Senior Manager of Business Planning & Organizational Development

Virginia Transformer Corp; Roanoke (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Virginia Transformer Corp seeks a Senior Manager of Business Planning & Organizational Development to drive disciplined execution of operating plans and workforce capability. You will partner with operations and HR to ensure supervisors and production teams have the training and tools needed to scale transformer output and ramp-ups.

You will oversee training systems, performance dashboards, and escalation routines, aligning plant targets with corporate goals while maintaining a strong culture of

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in manufacturing/operations, industrial engineering, or business.
• 8+ years in manufacturing operations, planning, continuous improvement, or training leadership.
• Ability to translate factory targets into owner-based plans, KPIs, and routines.
• Experience implementing supervisor development and shop-floor training.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams (HR, quality, engineering, finance).

Responsibilities

• Convert annual goals into plant/department action plans covering capacity, headcount, output, schedule adherence, quality, and training readiness.
• Consolidate inputs from multiple functions into practical dashboards and reviews.
• Facilitate operating reviews; track owners, dates, escalations, and follow-ups on constraints.
• Support ramp-ups, shifts, expanded product lines, and changeovers with readiness tracking.
• Identify supervisory capability gaps and coordinate leadership development with HR.
• Coordinate onboarding, coaching tools, and follow-through for frontline supervisors.
• Standardize responsibilities, escalation paths, and handoffs across plant leadership.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic planning

Performance management

Training & development

Education

Bachelor's degree in manufacturing/operations, industrial engineering, or business

Job description

Senior Manager of Business Planning & Organizational Development

Job Type: Full-Time | Location: Roanoke, VA (On-Site)

On the Heels of Achieving 3X Growth, Virginia Transformer Is Hiring to Do It Again!

Virginia Transformer is the largest U.S.-owned manufacturer of power transformers in North America, delivering custom-engineered power solutions to utilities, industrial customers, renewable energy providers, and data centers.

After achieving 3X growth, we are preparing for our next 3X growth cycle, expanding our manufacturing capabilities, strengthening our leadership teams, and investing in the people and processes that will drive our continued success.

We are looking for experienced professionals who thrive in fast-paced, engineered-to-order manufacturing environments and are ready to help drive the next phase of our growth.

One Team. One Mission. One Source.

Position Summary

Coordinate practical operating plans, manufacturing performance reporting, supervisor development, and workforce skills programs for assigned Virginia Transformer functions or manufacturing sites. This Senior Manager will translate established business targets into accountable factory-level action plans, monitor execution barriers, and work with operations and HR to ensure managers, supervisors, and production employees have the training and capability required for transformer output and plant ramp-ups. The emphasis is disciplined implementation- not ownership of enterprise corporate strategy or the HR function.

Key Responsibilities

• Convert approved annual goals into plant or department action plans covering production capacity, headcount, output, schedule adherence, quality, and training readiness.
• Consolidate performance inputs from manufacturing, engineering, procurement, finance, and project management into practical review dashboards.
• Facilitate recurring operating reviews; maintain owners, action dates, escalations, and follow-up on manufacturing constraints or missed targets.
• Support changeovers, new shifts, expanded product lines, and facility ramp-ups by tracking operating readiness and implementation milestones.
• Partner with plant leaders and HR to identify supervisory capability gaps in labor assignment, shift communication, safety routines, schedule control, and problem-solving.
• Coordinate structured onboarding, production-leadership training, performance coaching tools, and documented follow-through for frontline supervisors.
• Help standardize responsibilities, escalation paths, shift handoffs, daily management boards, and management review routines.
• Support succession and bench-strength assessments for production supervision and other critical functional roles, with HR retaining formal talent-policy ownership.

Manufacturing Skills & Training Systems

• Coordinate department-specific skills matrices and qualification tracking for coil winding, core stacking, tank fabrication, active-part/final assembly, and other defined processes.
• Work with quality, engineering, EHS, and experienced shop trainers to standardize job instruction, qualification criteria, and requalification triggers.
• Track cross-training readiness, training completion, and skills coverage against staffing and production plans.
• Measure training impact using labor productivity, quality escapes, supervisor effectiveness, and ramp-up readiness; refine programs with operational owners.

