, and shipment.
• Establish strong coordination among Engineering, Sales, Project Management, Planning, Purchasing, Production, and Quality.
• Ensure engineering drawings, bills of material, routings, work instructions, and manufacturing requirements are complete and released in alignment with project schedules.
• Implement effective controls for engineering changes, configuration management, material availability, and production readiness.
• Identify and resolve constraints related to incomplete engineering, long-lead materials, supplier performance, labor capacity, equipment availability, and competing priorities.
• Establish realistic production schedules based on resource capacity, material readiness, engineering status, and customer commitments.
• Improve visibility into order status, work-in-process, schedule risks, and project milestones.
• Drive disciplined execution, timely escalation, and proactive recovery planning for at-risk orders.
• Reduce delays, rework, and inefficiencies at the interfaces between departments.
• Ensure operational processes support reliable delivery of customized products while maintaining flexibility to respond to changing customer requirement.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related discipline; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Typically 8-12+ years of progressive manufacturing experience, including significant leadership responsibility.
• Demonstrated success leading operations in an Engineer-to-Order, project-based, or high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environment.
• Proven experience implementing Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives with measurable, sustainable results.
• Strong Voice of the Customer experience, including customer feedback analysis, translating customer requirements into operational priorities, and driving cross-functional corrective actions.
• Demonstrated success improving on-time delivery, lead time, quality, productivity, and customer satisfaction.