Director of Operations

About Us

Gooch & Housego (G&H) is a global leader in precision optics, photonics, and optical systems, serving customers across industrial, medical, life sciences, aerospace, and defense markets. With a long history of technical innovation and manufacturing excellence, G&H combines deep engineering expertise with commitment to quality, collaboration, and continuous improvement. The Rochester site plays a critical role in G&H’s manufacturing footprint, delivering complex, high-precision products to customers worldwide.

 Position Overview

The Director of Operations is responsible for leading manufacturing operations at the G&H Rochester site, with accountability for execution across assembly, optical glass subassembly, and production operations. This role focuses on operational excellence, people leadership, and delivery, operating within a shared leadership model alongside Quality, Finance, and Sales.
 

This is a hands-on, on-site leadership role that requires strong floor presence, sound judgment, and the ability to lead teams through complexity, change, and competing priorities with maturity and clarity.
 

Key Responsibilities

Manufacturing & Operational Leadership
• Lead day-to-day manufacturing operations across assembly, optical glass subassembly, and production, Polymer injection molding and CNC machining
• Own site-level performance across safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity
• Establish clear operational priorities and execution rhythms aligned to business and customer needs
• Ensure consistent application of standard work, visual management, and[LS1]  accountability
• Identify operational risks, constraints, and bottlenecks and drive corrective actions
• Partner with HR and Finance on workforce planning and labor utilization
 

People Leadership & Development
• Lead and develop operations supervisors, and frontline leaders[LS2]
• Build leadership capability through coaching, feedback, and development
• Foster a culture of accountability, respect, and engagement
• Address performance and behavioral issues promptly and constructively
 

Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Operate effectively within a shared leadership model
• Partner with Quality on compliance, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement
• Collaborate with Sales and Program teams on customer commitments and capacity planning
• Partner with Engineering on process improvements and technology transitions
• Work with Finance on cost control and operational investments

Continuous Improvement & Change Leadership
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives across operations
• Support New Product Introduction and production scale-up
• Drive disciplined execution during periods of change or transition
 

Governance & Communication
• Make timely decisions within defined authority
• Escalate risks and trade-offs appropriately
• Provide clear, fact-based updates to senior leadership
 

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, or a related field
• 10+ years of progressive manufacturing or operations leadership experience
• Demonstrated success leading teams in complex, technical manufacturing environments
• Strong people leadership capability with credibility on the manufacturing floor
• Experience operating in matrixed or shared leadership environments
• Ability to lead with maturity, judgment, and consistency under pressure

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in optical, photonics, precision manufacturing, or similarly complex industries
• Exposure to optical glass subassembly or precision assembly processes
• Experience supporting New Product Introduction or scaling production
• Multi-site manufacturing experience
• Lean, Six Sigma, or other continuous improvement training

 Role Structure & Expectations

• On-site role based in Rochester, NY
• Reports into senior operations leadership (final reporting line to be confirmed)
• Operates within a shared leadership model
• Expected to maintain a visible and consistent presence on the manufacturing floor

 Notes: This job description is not intended to be exhaustive in every respect, but rather to clearly define the fundamental purpose, responsibilities and dimensions for the role. Therefore, this job description does not describe any individual role holder. In addition to the contents of this job description, employees are expected to undertake all other reasonable and related tasks allocated by their line manager.

The Company is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all employees and applicants for employment. The Company does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the grounds of gender, race, religion or belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by national laws under which the Company operates.

Potential candidates should be aware that many of the employment roles at Gooch & Housego are subject to government security and export control restrictions.  These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationality that you may have previously held, and your place of birth could restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organization.

In the instance that the position will involve having access to items and technical data that may be controlled under U.S. export laws and regulations ("U.S. Export Control Laws"), including but not limited to the Export Administration Regulations ("EAR") and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR").  To comply with the U.S. Export Control Laws, and in conjunction with the review of candidates for those positions within G&H that may present access to export-controlled technical data, G&H must assess whether candidates are "U.S. persons" as defined under the EAR (15 C.F.R. Part 772) and the ITAR (22 C.F.R.  § 120.15).  Certain questions asked during the application process are intended to assess this and will be used for evaluation purposes only.  Failure to provide the necessary information in this regard will result in our inability to consider you further for this position.