Plant Manager

Merchants Metals, LLC; Harrison, Northern (AR, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Merchants Metals, LLC in Harrison, Arkansas seeks a hands-on Plant Manager responsible for all admin, commercial, financial, and support functions with full P&L accountability. The role combines strategic leadership with tactical execution in a lean facility.

You will partner with the Operations Manager to align production direction, maintenance, and supervisory staff, while building systems to manage multiple priorities without dropping details.

Qualifications

• Proven experience owning a P&L, ideally in manufacturing or distribution.
• Experience with sourcing/purchasing (import and domestic) preferred.
• Strong Excel/spreadsheet skills and data fluency; ERP experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead safety program and ensure environmental compliance.
• Directly lead Operations Manager, Customer Service Manager, Inventory Controller, Buyer, and Safety Coordinator.
• Own full P&L and manage pricing, cost control, and margin analysis.
• Oversee sourcing, purchasing, and supplier relationships; plan material availability.
• Own scheduling, truck/fleet management, and shipping coordination.
• Manage monthly close, budgeting, and CapEx planning.
• Partner with Operations Manager to align production goals and priorities.

Skills

P&L ownership

Operations leadership

Sourcing/purchasing

ERP experience

Excel/data fluency

Tools

Infor ERP

Excel

Job description

Description

Position Summary: Location – Harrison, Arkansas

The Plant Manager leads all administrative, commercial, financial, and support functions of the facility and holds full P&L accountability. This is a hands‑on leadership role in a small, lean facility where the Plant Manager personally owns significant tactical work – scheduling, purchasing backup, payroll oversight, pricing, cost management, month‑end close – in addition to leading a team of functional leaders.

The Plant Manager partners closely with the Operations Manager, who leads all daily production direction, equipment maintenance, and production/maintenance supervisors, and reports to the Plant Manager.

Because the administrative team is lean relative to workload, this role requires someone who builds strong personal systems (standard work) to manage many simultaneous responsibilities without dropping details, and who is genuinely energized – not resistant – to rolling up their sleeves on tactical work.

Key Responsibilities

Safety & Environmental Compliance

• Lead the facility’s safety program and safety culture in partnership with the Safety Coordinator; ensure compliance and proactively drive safe behaviors, rather than treating safety as a delegated checklist item.
• Own environmental compliance, including air permit reporting, stormwater permit management, and annual Tier II and Form R chemical reporting.

People Leadership & HR

• Directly lead and develop the Operations Manager, Customer Service Manager, Inventory Controller, Buyer, and Safety Coordinator.
• Own hourly and salaried payroll administration, timekeeping issues, and pay‑related escalations.
• Handle day‑to‑day HR matters: hiring for administrative roles, performance management, disciplinary actions, and coordination with corporate HR.
• Personally step in as working backup for the Inventory Controller and Buyer roles when the team is short‑staffed.

Commercial Management, Pricing & Cost Control

• Own the full P&L for the facility.
• Set and manage pricing to distribution centers and other trade customers.
• Maintain standard costs as supplier and freight costs change and translate those cost changes into pricing decisions.
• Analyze margin and cost drivers by product and customer and act on the findings.
• Support the sales team with quotes and pricing questions as needed.

Sourcing & Purchasing

• Oversee the Buyer and act as a hands‑on backup for import and domestic purchasing.
• Proactively plan material availability, including import container planning, so it aligns with distribution center and trade customer demand – an import miss can leave the business without stock for the full length of that item’s lead time, so this planning discipline is critical.
• Manage steel and raw material sourcing and vendor quotes in partnership with the production team.
• Build supplier relationships and manage sourcing risk, including lead times and import logistics.

Scheduling, Truck & Fleet Management

• Own facility‑wide scheduling, including staffing schedules and shipping schedules, and support production scheduling.
• Build and schedule outbound trucks to meet customer and distribution center delivery needs.
• Manage fleet compliance: registration, insurance, DOT inspections, and driver credentials.
• Personally handle scheduling legwork during periods when administrative staff is stretched thin.

Financial Close, Budget & Capital Planning

• Own the monthly financial close process: reconcile inventory, order, and cost reports; review P&L variances with corporate finance; oversee physical inventory and cycle count sign‑off.
• Lead the annual budget process and manage capital expenditure (CapEx) requests.
• Own bill of materials (BOM) setup and maintenance in partnership with corporate engineering.

Operations Management

• Build and maintain a strong, respectful working relationship with the Operations Manager, who owns all daily production direction, equipment maintenance, and supervisory leadership of production and maintenance staff.
• Support production goals and facility priorities without inserting into daily production or maintenance decisions – that is the Operations Manager’s domain.
• Lead in a way that earns trust

Requirements

Qualifications

• Proven experience owning a P&L, ideally in a manufacturing, distribution, or industrial environment.
• Experience with sourcing/purchasing (import and domestic) strongly preferred.
• Strong Excel/spreadsheet and data fluency; ERP experience (Infor preferred) is a plus.
• Familiarity with standard costing, month‑end financial close processes, and environmental/regulatory compliance is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to operate lean and personally execute tactical work, not only delegate
• Track record of highly organized, self‑directed work habits (standard work, personal systems).
• Comfortable in, and genuinely suited to, a small‑town, relationship‑driven culture.
• HR/payroll exposure.
• Prior plant manager, operations manager, general manager, or senior operations leadership experience is preferred but not required – the right behavioral fit and skill set (organization, data fluency, planning discipline, steady relationship‑building) matters more than title pedigree.

What Success Looks Like in Year One

• No missed material availability issues disrupt the distribution business.
• Payroll, HR, and administrative functions run with no dropped balls.
• The Operations Manager relationship is strong, with no unwanted turnover risk introduced.
• Pricing, cost updates, and P&L are actively managed, not just reported after the fact.
• Month‑end close, budget, and environmental compliance deadlines are consistently met.
• The Plant Manager is seen locally as a credible, trusted, “one of us” leader.