Plant Manager

CE Interim | Cross-cultural Executive Interim Management; Ohio; On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

CE Interim | Cross-cultural Executive Interim Management seeks an experienced Interim Plant Manager to lead the US plant through a strategic relocation to lower-cost sites in Latin America over 12-18 months.

The role demands hands-on leadership across production, quality, logistics, and site HR, with a focus on stabilising performance while transferring programmes, tooling, and know-how to receiving plants.

Qualifications

• Seasoned plant leadership experience in high-volume manufacturing.
• Proven ability to lead cross-border factory relocations.
• Strong crisis management skills under pressure.
• Knowledge of automotive customer processes and audits.

Responsibilities

• Take full operational leadership of the US plant across production, quality, logistics, maintenance and site HR.
• Stabilise delivery, quality and cost performance while protecting uninterrupted OEM supply.
• Build and execute the relocation roadmap covering programmes, tooling, inventory and safety stock.
• Coordinate customer approvals and knowledge transfer to Latin America.
• Retain critical employees and align US and Latin American teams through the transition.

Skills

Plant leadership

Crisis management

Cross-cultural leadership

Automotive manufacturing experience

Job description

1404 | Interim Plant Manager | Factory Relocation & Turnaround | USA

Factory Relocation | Automotive | Turnaround | Crisis Leadership

Area: Automotive Manufacturing

Duration: 12-18 months

Start: October 2026

Type: Interim

Our client is a global Tier-1 automotive supplier operating across 10+ locations worldwide with annual turnover exceeding €1bn.

The group supplies leading German and US OEMs.

Following a strategic review, production from its US plant will be transferred to lower-cost manufacturing sites in Latin America over the next 12-18 months.

The challenge is clear: the US plant must continue performing while its programmes, tooling, equipment and know-how are progressively transferred across borders.

Job Challenge

• Take full operational leadership of the US plant across production, quality, logistics, maintenance and site HR
• Stabilise delivery, quality and cost performance while protecting uninterrupted OEM customer supply
• Build and execute the plant-level relocation roadmap covering programmes, tooling, equipment, inventory and safety stock
• Coordinate customer approvals, programme transfers and structured knowledge transfer to receiving plants in Latin America
• Retain critical employees, align US and Latin American teams, and deliver an orderly transition without losing operational control

Desired Attributes

• Seasoned Plant Manager, Operations Director or comparable senior manufacturing executive
• Strong automotive or comparable high-volume, quality-critical manufacturing background
• Proven experience personally leading a factory, production line or programme relocation across borders
• Strong turnaround and crisis-management track record with the ability to stabilise performance under pressure
• Hands-on leader with strong knowledge of automotive customer processes, PPAP, customer audits and cross-cultural execution

Requirement 01: Senior Plant Manager or Operations Director experience in automotive supply or a comparable quality-critical manufacturing environment

Requirement 02: Proven delivery of at least one factory, production line or programme relocation or consolidation

Requirement 03: Strong turnaround or crisis-management track record, stabilising a plant under customer, operational or financial pressure

Priority will go to Interim Managers who have personally completed an end-to-end cross-border factory relocation in automotive or a comparable high-volume, quality-critical manufacturing environment.