Director of Operations & Manufacturing

Location: Based onsite in Adel, GA (required), with significant travel to the Tampa, FL facility and responsibility for both plants Reports to: President & CEO Classification: Full-time, Exempt About the Company Southeast Steel Systems is a growing, private equity-backed manufacturer of steel building systems with two production facilities, one in Adel, Georgia, and one in Tampa, Florida. Our plants fabricate structural steel buildings and components using heavy plate and I-beam processing, welding (including a pull-through welder), sheet metal fabrication, metal brakes, roll forming, purlin line, and cut-off saws. We are executing an ambitious growth plan and are investing in the leadership, systems, and capacity to support it. The Opportunity We are seeking a hands-on, results-driven Director of Manufacturing to lead production operations across both plants — a transformation role, not a maintenance role. The company is on a trajectory to double sales, double throughput, and cut manufacturing lead time in half . This leader will own the operational side of that mission, driving step-change improvements in safety, quality (QC & QA), process discipline, throughput, and utilization, and will plan and launch second shifts at both locations to unlock capacity. Key Responsibilities Safety Build a zero-injury safety culture; own TRIR, DART, and near-miss reporting programs across both plants Implement and sustain 5S/6S housekeeping standards on the shop floor, with regular audits and visible accountability Ensure compliance with OSHA and applicable regulations for heavy steel fabrication environments (crane/rigging safety, hot work, machine guarding, PPE, lockout/tagout) Lead incident investigations, root-cause analysis, and corrective action closure Quality (QC & QA) Establish and mature the quality management system across both facilities, spanning incoming material verification, in-process inspection, weld quality (AWS standards), and final inspection Drive first-pass yield improvement and reduce rework, scrap, and warranty/field issues Implement structured root-cause and corrective/preventive action (CAPA) processes Create and lead an ISO style monthly Management Review meeting Position the company for relevant certifications as appropriate (e.g., AISC, IAS AC472) Process Improvement & Lead-Time Reduction Map value streams in both plants; identify and eliminate bottlenecks and non-value-added time Deploy lean manufacturing tools (standard work, SMED, kanban, visual management, TPM) suited to a job-shop/engineer-to-order steel environment Cut manufacturing lead time by 50% through flow improvement, scheduling discipline, and constraint management Partner with engineering, detailing, and purchasing to remove upstream delays that constrain the shop floor Procurement & Vendor Quality Lead purchasing for both sites through the Procurement Manager — steel, components, consumables, expense items, and services — balancing cost, lead-time, and quality Own vendor quality: supplier qualification, scorecards, incoming material verification, and corrective action with underperforming suppliers Partner with Finance on inventory strategy, min/max levels, and cash-conscious buying that still protects production continuity Throughput & Utilization Double plant throughput through a combination of process improvement, capacity planning, staffing, and equipment utilization Establish OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) or equivalent measurement on key equipment — roll formers, purlin line, pull-through welder, brakes, saws — and drive systematic improvement Develop and execute the plan to launch second shifts in both Adel and Tampa , including hiring plans, shift leadership structure, training, and cross-shift communication routines Build production scheduling and capacity models that align shop loading with the sales pipeline Leadership & Talent Directly lead the Plant Managers at both sites plus the Procurement Man…

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