Director of Manufacturing Operations

Job Description:

Position Summary

The Director of Manufacturing Operations is responsible for enterprise‑wide manufacturing strategy, performance, and scalability. This role oversees manufacturing operations across all facilities by providing leadership, direction, and accountability to plant managers—through direct or dotted‑line reporting, depending on region and structure.

The Director ensures manufacturing infrastructure, capacity, and operating models are aligned to support both internal construction projects and external manufacturing customers, while enabling consistent performance, repeatability, and growth across regions.

This role serves as the primary integration point between manufacturing and engineering, industrial engineering, supply chain, estimating, product management, and construction.

Core Responsibilities

Enterprise Manufacturing Leadership

• Own enterprise accountability for manufacturing performance, including safety, quality, throughput, cost, and delivery.
• Lead and align plant managers through direct and/or dotted‑line reporting, ensuring consistency with enterprise standards and priorities.
• Establish and maintain standard operating expectations across all manufacturing locations.

Manufacturing Infrastructure & Performance

• Set enterprise standards, targets, and investment direction for manufacturing infrastructure, capacity, and productivity.
• Partner with plant leadership, Supply Chain, and Industrial Engineering to identify system‑level constraints and prioritize improvement initiatives.
• Sponsor, resource, and govern cross‑facility improvement efforts, ensuring alignment to strategy and measurable, sustained results.
• Review performance outcomes and hold plant leadership and support functions accountable.

Expansion & Regional Growth

• Lead manufacturing expansion into new regions to support internal project demand and external sales.
• Lead site selection, facility planning, startup strategy, and capacity scaling.
• Partner with corporate development and executive leadership on build‑vs‑buy and long‑term manufacturing footprint decisions.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the primary manufacturing interface with:
  • Engineering and detailing
  • Industrial Engineering
  • Supply chain and purchasing
  • Manufacturing and construction estimating
  • Manufacturing Product Managers
  • Construction operations
• Ensure alignment between product definitions, design intent, manufacturing capability, and execution outcomes.

Productization & Scalability

• Partner with Manufacturing Product Managers to ensure products are manufacturable, scalable, and supported by standardized facilities and processes.
• Enable the transition from project‑centric fabrication to repeatable, product‑driven manufacturing where applicable.

Culture, Safety & Talent

• Champion a culture of safety, accountability, and continuous improvement across all manufacturing operations.
• Develop manufacturing leadership capability and succession across regions.

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Required Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience overseeing multi‑facility manufacturing or fabrication operations.
• Strong understanding of:
  • Manufacturing systems and plant operations
  • Capacity planning and throughput optimization
  • Capital investment and equipment strategy
• Proven ability to lead through influence across geographically distributed teams.
• Experience operating at the intersection of manufacturing, engineering, and construction.

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in mechanical fabrication, modular construction, or industrialized construction.
• Experience scaling or transforming manufacturing operations.
• Exposure to productized manufacturing models.
• Familiarity with union manufacturing environments.

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What This Role Is (and Is Not)

This role is:

• The enterprise owner of manufacturing performance and scale
• Focused on systems, standards, and outcomes
• Central to enabling industrialized construction and external manufacturing growth

This role is NOT:

• A plant manager
• An industrial engineering execution role
• A project‑specific manufacturing lead

Your life at Harris

As one of the country's leading mechanical contractors, Harris offers you the best of both worlds: the stability, resources and opportunities of a national company, and the team culture, creative spirit and customer loyalty of a local business. If you thrive on variety and new challenges, we want to meet you!

From stadiums to manufacturing facilities, power plants to hospitals, concert halls to classrooms, we handle projects of all sizes and complexity from multiple regional locations across the country.

Harris Benefits + Compensation

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance

• 401K with company match

• Vacation time, sick time, and paid holidays

• Paid Parental leave

• Short-Term Incentive Plan

Visit our Careers Page for additional benefit details:  https://www.harriscompany.com/careers/employee-benefits-at-a-glance

Pay Range: 

$143,500.00 - $208,075.00

The actual salary offer will vary by candidate based on a wide range of factors such as specific skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.