Strategic Operations Leader, Plastics Packaging

D&W Fine Pack; Fort Wayne (IN); On-site; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage

401k with company match

Short and Long-Term Disability

Company-paid Life Insurance

Wellness program

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Job summary

D&W Fine Pack in Fort Wayne, IN seeks an Operations Manager to drive safety, productivity, quality, and continuous improvement across all shifts. You will lead extrusion, thermoforming, and packaging operations, coordinating staffing and maintaining equipment reliability to meet production schedules and customer demands.

The role partners with Maintenance, Engineering, and Quality teams to optimize uptime, reduce waste, and implement Lean initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Operations Management, Engineering, Manufacturing, Business, or related field preferred.
• 7+ years of manufacturing leadership experience required.
• Previous experience managing supervisors and multiple production departments required.
• Experience in plastics manufacturing, food packaging, extrusion, thermoforming, automated packaging, or related manufacturing environments strongly preferred.
• Experience with PET strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee daily manufacturing operations across all shifts.
• Support leadership to ensure operational effectiveness and equipment reliability.
• Ensure production schedules, efficiency goals, quality standards, and customer demands are consistently achieved.
• Monitor and analyze operational metrics including productivity, downtime, scrap, labor utilization, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
• Maintain strong floor presence while providing hands‑on leadership and operational support within the manufacturing environment.
• Coordinate staffing, labor allocation, and production priorities to meet changing business needs and customer demands.

Skills

Leadership

Lean Manufacturing

OEE

Communication

Problem Solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Operations Management

Tools

ERP systems

Microsoft Office

Job description

D&W Fine Pack in Fort Wayne, IN seeks an Operations Manager to drive safety, productivity, quality, and continuous improvement across all shifts. You will lead extrusion, thermoforming, and packaging operations, coordinating staffing and maintaining equipment reliability to meet production schedules and customer demands.

The role partners with Maintenance, Engineering, and Quality teams to optimize uptime, reduce waste, and implement Lean initiatives.