Shop-Connected Business Execution

• Maintain functional operating plans tied to order backlog, engineering release performance, critical material readiness, winding/core/fabrication/assembly capacity, test-bay loading, and planned shipments.
• Prepare weekly and monthly business reviews showing production and workforce gaps, action ownership, past-due commitments, escalation needs, and verified completion of corrective actions.
• Coordinate cross-functional improvement actions when production capacity, supervision coverage, technical skills, or management handoffs constrain factory performance.
• Support site leaders in turning capacity expansion targets into clear workstreams for staffing, shift patterns, training facilities, supervisor readiness, and production start-up.
• Build practical supervisor training covering shift startup, job assignments, shop-floor escalation, attendance/coverage, quality hold points, production follow-up, and problem-solving routines.
• Work with manufacturing leaders to document responsibilities and handoffs among plant managers, superintendents, supervisors, group leads, cell leaders, planners, and training personnel.
• Coordinate succession and development plans for key production, planning, testing, maintenance, and engineering support leadership positions with HR and functional owners.
• Measure management-training adoption through consistent shift handovers, action closure, reduced repeated escalations, and improvement in departmental operating results.

Technical Training, Skills Matrices & Site Ramp-Up

• Develop job-specific skills matrices and training pathways with process owners for coil winding, core stacking, tank fabrication, active-part assembly, oil processing, final assembly, and related inspection activities.
• Maintain records of qualified operators and trainers, training completion, proficiency demonstrations, cross-training coverage, and retraining required after significant process changes.
• Build onboarding and qualification plans for new plants and shifts, including trainer availability, safety prerequisites, SOP access, equipment readiness, and supervised production milestones.
• Partner with quality and industrial engineering to assess whether training reduces avoidable rework, process variation, injury exposure, and dependence on single skilled employees.

Management Metrics, Accountability & Change Adoption

• Define practical plant management scorecards connecting staffing readiness, direct labor performance, engineering/material constraints, overdue action items, and actual transformer completion.
• Coach managers in running production accountability reviews without replacing the production manager's ownership of daily build schedules and shop assignments.
• Track completion of standardized processes introduced during plant ramp-ups, production expansion, new equipment deployment, or revised supervisor structures.
• Provide leadership with evidence of training effectiveness based on qualified employee coverage, first-pass quality, output stability, and reduction in repeated shop-floor issues.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in manufacturing/operations, industrial engineering, business, or equivalent substantial factory operations experience.
• 8+ years in manufacturing operations, production/business planning, continuous improvement, or operational training, including project/people leadership.
• Ability to translate factory operating targets into owner-based plans, action registers, KPIs, and consistent management routines.
• Experience implementing supervisor development, shop-floor training, or workforce qualification processes.
• Strong collaboration with plant management, HR, engineering, quality, and production teams.
• Experience connecting factory operating plans to labor availability, production capacity, schedule adherence, and management review routines.
• Demonstrated ability to implement measurable supervisor development, shop-floor skills programs, or multi-shift qualification systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in engineered-to-order transformer, electrical, or heavy equipment manufacturing.
• Exposure to multi-site manufacturing standards, new plant ramp-ups, and skills matrix/technical training programs.
• Lean daily management and operational reporting/dashboard experience.
• Familiarity with transformer or other engineered-to-order shop processes and department-level production performance indicators.
• Experience supporting new-site hiring and ramp-up with technical training and qualified trainer availability.

Key Performance Indicators

• On-time closure of plant operating-plan actions
• Supervisor training completion and effectiveness
• Production skills certification and cross-training coverage
• Readiness milestones for new shifts, lines, and facility ramp-ups
• Supervisor management routine compliance and action closure
• Critical process coverage by qualified operators and trainers
• Site readiness and workforce qualification versus ramp-up milestones

Scope note: Assigned location(s), reporting line, direct reports, delegated authority, and specific performance targets remain subject to executive approval.