Director of Industrial Engineering

Department: Engineering / Operations
Reports To: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Direct Reports: TBD (Production Control, Process Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Corporate Managers, QA Segment Engineers, Flex Manager)

Position Summary

We are seeking a highly experienced Director of Industrial Engineering to lead operational excellence, demand responsiveness, and scalable growth in a complex job-shop manufacturing environment. This role combines strategic foresight with hands-on leadership, ensuring production capabilities align with dynamic market demands while driving continuous improvement across multiple sites.

The Director will play a critical role in enhancing efficiency, cost effectiveness, and delivery performance by optimizing processes and integrating advanced manufacturing methodologies.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the evaluation, implementation, and maintenance of manufacturing systems (MES, ERP, simulation models, advanced analytics).
• Align operational capacity with market demand through data analytics, capacity models, and real-time scheduling.
• Ensure simulation and planning models reflect real operating conditions with validated data integrity.
• Optimize production flow and job routing to manage customer orders effectively while collaborating with Sales Leadership.
• Translate business strategy into actionable operational initiatives to enable scale, efficiency, and responsiveness.
• Stay ahead of industry trends in heavy manufacturing, evaluating emerging tools and technologies.
• Drive cross-site initiatives that improve enterprise-wide performance.
• Build and grow industrial engineering capabilities through mentoring, training, and knowledge-sharing.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, technical curiosity, and operational excellence.
• Partner closely with Operations, Engineering, Sales, and Plant Leadership to ensure alignment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years of industrial engineering or operational leadership experience in heavy manufacturing or capital equipment.
• Expertise in lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, capacity modeling, ERP/MES integrations.
• Experience with shop-floor simulation, scheduling, and data analytics platforms.
• Strong track record in continuous improvement and cross-functional leadership.
• Project management skills for scope development, timelines, and deliverables.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to lead change across multiple sites.
• Deep understanding of job shop dynamics, including short lead times and custom orders.