Paper Mill Operations Leader - Safety, Quality & Growth

Ahlstrom-5; Rhinelander (WI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Ahlstrom is seeking an Operations Manager to lead the Paper Mill, ensuring safe, reliable, efficient, and cost-effective operations. You will shape a 5-year vision, translate it into actionable roadmaps, and partner with Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, Finance, HR, and Commercial teams to drive safety, quality, and productivity.

With 8–10 years in paper manufacturing and 3–5 years in leadership within a 24/7 unionized setting, you will influence cross-functional teams, build leadership depth,

Qualifications

• Minimum 8–10 years of progressive manufacturing experience, with significant experience in paper manufacturing operations.
• Minimum 3–5 years of leadership experience in paper manufacturing operations, preferably in a 24/7 unionized mill environment.
• Proven ability to lead culture change, strengthen accountability, and improve performance through people, systems, and disciplined execution.
• Proven success developing supervisors and salaried leaders, building succession plans, and improving organizational capability.
• Business understanding to connect operational decisions to cost, productivity, customer, and mill performance outcomes.
• Experience creating multi-year operational roadmaps, leading continuous improvement, and improving safety, quality, reliability, productivity, and cost performance.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Paper Science, Manufacturing Management, Business, or related field; Master's preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead the safe, reliable, efficient, and profitable operation of the Paper Business Unit.
• Set a clear direction for Paper Operations and develop leaders.
• Build an organization that can perform without over-reliance on any single leader.
• Establish a 5-year operations vision and translate it into a practical roadmap.
• Collaborate with Maintenance, Engineering, Technical, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, HR, and Commercial teams.
• Drive safety, quality, productivity, and customer-focused outcomes.

Skills

Leadership

Change management

Communication

Lean Six Sigma

Operations management

Paper manufacturing

Strategic planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Paper Science/Manufacturing Management

Master's degree preferred

Job description

Ahlstrom is seeking an Operations Manager to lead the Paper Mill, ensuring safe, reliable, efficient, and cost-effective operations. You will shape a 5-year vision, translate it into actionable roadmaps, and partner with Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, Finance, HR, and Commercial teams to drive safety, quality, and productivity.

With 8–10 years in paper manufacturing and 3–5 years in leadership within a 24/7 unionized setting, you will influence cross-functional teams, build leadership depth,