Title

Director of Operations

Reports To

VP Operations/COO, depending on final organization structure

Direct Reports:

Production Manager, Production Scheduler, Operations & Inventory Coordinator, and other production/operations support roles as assigned.

Description:

The Director of Ops is responsible for leading the site Operations function to safely, reliably, and efficiently execute batch chemical manufacturing. The role owns production output, production scheduling, day-to-day MRP execution and procurement follow-up for production needs, operating discipline, KPI cadence, documentation/batch record discipline, material readiness, and continuous improvement of Operations capability. The role supports HR, WHS, Engineering, Regulatory, Quality/Lab, Purchasing, and Customer Service where those functions own formal programs but require Operations execution and coordination.

Responsibilities

• Owns production safety performance and operating discipline; ensures Production executes site safety requirements, complies with controlled-work systems, and supports Regulatory/EHS and Engineering requirements.
• Owns Operations compliance to the ISO system, audit readiness, corrective action discipline, and continuous improvement of operating procedures.
• Owns production output, execution reliability, scheduling system, capacity alignment, daily priorities, and material/MRP alignment needed to meet customer and business commitments.
• Owns operations documentation system performance; ensures batch records, inventory postings, shift logs, and production reports support ISO, customer, and business requirements.
• Owns Operations interface with Quality/Lab; ensures quality issues, deviations, in-process testing needs, and rework decisions are escalated and resolved through proper channels.
• Owns day-to-day material readiness, MRP execution, procurement follow-up, and production purchasing coordination needed to support the schedule; coordinates with the Director of Purchasing for supplier/commercial issues and the VP Ops for major constraints.
• Owns operations process for yield variance escalation, corrective action, production impact assessment, and recurring issue elimination.
• Owns Operations communication discipline with Customer Service, WHS, Purchasing, Engineering, Regulatory, and Quality/Lab, HR.
• Owns Operations standards for housekeeping, visual management, readiness, and plant-floor discipline.
• Ensures Operations supports Engineering-owned MOC, PSM, Maintenance, and utility/reliability processes; participates in reviews and downtime planning, escalates chronic constraints, and prevents unauthorized production changes.
• Owns Production adherence to bulk storage and transfer procedures
• Ensures Production supports Regulatory/EHS-owned environmental, wastewater, and emergency response systems through procedure adherence, required reporting, drills, incident follow-up, resource readiness, and prompt escalation.
• Directly manages Production Scheduler and Operations & Inventory Coordinator; owns schedule accuracy, completion status, batch record/inventory workflows, and production support priorities.
• Owns Operations KPI system, operating cadence, root-cause/corrective action discipline, and performance reporting to leadership.
• Owns Operations organization structure, staffing plan, hiring needs, performance expectations, training effectiveness, capability development, succession depth, and organizational readiness.
• Owns Operations budget input, labor/cost/productivity performance, improvement priorities, and resource justification.
• Owns Operations input to NPI, feasibility, capacity, equipment fit, trial execution, customer support, and scale-up risk.

Skills & Competencies

• Site operations leadership experience in batch chemical manufacturing, preferably with multiple chemistries, hazardous materials, flammables, bulk storage, and production support functions.
• Leads operations operating discipline and supports EHS/Regulatory systems for hazardous, flammable, bulk-storage, wastewater, and emergency-response requirements.
• Ensures systems exist for root cause, corrective action, reliability improvement, and production risk reduction.
• Owns Operations ISO compliance, audit readiness, procedure discipline, deviation escalation, and continuous improvement of operating practices.
• Interprets ERP/MRP, scheduling, inventory, procurement follow-up, and KPI data to manage site execution.
• Leads Operations organization, develops supervisors/managers, sets performance expectations, and builds succession depth.
• Makes site-level operational decisions, sets priorities, escalates business risks, and ensures decisions are supported by data and operating discipline.
• Leads operating reviews and presents performance, risks, constraints, resource needs, and improvement plans to senior leadership.
• Owns Operations budget input, productivity performance, cost-control actions, resource justification, and improvement priorities.
• Builds the operations improvement roadmap/strategy and prioritizes initiatives based on safety, quality, delivery, cost, and capability.

Competencies Required For The Role

Qualifications and Experience:

• Chemistry/EHS degree or equivalent 
• 5 years minimum 
• Employee Management 

Skills

• Tech Support 
• Basic computer 
• Troubleshooting 
• Multitask oriented 
• Team player 
• Good communication skills