PLANT MANAGER

Rush & Company; Texas; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Rush & Company in Texas seeks a proven Plant Manager to lead end-to-end operations at its manufacturing facility. You will own the plant P&L, safety, quality, delivery, and productivity, supervising a two-shift operation with 150–200 employees.

You will partner with corporate leadership and cross-functional teams to drive material yield, labor efficiency, and continuous improvement across production, planning, inventory, and maintenance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in Engineering/Operations Management/Business or related field.
• 7–10 years of progressive leadership in manufacturing with plant-level responsibility.
• Two-shift leadership experience with managing 150–200 employees.
• Proven ability to own plant P&L, budgets, labor costs, material usage, and capital priorities.

Responsibilities

• Own plant financial performance and budgets; translate priorities into targets for departments.
• Improve material yield, labor productivity, throughput, and quality while maintaining safety and customer service.
• Control operating expenditures and validate savings with Finance; distinguish recurring savings from cost avoidance.
• Lead Production, Production Planning, Inventory, Maintenance, Sanitation, and Quality teams across shifts.
• Oversee shift leadership, staffing, handoffs, and staffing plans to meet demand.
• Host customer visits and coordinate with Sales, Quality, and HR to align priorities and production capacity.
• Foster a safety-first culture; deploy SQDIP, visual management, 5S, and standard work; drive root-cause problem solving.
• Develop supervisors and leaders to sustain performance and continuous improvement on both shifts.

Skills

Leadership

P&L management

Two-shift leadership

Manufacturing knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Operations Management/Business

Tools

Excel

ERP/MRP

Job description

We are working with a leading U.S. owned and operated manufacturer of bedding and home products. The company is seeking a proven, results-oriented Plant Manager to lead end-to-end operations at its Texas manufacturing facility. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Plant Manager holds full plant profit and loss (P&L) ownership and is accountable for safety, quality, delivery, inventory, productivity, costs, and leadership development. The role leads a two-shift operation with headcount ranging from approximately 150 to 200 employees. This role provides leadership across production, production planning, inventory, shipping, maintenance, sanitation, and quality execution, working closely with corporate and leadership resources. The ideal candidate builds disciplined daily management, improves labor cost per good unit, reduces waste and downtime, and develops supervisors who can sustain performance on both shifts.

Responsibilities

• Strategic & Financial Leadership
  • Full P&L Ownership: Own plant financial performance, operating budgets, labor costs, material yield, and capital planning. Translate business priorities into department targets, staffing plans, and accountable improvement actions
  • Margin Improvement: Improve material yield, labor productivity, throughput, and equipment effectiveness while protecting safety, product quality, and customer service
  • Cost Management: Control labor, overtime, maintenance, consumables, scrap, and other operating expenditures. Validate savings with Finance and distinguish recurring savings from cost avoidance and released capacity
  • Capital Planning: Recommend equipment and process investments based on capacity, reliability, customer demand, expected return, and implementation risk
• Multi-Departmental Operational Execution
  • Production: Lead the Production Manager and production leadership across foam, hybrid, garnet, flex/blown, and foam-room operations. Maintain schedule compliance and consistent standards
  • Production Planning & Preparation: Lead production planning, material readiness, preparation, and price-ticketing coordination to keep work centers supplied with the correct materials and priorities
  • Inventory, Warehouse & Shipping: Improve receiving, inventory accuracy, material staging, replenishment, internal transfers, WIP-to-finished-goods movement, and outbound shipment execution
  • Maintenance & Sanitation: Lead preventive maintenance, breakdown response, equipment improvement, and facility cleanliness. Prioritize recurring failures and coordinate work with both shifts
• Reporting Functions & Organizational Leadership

  The Plant Manager directly leads the Production Manager, Production Planning Manager, Inventory Manager position, Maintenance Manager, Night Shift Supervisor, and Shipping Clerk. Partner with quality leadership, the QA Supervisor, and auditors to maintain product standards and resolve quality issues. Coordinate site priorities with Human Resources, safety, and corporate leadership

• Workforce & Shift Leadership

  Lead approximately 150-200 employees across Monday - Thursday day shift (6:00 AM-4:30 PM) and night shift (4:30 PM-3:00 AM), with consistent expectations for safety, quality, staffing, output, and accountability

