General Manager

Professional Search by Kingsley Gate; Dayton (OH); On-site; USD 180,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Professional Search by Kingsley Gate seeks a seasoned General Manager to lead its Dayton, Ohio campus. This president-level role demands ownership of the full site P&L, driving EBITDA growth and cash flow while building a high-performing cross-functional team of 150 employees across three facilities.

The leader will focus on working capital management, new product launches, and strategic customer relationships, reporting to corporate leadership.

Qualifications

• 10–15 years of progressive leadership in general management, plant/site leadership, or equivalent operations leadership.
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, or related technical discipline is required.
• MBA or Master’s in Engineering/Operations preferred.
• Experience in low-volume, high-mix manufacturing environments is non-negotiable.
• Technical fluency in CNC machining, GD&T, NADCAP processes, and/or cleanroom manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Own the site P&L and drive working capital, EBITDA, and cash-flow targets.
• Direct cross-functional team of 8–10 reports across operations, procurement, quality, sales, HR, manufacturing, finance, and facilities.
• Lead program launches, new product introductions, and cost-out/value engineering initiatives tied to P&L impact.
• Improve labor efficiency, OEE, scrap/rework reduction, and overtime control across all plants.
• Champion safety, quality, and compliance with ISO/AS standards; ensure ITAR compliance where applicable.
• Develop leadership bench strength and succession plans across three facilities.
• Maintain strong customer relationships and drive growth through diversified revenue streams.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Manufacturing operations

ERP & MES

Quality systems

CNC machining

GD&T

ITAR compliance

Education

Bachelors in Mechanical/Manufacturing/Industrial Engineering

MBA or related advanced degree (preferred)

Tools

ERP systems

MES systems

NADCAP processes

ISO 9001/AS9100

Job description

Professional Search by Kingsley Gate is seeking a seasoned and results-driven General Manager on behalf of our client to lead its Dayton, Ohio campus. This is a President-level leadership opportunity for an established executive ready to own the full site P&L and be accountable for converting operational execution into working capital efficiency, EBITDA growth, and cash.

The General Manager will serve as the senior leader across all a number of plants, directing a cross-functional team of 8–10 direct reports — spanning Operations, Procurement, Quality, Sales, Human Resources, Manufacturing, Finance, and Facilities — and an overall workforce of approximately 150 employees. This leader will function as the de facto President of the Dayton operation, building and upgrading the site management team, driving operational excellence, stewarding strategic customer relationships, and partnering with corporate leadership to advance the company's growth agenda.

Location

Dayton, Ohio

Responsibilities

The General Manager's accountability is organized around four interdependent pillars — Working Capital, EBITDA, Cash Flow, and the Operating Foundation — supported by twelve defined areas of ownership.

Working Capital — Free the cash tied up in the business

• Own days sales outstanding, days payable outstanding, and days inventory outstanding targets; conduct monthly working capital reviews with the site finance leader.
• Lead sales, inventory, and operations planning and demand-supply planning; ensure the master schedule is driven by a single, validated demand signal.
• Manage inventory turns, min/max discipline, cycle counts, and excess-and-obsolete reduction.
• Drive supplier on-time delivery performance, n-tier supply chain management, and MRP metric health.
• Ensure on-time invoicing, timely collections, and supplier terms alignment across AR and AP.

EBITDA — Grow revenue and expand margin

• Own the sales pipeline and new-quote opportunities; accountable for winning new customers in partnership with site sales and corporate business development.
• Drive customer diversification with urgency, reducing dependence on any single customer while protecting and growing existing key relationships.
• Drive wallet-share expansion: quote approvals, pricing discipline, and margin pass-through recovery.
• Oversee program launches and new product introduction/first article inspection execution — on-time, on-cost, with clear milestones and named owners.
• Lead an operations-driven continuous improvement pipeline and engineering-led cost-out and value analysis/value engineering initiatives tied directly to P&L impact.
• Improve labor efficiency, overall equipment effectiveness, scrap and rework reduction, and overtime control across all three plants.

Cash Flow — Convert earnings into cash, on time

• Own the 13-week cash forecast; explain and close variances in a timely and transparent manner.
• Lead monthly P&L and forecast reviews; ensure no month-end surprises for corporate leadership.
• Manage capex with ROI-justified requests, engineering-led execution, and holdback discipline.
• Oversee milestone billing: deposits, progress payments, tooling and NRE, and tariff recoveries.
• Enforce PO discipline and discretionary spend management across the campus.

Operating Foundation — Enables the other three pillars

• Champion a zero-harm safety culture; lead incident review and near-miss reporting and closure.
• Own quality system health, customer scorecards, and cost of poor quality (COPQ) reduction.
• Staff to demand; develop supervisors and build leadership bench strength across all three facilities.
• Drive on-time delivery as a headline commitment; manage past-due backlog burn-down with urgency.
• Maintain site-level ownership of key customer accounts and executive-level escalation management.
• Establish and sustain a standard meeting cadence — SIOP, financial, quality, and safety reviews run on a consistent rhythm.

Education and Qualifications

• 10-15 years' experience, reflecting significant progressive leadership experience in general management, plant or site management, or equivalent operations leadership within a precision machining, precision manufacturing, or related high-end industrial manufacturing environment.
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, or a related technical discipline is required.
• An advanced degree such as an MBA or Master's in Engineering or Operations is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in low-volume, high-mix manufacturing environments; this is a non-negotiable requirement.
• Technical fluency in CNC machining, precision fabrication processes, GD&T, NADCAP special processes, and/or cleanroom manufacturing operations.
• Demonstrated experience with ISO 9001, AS9100, or other quality management systems relevant to defense, aerospace, or semiconductor capital equipment customers.
• Experience serving semi-cap, defense, and/or aerospace end markets with familiarity with the quality, compliance, and delivery requirements these customers demand.
• Exposure to multiple industry verticals across a career is strongly preferred; multi-sector experience demonstrates the breadth of perspective this role demands.
• Proficiency with ERP and MES systems; a data-driven management approach applied consistently across operations and finance.
• Familiarity with ITAR and direct experience managing trade compliance in a defense or dual-use manufacturing context is required given the ITAR-controlled nature of this facility.
• Must be based in or willing to relocate to the Dayton, Ohio area; consistent, on-the-ground leadership presence across all three campus facilities is essential.

Compensation Target

• $180,000 - $200,000K salary target + 30% bonus target

Professional Search is committed to the fundamental principle of equal opportunity and equal treatment for every prospective and current employee. It is the policy of Kingsley Gate not to discriminate based on race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, religion, creed, disability, sex and gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law.