Senior Plant Leader - Paper & Machine Operations

IN DEMAND Recruitment & Consulting Inc.; Rockingham (NC); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

IN DEMAND Recruitment & Consulting Inc. is seeking an experienced Plant Manager for a tissue and paper manufacturing operation in Rockingham, NC.

The role requires hands-on leadership to drive safety, reliability, quality and cost performance across a large facility. Ideal candidates will have 10–15+ years in manufacturing leadership with direct papermaking and paper machine operations experience, and a track record of operational turnarounds.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Manufacturing or a related field.
• 10–15+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience.
• Must have direct paper manufacturing experience, including demonstrated knowledge of paper machine operations.
• Proven experience delivering sustainable improvements in performance, reliability and quality.
• Demonstrated success leading plant turnaround/recovery initiatives.
• Strong understanding of papermaking processes, maintenance and reliability systems, plant operations and financial management.
• Experience managing key manufacturing metrics, including productivity, equipment uptime and cost control.

Responsibilities

• Lead all plant operations to achieve established safety, quality, production, reliability and financial objectives.
• Build and reinforce a strong safety culture through visible leadership, coaching and accountability at all levels.
• Oversee plant performance and ensure operations are aligned with productivity, quality and cost targets.
• Optimize paper machine performance, equipment uptime, production output and finished-product quality.
• Improve equipment reliability through preventive and predictive maintenance, planning and scheduling, and root cause analysis.
• Manage and improve plant financial performance, including cost-per-ton, labour, maintenance, fibre, chemical and energy costs.
• Lead continuous improvement efforts using structured, data-driven problem-solving methodologies.
• Develop and execute recovery or turnaround plans for underperforming operations with clear milestones and measurable outcomes.
• Build, coach and strengthen plant leadership, technical and hourly teams through development and accountability.
• Partner with maintenance, production, quality and leadership teams for cross-functional alignment.

Skills

Leadership

Safety culture

Operations management

Paper manufacturing

Paper machine operations

Data-driven decision making

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Manufacturing

Tools

Maintenance systems

Job description

IN DEMAND Recruitment & Consulting Inc. is seeking an experienced Plant Manager for a tissue and paper manufacturing operation in Rockingham, NC.

The role requires hands-on leadership to drive safety, reliability, quality and cost performance across a large facility. Ideal candidates will have 10–15+ years in manufacturing leadership with direct papermaking and paper machine operations experience, and a track record of operational turnarounds.