Strategic Multi-Site Operations Leader

OTC Industrial; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

OTC Industrial seeks a Director, Operations to provide strategic and operational leadership across its nationwide network of locations. You will lead Regional Operations Managers and site leadership to drive safety, quality, customer service, productivity, and cost management.

You will develop scalable operating practices, set performance metrics, and align resources with current and future business needs while cultivating leadership, standardizing processes, and driving continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across all assigned operating locations.
• Lead Regional Operations Managers and establish clear accountability for regional and site-level performance.
• Translate organizational strategy and business objectives into measurable operational priorities.
• Establish consistent operating expectations across regions while allowing appropriate flexibility for customer, market, and facility requirements.
• Develop and maintain an effective operating cadence that provides visibility into performance, priorities, risks, and required actions.
• Ensure regional and site leadership teams have the resources, tools, processes, and organizational support necessary to execute effectively.
• Serve as the senior operations escalation point for significant performance, customer, staffing, safety, quality, or operational issues.
• Lead, coach, and develop Regional Operations Managers responsible for geographically dispersed operating locations.
• Establish clear roles, responsibilities, decision rights, and performance expectations across the regional and site leadership structure.
• Ensure Regional Managers effectively lead and develop site-level operational leadership and support teams.
• Conduct regular regional and site business reviews focused on performance, priorities, risks, and corrective actions.
• Maintain appropriate visibility and presence across operating locations through regular site visits and leadership engagement.
• Identify leadership capability gaps and develop appropriate succession, development, or recruiting strategies.
• Promote effective communication and collaboration between regional leaders, site teams, and corporate functions.
• Establish and monitor key operational performance indicators across locations.
• Drive consistent accountability for safety, quality, service, productivity, labor efficiency, cost, inventory, and other established operational measures.
• Develop performance scorecards and management routines that provide visibility from the site level through regional and national operations leadership.
• Identify performance trends, operational risks, and opportunities requiring intervention.
• Ensure appropriate corrective actions are established for locations or regions performing below expectations.
• Share and scale successful practices across regions and operating locations.
• Partner with Finance to understand operating performance, cost drivers, variances, and opportunities for improvement.
• Establish a strong safety culture across all operating locations.
• Ensure Regional Managers and site leaders maintain consistent accountability for safe work practices and regulatory compliance.
• Partner with Environmental, Health and Safety and other appropriate functions to improve safety performance and reduce operational risk.
• Promote proactive safety practices, including leadership visibility, GEMBA walks, MDI reviews, hazard identification, corrective actions, and associate engagement.
• Monitor safety trends and ensure timely response to incidents, near misses, and emerging risks.
• Drive increased awareness and accountability related to material handling equipment, forklift operations, facility conditions, and other significant operational exposures.
• Ensure operational leaders understand and execute their responsibilities related to applicable company policies and regulatory requirements.
• Develop and execute an operational excellence strategy across the network.
• Identify opportunities to standardize processes, reduce variation, eliminate waste, improve productivity, and strengthen customer service.
• Establish scalable operating practices that can be implemented across multiple regions and locations.
• Promote continuous improvement methodologies and problem-solving disciplines throughout the operations organization.
• Partner with regional and site leadership to identify root causes of performance gaps and implement sustainable corrective actions.
• Develop mechanisms for sharing best practices and operational improvements across the network.
• Evaluate workflows, facility layouts, technology, equipment, and processes to identify opportunities for greater efficiency and scalability.
• Ensure operational teams consistently meet established customer service and delivery expectations.
• Partner with Commercial leadership to align operational capabilities with customer commitments and growth strategies.
• Address significant operational issues that impact customers, service levels, or strategic relationships.
• Ensure new customer requirements and commercial opportunities are appropriately evaluated for operational feasibility, capacity, and resource needs.
• Balance customer responsiveness with operational discipline, cost management, and sustainable execution.
• Develop processes that improve communication and handoffs between Commercial and Operations teams.
• Develop a consistent approach to capacity and resource planning across operations.
• Evaluate labor requirements, productivity, utilization, facility capacity, equipment, and other operational resources.
• Partner with Regional Managers to align staffing levels with business demand and productivity expectations.
• Ensure requests for additional or replacement resources are supported by appropriate operational and financial data.
• Identify opportunities to redeploy resources, improve utilization, or modify operating models before adding incremental cost.
• Partner with Human Resources on workforce planning, organizational design, talent acquisition, retention, and succession.
• Support evaluation of temporary, permanent, outsourced, and other workforce models based on business requirements.
• Partner with Finance and regional leadership to establish operating budgets and performance expectations.
• Maintain accountability for controllable operating expenses across assigned locations.
• Monitor labor costs, overtime, productivity, facility expenses, freight, inventory-related costs, and other significant operating expenses.
• Identify and execute cost-improvement opportunities without compromising safety, quality, or customer service.
• Review significant operating variances and ensure corrective actions are developed and executed.
• Evaluate capital and operating investment requests based on business need, financial return, capacity, risk, and strategic alignment.
• Support annual budgeting, forecasting, and long-range operational planning.
• Establish consistent expectations for operational quality across the operations network.
• Ensure operating locations maintain appropriate processes, documentation, controls, and accountability.
• Partner with Quality and other functional leaders to address systemic issues and implement corrective actions.
• Monitor quality trends, customer complaints, rework, errors, and other indicators of operational effectiveness.
• Promote root-cause analysis and sustainable corrective action rather than short-term resolution.
• Drive greater consistency in operational processes and controls across locations.
• Build a strong operations leadership pipeline across regional and site-level roles.
• Assess organizational capabilities against current and future business requirements.
• Develop Regional Managers and other key operational leaders through coaching, feedback, exposure, and formal development planning.
• Identify high-potential talent and establish meaningful succession plans for critical operations positions.
• Partner with Human Resources to address performance, organizational effectiveness, engagement, retention, and leadership-development needs.
• Establish expectations for leadership presence, associate communication, accountability, and engagement.
• Support recruiting and selection of critical regional and site operations leadership positions.
• Partner closely with Commercial, Supply Chain, Engineering, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Safety, Quality, and executive leadership.
• Ensure operational priorities remain aligned with overall business strategy and customer requirements.
• Participate in strategic planning, budgeting, forecasting, organizational planning, and business reviews.
• Provide executive leadership with clear visibility into operational performance, risks, capacity, talent, investment requirements, and improvement initiatives.
• Lead or participate in significant cross-functional initiatives affecting multiple locations.
• Support integration of acquisitions, new locations, consolidations, expansions, or other changes to the operating network as required.
• Bachelor's degree in Operations Management, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Seven (7) or more years of progressive operations leadership experience within industrial distribution, manufacturing, industrial automation, supply chain, or a related environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading multi-site operations across a geographically dispersed organization.
• Experience leading leaders, including Regional Managers, District Managers, multi-site leaders, or equivalent positions.
• Demonstrated success improving operational performance across safety, quality, service, productivity, and cost.
• Strong financial and business acumen with experience managing operating budgets, labor costs, productivity, and financial performance.
• Demonstrated experience with continuous improvement, operational excellence, and process standardization.
• Strong organizational leadership, coaching, communication, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
• Ability to influence effectively across functions and levels of the organization.
• Ability and willingness to travel extensively throughout the United States.

Job description

OTC Industrial seeks a Director, Operations to provide strategic and operational leadership across its nationwide network of locations. You will lead Regional Operations Managers and site leadership to drive safety, quality, customer service, productivity, and cost management.

You will develop scalable operating practices, set performance metrics, and align resources with current and future business needs while cultivating leadership, standardizing processes, and driving continuous improvement.