  • Coach managers, supervisors, and leads in daily management, root-cause problem solving, employee engagement, and performance feedback
  • Use roster boards, skills matrices, cross-training, and labor plans to align qualified staffing with demand and demonstrated capacity
  • Establish clear shift handoffs covering schedule status, material shortages, equipment issues, quality concerns, and open actions
• Customer & Business Relations
  • Host customer visits, facility tours, and operational audits, demonstrating organized work areas, disciplined execution, and product quality
  • Partner with Sales, Quality, Customer Experience, and leadership to align customer priorities, order requirements, material readiness, and production capacity
  • Coordinate with Human Resources on recruiting, attendance, employee relations, retention, training, and leadership development
  • Share successful processes with South Carolina operations and support consistent standards where appropriate
• Safety, Quality & Continuous Improvement
  • Safety & Quality: Lead a safety-first culture, address hazards promptly, maintain applicable requirements, and partner with Quality to prevent defects and recurring customer issues
  • SQDIP & Visual Management: Deploy Safety, Quality, Delivery, Inventory, and Productivity boards, tiered meetings, and hour-by-hour boards with targets, actuals, cumulative variance, and loss reasons
  • 5S & Standard Work: Implement workplace organization, visual controls, SOPs, job instruction, leader standard work, Gemba walks, and routine sustainment audits
  • Root-Cause Problem Solving: Use Pareto analysis, 5 Whys, fishbone diagrams, PDCA/A3, and Kaizen to address major losses, assign countermeasures, and verify effectiveness
  • Flow & Labor Productivity: Apply process/value-stream mapping, cycle-time studies, takt analysis, line balancing, Kanban, and FIFO to reduce waiting, handling, WIP, and bottlenecks
  • Equipment & Changeovers: Use SMED, TPM, preventive maintenance, and OEE loss analysis to improve availability, performance, and quality
• Lean Foundation and Improvement Expectations
  • Build a Lean manufacturing foundation during the first year through consistent daily management, SQDIP, hour-by-hour tracking, 5S, standard work, leader standard work, employee training, and structured problem solving
  • Deliver 3% quarter-over-quarter improvement during the foundation-building period, followed by 5% year-over-year improvement after the foundation is established. Translate these goals into defined operating performance measures, baselines, department actions, and routine CEO reviews. Validate results with Finance and sustain gains through documented standards and audits
• Positional core values
  • Contribute to a sustainable future - Own - Safeguard - Engage
  • Be aware of others - Take Care - Work Together - Be Compliant
  • Drive For Results - Take Initiatives - Strive for Improvements - Be Constructive
  • Innovate - Experiment - Be Creative - Think Outside the Box
• Education / Experience
  • Required:
    • Education: Bachelors degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business, or a related discipline required
    • Experience in an industrial manufacturing setting. Open to all product manufacturing - bedding, home textiles, or related fiber- and foam-filled products would be a plus
    • Leadership Experience: Seven to ten years of progressive leadership in a manufacturing and operations environment, including at least two years of Plant Manager experience
    • P&L Management: Demonstrated ability to own plant P&L, budgets, labor costs, material usage, manufacturing variances, and capital priorities, with measurable financial and productivity gains
    • Two-Shift Leadership: Experience managing multiple shifts, developing supervisors, aligning staffing, and maintaining reliable handoffs and consistent operating standards
    • Manufacturing Knowledge: Practical understanding of production planning, material flow, inventory control, shipping, maintenance, quality, and capacity planning
    • Lean Implementation: Ability to implement, teach, and sustain SQDIP/daily management, 5S, visual management, standard work, root-cause analysis, process mapping, and Kaizen; apply line balancing, Kanban/FIFO, SMED, TPM, and OEE
    • Systems & Analysis: Proficiency with Excel and ERP/MRP planning and reporting; translate production, labor, downtime, inventory, and quality data into effective actions
  • Preferred:
    • Lean Manufacturing or Lean Six Sigma Green Belt / Black Belt certification
    • Experience building Lean systems in facilities with limited existing standardization and sustaining improvement across shifts
    • Experience with mistake-proofing, statistical process control, FMEA, DMAIC, and layered process audits
    • Experience supporting retail customer requirements, labeling/price-ticketing accuracy, customer audits, and facility tours
    • Bilingual English/Spanish communication skills preferred
• Competencies, skills, and abilities
  • Floor-Visible Leader: Builds trust through regular engagement with employees and leaders on both shifts, observes actual work, and removes barriers
  • Strategic & Analytical: Links daily production decisions to customer commitments, labor productivity, cost, and long-term capacity
  • People Developer: Coaches leaders, strengthens cross-training, and builds a capable leadership pipeline
  • Customer-Centric: Maintains pride in product quality, facility presentation, inventory accuracy, and reliable delivery
  • Disciplined Execution: Establishes clear standards, accountable owners, due dates, escalation, and verification of completed actions
  • Results-Oriented: Sustains gains in safety, first-pass yield, scrap, delivery, schedule attainment, inventory accuracy, units per labor hour, labor cost per good unit, downtime, and changeovers

• All Candidates must be able to provide work related references.