Plant Manager

SL Tennessee; Clinton (TN); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

SL Tennessee in Clinton, TN seeks a Plant Manager to provide full operational leadership for the facility, accountable for safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people development. This role builds a disciplined operating system, develops strong leaders, and ensures the plant meets customer commitments while driving year‑over‑year performance improvement.

You will establish a disciplined operating system, drive year‑over‑year performance, and build strong leaders while partnering with

Qualifications

• 10+ years manufacturing leadership with increasing responsibility.
• 5+ years direct plant or operations management in automotive, industrial, or high‑volume production.
• Proven success leading supervisors and managers.
• Demonstrated results in safety, quality, cost reduction, throughput, and delivery.
• Experience with Lean systems (policy deployment, standard work, visual management, CI).
• Budget ownership for multi‑million‑dollar operations.
• Cross‑functional leadership with engineering, maintenance, quality, HR, and supply chain.

Responsibilities

• Own daily production throughput, uptime, cycle times, and delivery performance.
• Lead the plant to meet quality objectives and ensure QMS compliance.
• Champion a zero‑incident safety culture and embed safety in pre‑shift activities.
• Manage the plant budget and drive annual cost‑reduction targets.
• Develop supervisory and operator talent and succession plans.
• Set clear KPIs for safety, quality, cost, delivery, and employee relations.
• Maintain open communication and a positive work environment.
• Implement robust daily management systems with problem solving.
• Ensure compliance with quality, regulatory, and customer requirements.
• Drive Lean, standard work, visual controls, and continuous improvement across all departments.
• Align cross-functional teams with engineering, maintenance, quality, and program management.
• Prepare and manage departmental budgets and forecast resource needs.
• Set staffing plans and schedules to meet demand efficiently.
• Resolve operational issues quickly to minimize delays and costs.

Skills

Leadership

Lean deployment

Strategic thinking

Communication

Accountability culture

Customer focus

Change leadership

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering / operations

MBA or technical master's

Lean Six Sigma certification

OSHA/EPA/IATF knowledge

Job description

General Description

• The Plant Manager provides full operational leadership for the facility, accountable for safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people development. This role builds a disciplined operating system, develops strong leaders, and ensures the plant meets customer commitments while driving year‑over‑year performance improvement.

Responsibilities

• Production performance — Own daily throughput, uptime, cycle times, and delivery performance. Ensure stable, predictable operations.
• Quality management — Lead the plant to meet or exceed quality objectives; ensure QMS compliance and rapid issue resolution.
• Safety culture — Champion a zero‑incident environment. Ensure safety is embedded in pre‑shift meetings, behaviors, and accountability.
• Cost control — Build and manage the plant budget; deliver annual cost‑reduction targets through process improvement and waste elimination.
• Talent development — Strengthen supervisory and operator capability; build succession plans and upgrade talent to meet future business needs.
• Performance management — Set clear KPIs for safety, quality, cost, delivery, and employee relations. Hold leaders accountable for results.
• Employee relations — Maintain open communication, fair treatment, and a positive work environment aligned with company values.
• Daily management system — Ensure robust tiered accountability, problem‑solving, and communication routines.
• QMS oversight — Maintain compliance with all quality, regulatory, and customer requirements.
• Lean deployment — Drive Lean Manufacturing, visual controls, standard work, and continuous improvement across all departments.
• Cross‑functional alignment — Partner with engineering, maintenance, quality, and program management to ensure coordinated execution and planned downtime.
• Budgeting & forecasting — Prepare and manage departmental budgets; forecast labor, materials, and capital needs.
• Staffing & scheduling — Set manpower plans and schedules to meet customer demand efficiently.
• Operational problem‑solving — Resolve production, processing, and facility issues quickly to prevent delays and minimize cost.

Job Requirements

Work Experience

• 10+ years manufacturing leadership with increasing responsibility
• 5+ years direct plant or operations management in automotive, industrial, or high‑volume production
• Proven success leading supervisors and managers
• Demonstrated results in safety, quality, cost reduction, throughput, and delivery
• Experience with Lean systems (policy deployment, standard work, visual management, CI)
• Budget ownership for multi‑million‑dollar operations
• Cross‑functional leadership with engineering, maintenance, quality, HR, and supply chain

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Operations Management, Industrial Technology, or related field
• Advanced degree (MBA or technical master’s) preferred
• Lean / Six Sigma certification strongly preferred
• Safety & compliance knowledge (OSHA, EPA, ISO, IATF depending on industry)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes (assembly, plastic injection, painting, molding, etc.)
• Maintenance coordination and reliability fundamentals
• Quality systems expertise (ISO/IATF, audits, corrective actions)
• Continuous improvement tools (Kaizen, 5S, SMED, root cause analysis)
• Strategic thinking — ability to build long‑range plans and align the plant to business goals
• Strong communication — clear, direct, consistent with all levels of the organization
• Accountability culture — sets expectations, measures performance, drives results
• Customer focus — ensures delivery, quality, and responsiveness
• Change leadership — leads transformation, not just daily operations